Most archivists would agree that an electronic record is a record in electronic form and a record is a record, regardless of how it is created or the medium on which it is stored.
Archival Description and Cataloging
Archival description, primarily, is a way to bring order to the chaos of unprocessed records of enduring value.
Description is not just what archivists do to an individual collection. Description begins when the collection first comes into a repository—when archivists accession collections into a repository’s recordkeeping system. Archival description is incremental and progressive, and proceeds in a continuum. As archivists work further on a collection, they can provide more detailed and comprehensive information. Archivists are also able to provide a broader range of access points, both local and remote.
Change and Continuity with Analog and Digital Records
Two major events affecting archives and records management have occurred. The basic principles, while still valid, need to be adapted to the contemporary information environment. The world in which archival procedures implement those principles has changed.
Technology has complicated the processes for creating and managing records, and the environment in which archival management takes place has changed as well.
Providing Access to Archival Collections
Archivists have always cataloged their collections. In the past, repositories had card catalogs and catalog level descriptions in published repository guides.
Some catalogs followed library rules of the time, and some followed idiosyncratic styles. The one-of-a-kind nature of archival materials guided the descriptive tools—such as finding aids, registers, or inventories—created to provide access to them.
Writing a Collection Development Policy
Archives and special collection development policies should state what the organization currently holds and the collecting areas, especially records of enduring value that represent the organizations' history. A policy will not only formalize the archives program, but it will allow you to focus on what you would like to acquire as well as to disregard materials that fall outside of the collection. Focusing on what you will not collect will also allow you to deaccession materials that should not be in the collection.
9 Reading Strategies for Better Comprehension
There are a variety of reading methods that can help you take in more information, make your efforts more efficient, and save time. A professor in graduate school once told me that students are never expected to complete all the readings; instead, they learn how to prioritize their reading so that they can get the essence of the texts.
