Processing Basics
Introduction
As stated by Daniel Santamaria in Extensible Processing for Archives and Special Collections: Reducing Processing Backlogs, "archives exist to be used" (p. ix). This same belief guides the Curation team as they make the Bentley's numerous collections available to donors, university units, campus groups, scholars, genealogists, students, citizens, and the BHL's own staff.
New processors will quickly discover that there is no "one way" to make archival collections available, as each collection presents unique opportunities and challenges. By following the Bentley's local processing practices, guidelines, and expectations—which are outlined in this manual and were constructed using the field's principles, best practices, and standards—processors can efficiently and effectively make collections available.
Basic Standards, Principles, and Best Practices
The Bentley Historical Library relies upon a variety of standards, principles, and best practices to make its collections accessible. Some of these are linked below:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) (public link).
The Getty Research Institute's vocabularies (public link), such as the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (public link).
Library of Congress standards (public link), including Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) (public link) and Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) (public link).
More Product, Less Process, also known as "Minimal processing" or "MPLP" (public link).
The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (public link).
Processors also employ several different conscientious description resources and strategies when describing archival material. See the Conscientious Description at the Bentley Historical Library section (public link) for more information.
Responsibilities and Expectations
Before doing any specific work, processors should familiarize themselves with the following responsibilities and expectations. Click on each hyperlinked list item to learn more:
Processors should adhere to "provenance" and "original order" whenever possible (public link).
Processors must be flexible and pragmatic when processing (public link).
Additionally, processors should abide by the Society of American Archivists' Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics (public link).