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Below is an analysis that was completed in 2023 on an archive in the United States of America. The goal behind this analysis it to educate those interested in historical preservation. To preserve the privacy of this institution, names and locations have been changed. Have a question? Comment below!
The Institution in question has been revered as the elite repository and education center for its state. As a result, an analysis has been made of the institution and its internal mission as both an archive and an educational center. Within this study, researchers can review the analysis conducted on topics such as the institution’s creation and what is housed within its repository. Along with this, information on the archival arrangement, public access, and emergency plans was also analyzed. This research aims to provide researchers and archivists access to the internal procedures and purposes of a nonprofit archival institution.
The Institution was founded in the early 1800s. Along with its founding, the institution was incorporated by the state legislature in December of that year. The goal of the institution was to display the founders’ historical collections and attract native aristocrats to join the institution in the hopes of expanding its collections and providing a historical study for the area’s wealthy inhabitants. As for the governing aspect of the institution, a president was established along with a board of curators who were in charge of governing the future of the institution. While many of the presidents of the institution were wealthy businessmen, there were four who were considered historians. As the institution began to grow, the mission continued to focus on the preservation of the institution’s collections.
Along with the growth in members, the institution’s collections also began to expand, requiring the institution to move locations. In the 1870s, the institution relocated to its current location. During this relocation, the institution then established a research center for its patrons. As the institution continued to absorb personal collections and began housing deposit collections from local institutions and the state’s archives, the institution’s access and funding soon began to change. After it was deemed detrimental to the collections within the repository, the Institution began to phase out public and state support. Finally, in the late nineties, the institution became fully privatized as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.
The Institution is now the holder of five million manuscripts, one hundred thousand photographs, thirty thousand architectural drawings, fifteen thousand books, eight hundred seventy-five maps, and hundreds of artifacts and portraits. The majority of the collections that have been obtained within its repository have been acquired by donations. The collections that have been acquired range from county records, papers from wealthy local families, to collections from prestigious architects and sports coaches within the state. As a result, while the collections can be enlightening to neighboring state histories, it is still constrained to the overall history of the residing state. Along with the donations acquired by the organization, collections are also acquired through purchasing. With many nonprofit archives, collections, and items can be purchased under supervision and understanding from the board, if the items in question fit the goals and mission of the organization. However, the issue that arises with this allowance is that of bias.
As seen with the Institution, internally acquired collections are managed and executed solely by the organization’s current president. This action was agreed upon by the Board of Curators, which currently consists of businessmen and women. By only allowing one person to acquire collections, the organization risks losing a sense of neutrality and inclusiveness. This can be seen within the Institution, with most internally acquired items only relating to Civil War memorabilia, specifically, the United States Army and the Confederate States Army. As a result of this, the Institution continues to miss opportunities to expand the narratives within its collection, specifically those of African-American and Native-American narratives. This continues to be the leading complaint from patrons, as the majority of the collections acquired internally by the organization revolve mainly around the militaristic aspects of the Civil War. With this theme, along with the majority of white narratives from the externally donated collection, many patrons have had difficulty gaining insight into those who were consistently overlooked throughout history. As stated within the Institution’s mission, the goal of the organization is to expand the narratives within the state’s history. While this is portrayed to the general public as the mission of the organization, it seems conflicting due to the lack of collection analysis and patron acknowledgment around this specific topic.
For this issue to be resolved, the Institution would need to analyze its current standards for internally acquired collections. This could be seen by introducing an acquisition committee that would review any possible acquisitions and screen them to match what the patrons request. Another standardization would be to prepare a set list of themes and materials for a sole collector to focus on during the fiscal year. These possibilities would then allow for the Institution to listen and hear its patrons, expand the collection that supports the mission, and provide the general public with well-rounded narratives for all points in history that are both educational and unbiased.
