Processing archive folders

From GHM wiki

  1. Establish correct ID#, mark all objects, and verify Omeka entries (Museum Director will do this in advance)
  2. Update Omeka
    1. Description: ensure description is complete and thorough
    2. Fill in any relevant fields (date, format, etc.)
    3. Add storage location (e.g., "archive: Peach Festival storage box")
    4. Add text, if needed or possible (use OCR scan or manual transcription)
    5. Ensure item record is in the correct Item Sets and Collections
  3. Add photographs or scans
    1. Scans are only necessary when highest quality is important — typically for original photographs. Most documents can be photographed, even with a camera; follow photography guidelines.
    2. Attach photos/scans to the Omeka item record.
  4. File
    1. File items in the order found in the binder (talk to the director if you think something is out of order and should be moved)
    2. Multiple items may go in a single folder, but keep folders relatively slim; don't overstuff.
    3. Place acid-free tissue between sheets that are acidic or discoloring, particularly newsprint.
    4. Label folders with a pencil on their tabs. Typically, use ID numbers, individually or in a range; if the folder can also be labeled with text in a helpful way, do so.
  5. Make working copies
    1. Make color prints of both sides of each item. For flyers and small brochures, print interior pages as well. For larger/longer documents, ask the Director; we will usually just print the covers, sometimes with key internal pages.
    2. Label the color prints with the accession ID#, usually very small in the lower outside corner.
    3. Put the prints in clear sleeves in a 3-ring binder. This may be in accession number order, but might also be in another logical order (e.g., chronological or thematic). Talk to the Director if you're not sure.
    4. Label the binder clearly. Make sure the contents are clearly connected to the actual archive box and files; typically, the binder label will include the archive box label information.