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CWU Archives Arrangement and Description Guidelines

This guide contains information for students and staff processing and handling archival materials.

Manuals and Other Reading for Archival Work

Terms associated with Archival research

Artifact – Non-archival materials (objects) retained because of their value. They are generally maintained by a curator rather than an archivist.

Collection – The contents of an archives or a specific large group of materials within that Archives

Ephemera – Items that are created for a specific event or activity, are often mass-produced, and are not intended to survive indefinitely. (i.e. a handbill, newspaper, menu, etc.)

Finding Aids – Indices to a collection that help establish intellectual control over the archives. Basic finding aids include descriptive inventories, guides, accession registers, card catalogues, shelf lists, and automated databases.

Preservation – Measures taken to prevent or delay degradation of archival materials. These measures involve using safe (acid and lignin free) storage supplies and providing safe housing for materials.

Provenance –the origin of a collection, documents the life of the collection i.e. donor, previous owners of the collection

Scope and Content – Description of a collection or its parts.

Series- Records with the same provenance that have a similar theme, resulted from the same activity, or have similar formats