While the Institution’s collection development may need to be reevaluated, the organization works to follow archival standards for collection organization that the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Archives have supported. This can be seen with the addition to the repository holdings. This addition provided the organization with four archival rooms to fit the storage needs of the Institution. These four rooms are connected to their own humidity and temperature-controlled system and have rolling shelves to match the desired archival resource per room. In doing so, the rooms have been broken down into four different resource repositories: manuscripts, bound volumes and artifacts, administration files, and rolled storage.
Within the manuscript repository, processed collections have been placed within Hollinger boxes and begin at the front of the room on the bottom shelf of the first bay. Once the processed collections have ended, the remainder of the shelves are filled with unprocessed collections. On the side of each box is an Institution-approved label that provides information about each collection. The information includes the collection name, collection number, and box number. While the majority of the collections follow this standard, some boxes include extra information such as folder number range, series number, and type of material, such as “photographs” or “newspapers.” Along with this information, each folder within these boxes provides information about its contents. The information consists of the folder number and the title of the folder. Depending on the size of the collections, the collection information within these boxes was described and arranged by either the archivists within the organization or by a group of archivists within a third-party organization.
The reasoning behind this decision is due to the short staffing within the Institution. With only two in-house archivists, the organization sends the majority of its larger unprocessed manuscript collections to a third-party organization for processing. Once these collections have been processed and returned to the Institution, the in-house archivists and project coordinator will then review each collection for any processing errors. Once the collections have been adjusted to fit the processing standards for the organization and the collection information has been added to the online catalog, the manuscript repository room is then shifted to make room for the newly processed collections.
While the inclusion of a third-party organization in charge of describing and arranging the larger-scale collections may help with meeting deadlines, the differences in archival language between the two organizations have been reported. During the reviewing process, this issue can be seen, causing the in-house archivists to stop their present projects to correct the processed collections to meet their processing deadline. The issues found during this stage revolve around unmarked folders, folders needing more information for the Institution’s collections, materials not preserved to ALA standards, damaged materials, and sections of the collections still needing to be unprocessed. As a result, each box is analyzed and corrected in a rushed fashion. This, in return, allows room for more mistakes, whether a missed folder or information being left out of the final finding aid within the catalog.
To avoid this issue in the future, the Institution must approach its larger and more valued manuscript collections differently. This can be seen with the exclusion of working with third-party organizations that still need to meet ALA and the institution’s archival standards, and the expansion of processing deadlines. This could be done with yearly or bi-yearly processing deadlines for specific collections. Unprocessed collections can be evaluated by their importance to the organization’s mission and board to set up a ten-year plan for the archivists to follow. Along with this, interns could also be hired to assist with the short staffing seen with the archivists. In doing this, the organization would be able to utilize its archivists more efficiently, while also keeping the collections in a more secure condition while they are being processed. By continuing to work with this third-party organization, however, the Institution would further risk the security and integrity of its most valued collections.
The second archival repository room consists of bound volumes, artifacts, and the vault for the Institution. The bound volumes are broken down and separated into four sections: collection bound volumes, rare books, rare serials, and rare pamphlets. The collection-bound volumes are larger volumes that are connected to collections within the manuscript collection that were too big to stay with the collection or are collections on their own. These volumes mainly consist of scrapbooks, family bibles, and yearbooks. Each volume is organized with an acid-free bookmark that specifies the collection number, collection title, and which volume it is, depending on how many are within a collection. Once processed, the volume is then stacked on top of the previously numbered collection, starting from the bottom shelf of bound volumes. Each shelf consists of six to eight bound volumes, depending on the size and weight of each one. This organization method helps with distributing weight as evenly as possible to protect the spines and covers of each volume. If the volume has multiple loose sheets or is missing the cover, it is required to tie the book together with a string to keep the pages contained.
