Barcodes

Introduction

It is important to note that barcodes for accession and processed boxes are different. Accession barcodes typically have an “ACC” prefix, while those for processed boxes do note have any kind of prefix.

Rolls of barcodes can be found in the cabinets outside of the Bentley Historical Library's project room.

General Workflows

Associating Barcodes with Top Containers (Manual)

To associate a barcode with a top container:

Navigate to the Instances form of the accession or archival object record (public link) associated with the top container.
Click on the linked top container, and then "View". This will redirect the archivist to the record for that specific top container.
Select "Edit".
In the "Barcode" field, use a hand-held scanner to scan the barcode. Do not manually type the barcode into the field unless absolutely necessary, as this method is very prone to errors.
Once finished, select "Save Top Container".

Make sure to also:

Render the old barcode obsolete, by either crossing it out with a sharpie or physically removing it from the box.
Physically attach the new barcode to the box.

Using "Manage Top Containers" to Enter or Update Barcodes (Bulk)

It is not efficient to manually scan barcodes if the archivist has to scan more than 10 top containers. In such cases, it is advised that they use the "Manage Top Containers" feature to rapidly enter barcodes. To do this:

Click on the gear drop-down and select "Manage Top Containers" (public link).
Use the search feature to search for the specific top container(s) associated with a particular resource, accession, barcode, etc.
Once the top container(s) have been located, select the top container(s) to be updated.
Click on "Bulk operations", followed by "Rapid Barcode Entry" (public link).
Use the handheld scanner to scan the new or updated barcode(s) for each box.
When finished, click "Update [n] records".

Make sure to also:

Render the old barcodes obsolete, by either crossing them out with a sharpie or physically removing them from the boxes.
Physically attaching the new barcodes to the boxes.

Special NCRC Workflows

This section applies to accession boxes at the NCRC that have:

A physical barcode attached to a box.
A top container in ArchivesSpace associated with the aforementioned barcode.

Barcoded Accession Boxes to be Discarded

In cases where the a barcoded accession box will be discarded (and its contents will be separated), the archivist will not reuse the barcode. To discard the top container and barcode, the archivist will:

The top container should be deleted and no longer associated with the accession record.

The processor should then complete any standard collections management tasks associated with separating material (e.g., creating and filing a separations record) as well as destroy the box itself.

Barcoded Accession Boxes to be Reused

In cases where a barcoded accession box will be retained in the processed collection, the archivist will reuse the barcode. To reuse the box (and barcode), the archivist can do one of the following:

When creating new top containers:
- Create a new top container (public link).
- Associate it with the barcode that will be reused using the "Associating Barcodes with Top Containers (Manual)" workflow (described on this page).
- Delete the original top container using the "Barcoded Accession Boxes to be Discarded" workflow described on this page.
When updating existing top containers: Simply replace the barcode in the "Barcode" field with the barcode that will be reused using the "Associating Barcodes with Top Containers (Manual)" workflow (described on this page).

Associating Barcoded Accession boxes with an Archival Object

In cases where a barcoded accession box will be retained in the processed collection and associated with a specific archival object, the archivist will reuse the box and barcode. To do this, the archivist will:

Create the archival object within a resource record.
Click the "Add Container Instance" button.
Select the appropriate "Type" from the drop-down menu.
In the "Top Container" field, click the downward arrow and then "Browse" (public link).
In the "Barcode" field, type the barcode number and click "Search" (public link).
Select the appropriate top container and click the "Link to Top Container" button (public link).