What is Processing?

To make a collection accessible for research, the archivist must gather and analyze information about the collection, physically organize and arrange the materials into a useful order, and create appropriate finding aids so that the user might identify and locate relevant materials. Processing is a comprehensive term encompassing all the work needed to make collections useable and available for research. There are three distinct activities in processing a collection.

• Gathering and analyzing information about the collection
• Organizing and arranging the collection
• Creating finding aids to provide access to the collection

In practice, processing a collection is a set of repetitive and iterative operations, rather than the discrete sequential steps shown above.

Gathering and Analyzing Information

Archival materials are seldom acquired in pristine order with detailed documentation of their origins, internal structure, subject matter, and historical significance. In order to physically organize the materials properly and to assemble the documentation necessary to create appropriate finding aids, the archivist must consult a variety of external sources and carefully study the contents of the collection itself. This work is suffused with, and informed by, a continual process of gathering information about the materials, analyzing it, and applying it to their organization and description. For more information about gathering and analyzing information, see "Assembling Documentation", in the chapter called "Gathering and Analyzing Archival Information".

Review information in existing accession records or other transmittal documents such as donor agreements, transfer forms, records retention schedules, and disposal authorizations.

Accession information includes:

• The donor's name and address
• The collection's name
• When the institution received the collection
• Whether the collection was acquired by donation, transfer, or purchase
• How the collection fits into the institution's collection policy
• Information the donor provides about the contents of the collection and the people and organizations documented therein

Conduct research in reference sources
The archivist also checks external reference sources for additional information about the creators of the materials being processed, to better recognize and understand the contents and inter-relationships of individual documents. Useful sources of information include local or regional histories, biographical dictionaries, other related archival collections, city directories, cemetery records, and various types of reference works.  Such resources may be revisited during processing as information about new persons, places, and events are encountered in the documents.

Study the contents of the collection  
During the process of organizing the documents, the archivist will gather additional data about their provenance, the activities and functions they document, their physical composition and arrangement, their subject content, and their historical significance. See "What Information is Collected?" through "Significance of historical context", in the chapter calledt "Gathering and Analyzing Archival Information".

Organization and Arrangement

The task of physically putting materials in a collection into a particular order involves two closely related activities: organizing and arranging. Archivists generally refer to organizing as the activity of dividing the collection into distinct units, such as series and sub-series. Once these units have been established, arrangement refers to the filing pattern, such as alphabetical or chronological order, which the materials will follow.

As the archivist examines the collection, information is gathered about its structure. At the same time, analysis is conducted on the content of the collection, which may in turn inform the final organization and arrangement.

The physical processing of collections includes four related activities:

• organizing
• arranging
• housing
• conserving

These may be performed as distinct and separate actions that are fully completed one after another in sequence or, as is more often the case, that are carried out in a non-linear process, moving back and forth between the different activities as the collection is examined.
 
Organization
Organization relates to the manner in which the materials have been subdivided into smaller units, as, for example, record groups being divided into series, and series into subseries. It is the underlying conceptual order of the collection. As the archivist examines the collection, the order and organization is noted, as is information about the type of material, information recorded therein, and people, events and activities documented. The manner in which items are grouped and organized can reveal new information that assists in the understanding and interpretation of the collection. All of this information is brought to bear on how the collection is ultimately organized and arranged. Following the principle of original order, the archivist tries to retain as much of the original organization as possible, only reorganizing parts or the whole when access is hampered, or the materials are rendered unusable by their current organizational scheme.

Arrangement
Arrangement relates to the pattern of filing (e.g. alphabetical, chronological, etc.) of materials within the unit described. Once the organizational relationships among the various units and sub-units of the collection have been established, the archivist decides how to order the individual items within those units.

Housing
Determining the proper size and type of container for different materials is another task performed at this time.  Size, condition, and format are all factors in deciding upon what type of container is appropriate. Repackaging the materials into archivally appropriate acid-free boxes and folders is another important component of the physical processing of a collection.

Conservation
Making decisions about which materials should receive special conservation treatment occurs at this stage. It might also include such activities as removing metallic fasteners, and copying fragile and brittle items, including newspapers and thermofax documents, to save wear and tear on the originals.

Creating Descriptions in the Form of Catalog Records and Inventories/Registers

The descriptive tools, or finding aids, that are created to provide intellectual access are also based on the analysis performed by the archivist. Catalog records and inventories are the primary vehicles used today to convey information about archival collections to users.  The creation of finding aids, both catalog records and inventories/registers is a complex process which requires the archivist to have a working knowledge of the standards and tools (See "Descriptive Standards for Catalog Records" and "Descriptive Standards for Inventories/Registers", in the chapter called "Descriptive Standards for Finding Aids"), and to acquire cataloging skills which go far beyond the scope of this publication.
 
The creation of a finding aid requires many decisions that draw upon the archivist's knowledge of the collection and understanding of descriptive principles. For example, each of the areas of a catalog record (e.g., title, date) may have a number of ways to record information properly, depending on the type of collection being described. APPM sets out the rules governing these decisions, and archivists should be thoroughly familiar with this accepted standard before creating catalog records. SAA offers, as part of its Descriptive Standards Institute, a two day workshop on Cataloging as a Component of Description which gives beginning archivists a thorough grounding in the needed skills.

While there may still some variation among institutions as to the format of catalog records, the MARC format is the most widely accepted  standard for these and is, indeed, mandatory for institutions contributing records to the bibliographic utilities. While the subtleties of MARC cataloging may be learned through on-the-job practice, formal training is preferable for acquiring the basics. SAA's workshop on Application of the USMARC Format is a good place for the novice to begin orientation to the intricacies of MARC. More long range instruction can be obtained in formal cataloging courses

While there is widely accepted standardization of catalog records through the use of MARC, no such standard existed for inventories/registers until the emergence of the EAD for electronic finding aids. Creating finding aids using the EAD, requires an understanding of the EAD DTD and SGML authoring software. The SAA workshop the Encoded Archival Description has proven to be a very popular venue for this training, having been presented widely in the United States, as well as in Europe and Australia.

Use of various standards governing access points in finding aids, such as the LCSH and AAT,  also requires some more formal instruction. While the Subject Cataloging Manual lays out rules for forming LCSH headings, and the AAT Application Protocol does the same for AAT terminology, it is recommended that beginning archivists seek out more structured training opportunities, where they can practice using these tools. The Descriptive Institute's  two day Access Points workshop provides such a venue, as do cataloging courses in formal graduate programs. There is also a web site devoted to application of vocabularies Introduction to Vocabularies: Access to Cultural Heritage Information.

The reader is also encouraged to consult the bibliography in this publication for more in-depth information concerning the creation of finding aids.