Scope: This is the procedure that RMC staff use to accession an addition to an existing manuscript or archival collection. Appraisal, accessioning in Voyager, and distribution of material are commonly done by the curator, or by a technical services archivist using information supplied by the curator.
Contact: Margaret Nichols
Unit: RMC
Date last reviewed: 10/26/2018
Date of next review: August 2019
1. Receive the materials.
2. Review the materials and make a preliminary list.
3. Distribute any unwanted material as appropriate.
4. Note down the level of processing needed, and conservation treatment or special housing needed.
5. Write acknowledgment letter.
6. Search Voyager for the catalog record for the collection. Update as needed:
- the range of dates (245 $f, and 008 fixed fields for dates)
- the title (is it still an accurate description of the collection?)
- the extent (300 field)
- the restrictions, if any (506 for access restrictions, 540 for restrictions on use)
- the summary (520)
- the subject headings (6xx)
- the added entries (7xx)
Remember to add a 948 field showing you updated the record, and save it to the database.
7. On the Voyager holdings record, add a 541 field and a 583 field (following the previous ones) to describe the added material and any actions taken on it (received, acknowledged, etc.). For details on these fields, see Holdings Record Fields section of LTS Procedure #81.
8. Save the updated holdings record to the database.
9. Update the guide to the collection in EAD (as of January 2019, update the guide in ArchivesSpace), or send updates to the processing Collections Assistant.
10. Note which boxes (if any) can be sent to the Annex.
11. Add a printout of the Voyager record, the memo of understanding, and any correspondence or other information related to the addition or its acquisition, to the collection's accession folder.
12. RMC processing staff rehouse the additional material.
13. The additional material then goes to the stacks Collections Assistant, who assigns box locations. If the addition is large, she may find a temporary location while they await processing, and make a note in the Voyager holdings record giving the temporary location (for example, 583 $x Physical location: boxes 8-13 on K-108-B, etc.).