Unlike the collection-bound volumes, the rare materials are organized by their respective Library of Congress numbers and separated depending on whether they’re books, serials, or pamphlets. Once the decision has been made on the resource type, they are then shelved within their respective drawers found within the mobile bays of the repository room. The rare section can be dated back from the 1700s to the 1920s. Books, serials, and pamphlets dating from 1922 to 1923 that have been pulled from the main collection within the reading room are rehoused in the rare section. The majority of these books are labeled as unprocessed and will not be cataloged until a project cataloger is hired for the organization. Each item is cataloged with an updated Library of Congress call number to be found within the online catalog system. Each section of the bound volumes is updated every fiscal year to determine which materials must be weeded out, replaced, repaired, or processed for public access.
The final shelving section of this repository room houses the artifacts that the organization has acquired. While every artifact holds its own collection number or series number, the artifacts found within this repository are organized differently from one another due to their shape, size, and fragility. For example, the Institution has a large clothing artifact collection, of which some collections are housed in their boxes, while multiple collections may be housed within one box. To keep the materials safe within their respective boxes, archivists have placed acid-free tissue paper around each clothing item, all the way down to any buttons found on the clothing. While this helps separate any collections from one another within boxes, it can sometimes cause issues with the patrons unwrapping the materials on their own, or with the reference assistants not keeping the folding patterns the same when putting the collection back. Along with this, there are no collection numbers within these boxes to differentiate between the various collections within them. This could be mitigated by including an acid-free card with the collection number on top of each wrapped artifact.
The vault of the Institution holds the most valuable and popular documentary materials within the archive. For security purposes, the vault can only be accessed by two staff members of the organization, the president and the manager of the research center. Unlike archival vaults within state-funded institutions, the vault within the Institution is visited very often during endowment and donation tours and houses items that can be pulled to be viewed and researched within the reading room. Patrons who are interested in viewing materials housed within the vault must request before their visit to schedule timing for the collections to be pulled by the appropriate staff and supervised during their research.
The third archival repository within the Institution can be found on the first floor of the addition. This repository houses administration files for the organization, publications for members, back issue copies, broadsides, deaccessioned portraits, and uncataloged books that will be housed within the reading room. Administration boxes are organized at the far back of the room by type of file and year. The publications section of this repository can be dated back to 1917, many of which are back issue publications. Each back issue was recorded within a spreadsheet for publication staff to have access to the quantity of each issue for members who may be interested in buying one. They have been organized by year, volume, and number within the annual sequence. The following bays within the repository house the uncataloged books and deaccessioned portraits. Under the supervision of the manager of the research center, these sections are to be updated either through weeding the deaccessioned portraits in a book sale or having a reference assistant create MARC records for the books for them to be accessible in the reading room. The broadsides within this room, however, are housed in a separate section to protect them due to size or fragility. These collections can be found within flat file cabinets, organized by collection number and their corresponding number within their respective collection.
The fourth archival repository contains the rolled collections and deposit collections. The deposit collections within the Institution are collections from local organizations that have decided to pay a fee for the storage of their collections. Only patrons who have permission from the specified organization can access deposit collections. At the time of this analysis, this repository section was under reorganization and reevaluation. The housing and organization of rolled collections within the Institution have been managed by the project coordinator for the organization. While a third of these collections are properly organized by collection number and stored in accommodating boxes that can be retrieved from the shelves safely, the majority of rolled collections that do not have individual boxes have been stored in larger artifact boxes. As a result of this organizational rule, many of these boxes are overfilled, resulting in the rolled collections within being damaged by either being ripped or bent, or possibly losing their identification tag. The reasoning behind this choice in the organization of rolled collections is to appease any issues with the aesthetics of the repository rooms. The issues that arise from this can be seen with pulling the materials, recording the materials, and the general safety of the collections and employees working with these collections.
