INFO 256: What Archivists Do, In Plain Words

Movies and media may portray archivists as sifting through pages of dusty handwritten pieces of parchment, but the reality of archival work is different. The archivist’s main goal is to acquire, manage, and preserve significant materials for use—materials of various types that have lasting value beyond their original use that can help preserve human memory of a certain person, group, or organization. How, though, does the archivist do this?

What tasks do archivists do to make archival materials available for use?

Archivists first must assess what will be brought into the archives (and yes, many archivists tend to use archives plural, even when referring to what people might call the archive of one singular institution. Archives can also refer to all materials themselves, as well as the physical location and the actual institution itself.). This is not done on a single-item-by-single-item basis like might be done at a public or academic library but in larger scope—identifying and selecting collections (which is a term used to refer to a certain grouping of items, usually according to an identifying characteristic like the person to whom the items belonged or date range). Collections are the basic units archivists typically deal with, not individual items. The formats of collections go beyond physical documents, too—digital items and objects are increasingly becoming part of many archives’ holdings (which is a term referring to all the collections and materials an archives possesses—differentiated from a collection, which refers to one certain unit [i.e., the Lindsay Call Correspondence would be one archival collection.])

Choosing which items will become part of the archives is done through a process called appraisal where collections are assessed to see if they are considered to be of value to add to the archives. This doesn’t mean financial value á la Antiques Roadshow, though. Archivists generally ask questions like does the collection support the archives’ mission?, what condition is the collection in?, and who or what organizations does this collection deal with? to determine if a collection will have lasting value beyond its original use. Collections that act as evidence of actions of the person or group that either created them or are central to their existence (called the creator) are those that are typically deemed to have long-term value, though it is impossible to predict all future uses a collection might serve. Archives’ missions are generally to collect and preserve material related to the activities of their creator(s) for future use and understanding. It is impossible to preserve everything related to a creator, so archivists must be judicious in researching, prioritizing, and selecting materials that will best serve their archives’ mission from the vast number of materials that exist.

Once materials are appraised, approved, and physically received at the archives (the latter process is called accessioning, and can also consist of reviewing the materials’ condition), archivists will then begin the process of arrangement, which is basically organizing the materials (different than collection organization might be thought of at a public or academic library). Again, this is done on a larger scale rather than at the single-item level. This may seem confusing and not very organized on the surface, but archivists rely on several special principles when doing arrangement—they keep the materials in the order their creator kept them in (as this can reflect the personal or organizational creator’s priorities and mindset for future users), and they keep different collections separate from one another (for integrity’s sake). Within collections, sets of items are usually further organized based on things like what function they perform(ed) or what format the materials take, maintaining that original order as much as possible.

After everything is arranged, archivists then begin the daunting task of creating descriptions for collections. This is important to ensure that current and future users can find materials within given collections. In an archival description, archivists include basic information like the title of the collection, names of important persons or organizations related to the collection, and dates covered in the collection, as well as any pertinent keywords that can help distinguish the collection (i.e., correspondence, major events the collection deals with, etc.). Description is supposed to focus on facts about the collection, not paint glorifying pictures of collection creators. Descriptive information is contained in something called a finding aid, which acts as a guide to what’s in a certain collection—a sort of expanded table of contents. This will likely be made available online, so archivists will have to ensure that certain descriptive data about collections (called metadata) is formatted in a way their computer program of choice can intake and understand as well. Because archivists have so many materials to describe, many times for larger, for more recent collections archivists will first describe the minimum level of information necessary that most people would need to find or understand a collection (as opposed to importing or creating a detailed item-level record at a public or academic library). It’s very easy for backlogs of materials that haven’t been processed (processing usually refers to the steps of arrangement and description as a whole) to accumulate, hence many archives’ pivot to more functional forms of description.

Following this “behind-the-scenes” work, archival collections are generally ready for use. But how do people go about actually using materials? Archives can be open to a range of individuals (i.e., the public, solely people who work at a certain organization, etc.), and hours and means of accessing materials can vary, as can registration and security measures before entering and upon arrival. Generally, though, a person will arrive at an archives with an idea of what they want to research. Archival blog Archives @ PAMA recommends consulting published works on a subject (like books on local history) before arriving at the archives to get a general idea of what specific collections or materials might help answer a question (Archives @ PAMA, 2019). Archivists will usually ask visitors questions to get a sense of the user’s question in a process called the reference interview. This is a conversation to discover what the user needs and may include open-ended questions about things like what a person’s final product might be (i.e., a book, a family tree, a movie) with the goal of understanding which collections might help them achieve their goal.

Once the archivist and the visitor create a research plan, the archivist will retrieve the materials. Again, this is not retrieving single items like in movies—archivists won’t retrieve only the one manuscript that points the way to the Holy Grail, since most archivists don’t work on the item level. Archivists will remain on hand to help with things like technical assistance or clarification questions as visitors conduct their research in the reading room, a dedicated space where materials are brought for visitor use. There are usually specific reading room rules as well as limits on what can be brought into the reading room from outside the archive to protect materials’ integrity. On the visitor’s way out, the archivist may ask more questions about their visit to improve future visits.

(Take a look at the video below from the U.S. National Archives if you’re struggling to visualize what visiting an archives can be like. Though all archives operate slightly differently, you’ll see many of the more visible elements of archival work in play, including retrieving materials and staffing the reading room)

Given the time and resources, archivists may also engage in digitization projects wherein physical objects are scanned so that digital copies of the work may be viewable online. There are a whole host of other considerations that come along with these projects, such as privacy and copyright concerns, topics archivists need to be well-versed in even if they will not be digitizing works.

Why?

So…why do archivists do all this work? One simple reason: use. All of an archivist’s work is done with archival visitors and users in mind, from intaking, arranging, and describing collections so that users may locate them to speaking with users when they arrive at archives to better understand their needs. This past century, there’s been a shift in the archival mindset moving from preserving items for their own sake to preserving items so that they may be used now and in the future to better act as evidence of certain actions and activities. Which is something not many people realize—that archives are for them! As archives further come to terms with their role in preserving human memory, many have also begun to realize the roles they’ve played in excluding marginalized communities and upholding problematic narratives. While it will take a lot of work for some archives to address this systemic exclusion, doing so will ultimately ensure that more archives can be of more use to more people in the future—a future that will truly prioritize users being able to call archives their own.

References

Archives @ PAMA. (2019, January 23). How can you help archivists to help you? Reference service from our side of the desk. https://peelarchivesblog.com/2019/01/23/how-can-you-help-an-archivist-to-help-you-reference-service-from-our-side-of-the-desk/

Archives @ PAMA. (2019). You and the archivist: fantasy (top) versus reality (bottom) [Image]. https://peelarchivesblog.com/2019/01/23/how-can-you-help-an-archivist-to-help-you-reference-service-from-our-side-of-the-desk/

US National Archives. (2012, August 2). Research at the National Archives [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HNYhMlXYhU