Digital Collections and Finding Aids - Read a Finding Aid - Activity

Introduction | Explore a Box - Activity | Read a Finding Aid - Prep | Read a Finding Aid - Activity

Explore the catalog record (5 minutes)

A catalog record is a short-form description.

For archives, the catalog record describes the archival collection as a whole.

Note: not all institutions make catalog records for their archival collections.

Explore the catalog record for the Carter Family Papers. (This is the collection from Explore a Box - Activity).

What does the record tell you about this collection that you already knew? Did you learn anything new from this catalog record?

Explore the finding aid (15 minutes)

A finding aid is a long-form description of an archival collection.

The detailed description of a finding aid makes searching for archival materials in a library catalog easier. Many institutions will have a special finding aid site alongside their regular catalog. Harvard’s is HOLLIS for Archival Discovery.

Note: Read Finding a Finding Aid walks through the details of a sample search for finding aids in HOLLIS for Archival Discovery.

Most finding aids will have a collection overview and some kind of detailed inventory of folders and boxes. The finding aid may also indicate whether any portions of the collection have been digitized.

Explore the Carter family papers finding aid. As you go, note any new information that you find that wasn’t clear from the box or the catalog record.

Identify the parts of the finding aid

Understanding the structure and context of a collection is key to making sense of it.

Learn more about the scope and content, as well as biographical and historical information in Reading a Finding Aid.

Collection Overview

The top of the collection overview lists some practical information. Here you will find a brief overview, the dates of the materials, and the extent (how big it is). This information is particularly important if you’re going to be visiting the collection. Use this information to get a sense of how long it might take you to work through the materials. In this case, the Carter Family Papers are quite small! (Compare, for example, the finding aid for the Papers of Angela Y. Davis, a collection that extends over more than 195 boxes.)

Language of Materials notes what language(s) the papers are in.

Conditions Governing Access will tell you if you can in fact go to the library to see the collection or if any of it is restricted from use for any reason. For the Carter Family, there are no restrictions on physical access should you want to make the trip to the library.

At the end of the Biographical/Historical note, you will find details for an internal file. An internal file is a file of materials gathered by the staff at the library holding the collection. These materials were gathered by archivists, curators, as well as those sent along with the collection from the donor or, in this case, bookseller. If there is an internal file mentioned in the finding aid, you can ask to visit it in person at the library.

Arrangement will list the series and sub-series of the collection. Archivists describe materials in aggregate, so you’ll find series of like materials grouped together. For example, you will find groups of correspondence, memorabilia, and financial records. In a small collection, like the Carter Family Papers, the arrangement is simple. For a larger collection with hundreds of boxes, it will be helpful to know what part of the collection you want to consult.

Processing information will often identify the archivist(s) who worked on the collection and describe any updates made since initial processing. You can find that additional biographical and historical information was added in 2021.

Note: Archival processing is what we call “iterative,” meaning that archivists continue updating finding aids, adding new information as it’s discovered. Read more about archival processing in the “Still Processing” section of What is an archive? What is a finding aid?

Collection Inventory

Inventories can be very different from one archival collection to another.

Sometimes materials are described down to the individual item, as found in the Carter Family Papers. In other cases, you might find materials described as a group- from large groups that are housed in multiple boxes to small groups that fill one file folder. The Carter Family Papers is a small collection, so all materials have been described either individually or in very small groups.

This collection has been divided into series and sub-series. Find this information in the collection overview. What are the sub-series?
Notice the correspondence is organized by the name of the sender. Is this the same or different from how the “Other family papers” are organized?

Do you have unanswered questions based on what you can find in the finding aid? If you do, how might you approach them?

Digital Materials

To learn more about digitized materials, read Beyond Paper in Finding Aids.

You may find cases where only a few items have been digitized from a collection. In 2023, it is fairly rare to find entire archival collections that have been digitized as the Carter Family Papers have.

Note: You can contact the repository to find out which digitized versions are or can be made available.

Born Digital Materials

“Born digital” refers to materials that were created in digital format, such as websites, digital images, or the files on a computer hard drive.

The Darcelle XV Showplace photographic collection is an example of a collection with born digital materials. Here you will find physical material described in the collection inventory, as well as a path to access the archived and current Darcelle XV Showcase website.

From the box to the finding aid (5 minutes)

Pick one of the digitized materials that you explored in Explore a Box - Activity.

Try to find the material in the finding aid, and observe how it is described.
What do you notice as you compare your experience of exploring the item itself with the description in the finding aid?

Imagine a research project where this item would be of interest.

What information in the finding aid’s description could a researcher use to identify this item as relevant to their project?

You have completed Exploring Archival Collections. Explore more modules.

Introduction | Explore a Box - Activity | Read a Finding Aid - Prep | Read a Finding Aid - Activity