When pulling materials for patrons to view within the reading room, finding the collection promptly is one of the leading goals. This helps allow the researcher to have adequate time to research without having to wait for the majority of their appointment time for a reference assistant to find the collection. Usually, pulling materials from this section can take up to ten to forty-five minutes if the collection has not been misplaced. Along with this, there have been steady record issues involving rolled storage due to inconsistent shelf reads, catalog records, and collection label tags. As a result, many collections have been misplaced or lost with no record of where they are stored. The final issue with this section revolves around the lines of safety. Each box contains nearly twenty to thirty rolled collections, causing the weight of the box to exceed fifty pounds at times. The overfilling of these boxes will ultimately cause more damage to the collections due to smaller collections being weighed down by larger ones, or the possibility of fragile collections being ripped when being pulled from the boxes, when half of the collection is being weighed down. Along with the safety of the collections, there is also the safety of the employees in charge of pulling these boxes from higher shelves. The goal is to use these boxes as drawers, pulling one collection out at a time. However, due to their overfilling, the boxes have to be completely removed from the shelf, set on a nearby table, and investigated in order to find the correct collection. With the boxes exceeding fifty pounds, and many of these boxes being placed on the higher shelves where ladders are required, it can be a dangerous mission to retrieve collections without the help of another employee. Due to staffing issues, employees will have to rely on themselves when retrieving these collections, risking a possible injury to themselves or damage to the collection. For this section of the archival repositories to be properly reorganized and reevaluated, aesthetics need to be put aside, and proper archival storage and arrangement procedures need to be discussed. This may result in shifting collections, moving rolled collections to a new location, or rehousing them on the shelves safely and efficiently.
Along with the archival layouts created to ensure archival collections are organized and arranged efficiently, the Institution also worked to create a safe environment for the collections, as well as efficient disaster plans to provide the most safety to the collections during these possible events. This can be seen with the HVAC system that was put in place to ensure archival collections within the center are maintained under a low-humidity point to avoid the risk of damage to the collections, such as mold and mildew. Temperature and humidity levels are checked every day by the scheduled reference assistant and recorded within a spreadsheet for the archival staff to review. Along with this, temperature and humidity levels are also checked monthly or bi-monthly by the manager of the research center to provide accurate readings to staff during monthly meetings with the entire staff of the Institution.
As seen with other older institutions, the Institution experienced an issue with the HVAC system malfunctioning. The most recent HVAC malfunction was due to the HVAC compressor breaking in July of 2023. To protect the collections from the high humidity and temperature ranges, reference assistants were in charge of recording the temperature and humidity levels three times a day, as well as checking each industrial-grade dehumidifier within each repository room for water. This was done twice a day by checking them in the morning for liquid, dispensing the liquid, and then repeating the process before closing. Due to this process becoming an everyday routine, salaried employees were required to repeat this process on the days when the organization was closed or on the days when the reference assistants were not scheduled to work. During this time, temperatures were maintained within the 72 to 76-degree range, with a humidity level ranging between 52 and 60 percent daily. Fortunately, the compressor for the HVAC system was completed in September, allowing for the levels within the center to return to safer levels.
Along with the protocols implemented for faulty building equipment, the Institution has also implemented disaster plans in the event the building is hit during a natural disaster, specifically a hurricane. If a hurricane hits the area, the Institution’s primary focus would be to protect the collections within the reading room and the repositories. With a chain of communication and command, each leader of their group will communicate to their peers that hurricane preparations have been implemented. The next step is for the group to break up and tackle protecting items from possible damage from the hurricane. Within each repository room, large tarps are taped over the top of the shelves and taped along the sides and bottom edges of the shelves. This is done to prevent any water damage that may happen, such as a leak in the ceiling or a flood. Once the repositories are prepared, each group will assist in preparing the reading room. Archival materials that are placed in freestanding exhibits are removed and placed in a box for storage. This box stays either downstairs on a work table or is placed within the manager of the research center’s office. Following the removal of exhibits, the bookshelves on the second floor are then taped up with tarps, as seen with the repositories. Machines, surge protectors, and computers are then unplugged throughout the reading room. Finally, tarps and buckets are placed strategically around the floor of the reading room to prevent heavy damage from confirmed leaking areas in the ceiling. After everything has been completed, the manager of the research center confirms with their groups and the president and COO of the organization that the center is prepared for any possible damage, and the interior doors to the reading room are then shut and locked. In completing these procedures, the Institution is then able to preserve and protect as many of its resources and collections within the center to provide its patrons with access to them in the future.
