As the initial step in managing incoming materials, accessioning is a critical function within archival work. The process ensures that newly acquired collections are formally accepted, documented, and incorporated into the repository’s holdings.
Developing an acquisition policy is critical for archivists because it sets the foundation for how an institution acquires and manages its collections. A well-crafted acquisition policy ensures the archives remains focused, relevant, and aligned with the institution’s mission and strategic goals.
Archival acquisition is a crucial process in managing records; it encompasses the methods and principles by which archival institutions acquire and take responsibility for records. It is a fundamental aspect of archival work, affecting records’ immediate management and long-term preservation and accessibility. Understanding archival acquisition involves grasping its purpose, methods, challenges, and best practices.
In my last blog post, I discussed case files—often voluminous records that contain sensitive, personal information about individuals. Archivists have several appraisal options to consider when reviewing case files:
Retain all records permanently.
Retain only key documents from the files.
Take a sample or selection of the records.
Take an example of the records.
Refuse to accept the records.
Destroy all records.
What is the value of the information contained in archival materials? To determine this, archivists concentrate on the circumstances of creation.
The focus is on identifying the role and significance of the records creator and the position that the records creator held within the organization. The records of a high-level person in an unimportant function may be less critical than lower-level records documenting a vital function. Archivists consider the creator’s position in the organization, the unit activities, and the record function.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