While the repositories within the Institution may need to be reevaluated in certain areas, and work to focus on the safety of the collections, the reading room also works to run efficiently for both patrons and reference assistants. When patrons arrive in the reading room, a reference assistant is there to greet them and start a reference interview. This can range from whether they are there to do research or just to look around the facility. Due to the location of the Institution being close to a tourist area, many visitors will come in to look at the exhibits or to find more information on the building and area. Those who are interested in this are required to stay at the exhibit area, reserving the second floor and the remainder of the building for researchers. The exhibits within the front of the building can be found on both sides within glass exhibit cases, as well as a glass coffin case off to the left side near the reference desk. The exhibits provide a timeline of the state’s history from the first settlements to the present day. As for the coffin case, this exhibit displays a new exhibit every quarter to rotate the collections. If a patron is interested in coming in to do research, the reference assistant will explain the admission fee, institution membership fees, and the rules and policies within the reading room. For patrons who are not members of the Institution, admission to enter for research is five dollars a day. In contrast, members of the organization have free admission with active accounts. Memberships are priced at different levels and paid annually. Membership levels range from $35 for students to $5,000 for affiliate organizations. If patrons are interested in becoming a member of the Institution, they also receive quarterly publications mailed to their address, and discounted reference services, along with their free admission into the reading room.
After admission has been discussed with the patron, reference assistants will then begin processing patron registration for new incoming patrons. This registration consists of a form detailing their name, address, reason for research, level of membership, and their driver’s license. Every patron registration is active for one year, requiring the patron to submit a new copy the following year. Once the patron is registered, the reference assistants discuss the reading room rules. All bags are to remain behind the reference desk in a locked locker, with the key provided to the patron. Patrons are allowed to have paper, pencils, and any electronics that they may need to conduct their research. Pens, folders, notebooks, food, and drinks are not allowed within the reading room and must stay within the patron’s locker until their departure. Only four patrons are allowed to view archival materials a day, requiring patrons to call or email in advance to schedule an appointment. Accommodations to this requirement are only provided to members who have made large donations to the Institution. If patrons are waiting for their appointment time to begin or are not coming in to view archival materials, they can use the resources found within the reading room. These resources are computers, nonfiction books, annual reports and tax records, city directories, building history notebooks, census records, genealogy records, Civil War records, local and national historical journals, newspaper and enslaved persons schedule microfilm, and vertical files. The majority of the reference materials found within the reading room range from topics of regional, state, and local history.
Along with the massive repository of historical records, the Institution also provides reference and research services to both members and nonmembers of the Institution. These services are handled by the reference assistants and can be conducted in person, by phone, or by email. Reference requests can range from personal inquiries on who to contact for historic preservation to how to conduct genealogical research. If a reference request cannot be answered without the use of pulling materials to review, the reference assistant will send their findings and explain to the patron that if they are interested in learning more information, they must pay a fee for the reference assistant to conduct a research request for their inquiry.
Research requests range from forty dollars to twenty-five dollars, depending on membership status. After receiving the appropriate forms completed and signed, the corresponding reference assistant will then begin processing the research request. Each request allows up to one hour of research within archival and reference resources found within the research center. Once the research is completed, the reference assistant will then respond to the patron with their findings, and any sources and photocopies that may be included within the request. If a patron is interested in acquiring a scan of any documents or images within the archival collections, they must follow the procedures for filing an image request. Like research requests, image requests require a fee to be processed. Depending on the use of the acquired scan, additional usage fees may be added, such as use in lectures, publications, films, etc. Once the appropriate forms are signed and completed, the corresponding reference assistant will then begin processing the request. Once the scan has been completed, the reference assistant will then respond to the patron with a link to the image source within a digital file folder, an image credits form, and countersigned request forms. Both research requests and image requests have an estimated delivery time of four weeks. Due to the public hours for the Institution only being between Wednesday and Friday from twelve o’clock to five and the first and third Saturday of the month from ten o’clock to five, the majority of patrons who are unable to commute to the reading room resort to using these remote service options to gather their research materials or find an answer to their question.
Due to the time constraints and limitations of the reading room, the Board of Curators has recently decided on plans for the future of the Institution and its collections. The largest task that is currently being undertaken is the digitization of the archives. Under the supervision of one reference assistant, the digitization workflow consists of smaller collections within the manuscripts room being scheduled for scanning. Once a week, collections will be pulled and reviewed for scanning, weekly deadlines will be added to each collection, and they will then be sent to the scanning intern for digitization. Once the scans are completed, each collection is signed and sent to the supervising reference assistant to be uploaded into the archival records database within its correct collection and correlating metadata. If an image is improperly scanned, notes will be made, and the collection will be sent back to the intern for corrections. The goal behind this digitization project is to provide patrons with access to the collections in a more accessible manner. Along with this, it allows for many collections that are too fragile or damaged to be viewed more safely, allowing appropriate deaccessioning to be done to materials that can be viewed in person.
Along with the digitization plans for the Institution, plans have also been created to expand the organization’s educational program. This can be seen largely in their work to provide programs within the center for educators throughout the state on how to teach difficult subjects in a way that is understandable for all ages. Along with this, plans have also been implemented to help improve programs that are connected to local historical events and local school districts. Many of these events focus on teaching educators and students about local and state history in a way that is as unbiased as possible to provide insight into that past as a whole, rather than only providing insight into certain aspects of history. In doing this, the Institution works to improve and expand its educational offerings in a way that is neutral and understandable for all who are interested in learning about history.
The final goal for achieving accessibility and providing a successful and enlightening environment for current and future patrons is to expand the list of accepting donations from the public and members of society. As previously discussed, internal acquisitions are mainly focused on specific periods and specific events. As a result, there is a lack of history found within the repositories of the Institution. While there is a disconnect between the general public and the president of the organization, the demands for different historical points of view have been heard by the reference team. As a result, it has been discussed that there is a crucial need for more records and resources that explore the history of minorities within the area. Examples of the need for resources could be genealogical books and family papers, African-American-authored books on historical subjects that fit the mission of the organization, sheet music, newspapers, and photographs. This, in part, would allow those who are new to visiting the Institution, and those who frequent the reading room often, to search through records and resources that relate to other points of view and periods within history that are widely researched today. By continuing the discussion of accessibility and expanding the list of acceptable donations from the public, the Institution will be able to begin moving away from its limited diversity of records, as well as connect with the general public. As a result, the organization may see a rise in patronage support and engagement within the reading room.
As a highly respected organization, the Institution has been viewed as a longstanding institution of its state’s history. While there are flaws within the organization, the Institution works to evaluate its goals for accessibility and diversity to provide its members and patrons with resources and collections that portray history as neutrally as possible. Along with their goals for the work done by the organization, the Institution also works to provide a safe environment for their archival collections to continue to preserve current and future collections in a way that supports the integrity of the creators and the mission of the Institution. These improvements and updates can be seen within the work on acquisition evaluation, moving collections from analog only to both analog and digital accessibility, continued evaluation and support for historical education in the state, the maintenance of controlled accountability during storm preparation, and the maintenance and evaluation of archival collection storage. As a result, the Institution works to continue to be a focal point within the state by providing those with an interest in the history of the residing region of the U.S. with access to historical documents.
THE CAFFEINATED HISTORIAN 