Presentation

Finding Aids for Finding Collections: Using New Description to Intellectually Reunite Traditionally Split Collections

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Abstract

Acknowledging that existing collection management practices and policies are no longer adequate takes courage. Acting on this takes time and patience. This can be especially true when tradition and inertia maintain a status quo that does not serve the interests of the collections or users. This session will explore examples of description and access practices that initiated changes to these situations. Presenters will share case studies of decisions to provide access to split collections, tools used for description and access, and how each experience and situation considers past or current donor relations, collection development decisions or practices, joint or separate research access points, and past and current user needs. Session attendees will leave with practical approaches to description and access for physically and/or administratively siloed portions of intellectually similar collections, as well as an understanding of how archival description can be used to bridge those silos in varying management contexts.

Treshani and Ruth will discuss their approach to unifying University of Kentucky School of Music concert recordings and programs housed in the University Archives and the Fine Arts Library. They will cover collection acquisition and description decisions, including their decision to create an archival collection guide and a collection-level MARC record providing two access pathways to this dispersed collection. Lindy and Derek will discuss their work at the University of Missouri–Kansas City to combine multiple finding aids for split collections as part of an ArchivesSpace implementation. With this shift, access is more straightforward for patrons, but it has necessitated new workflows for staff.

Keywords: finding aids, university archives, special collections, sound recordings, collection management

How to Cite:

Perera, T., Bryan, R., Smith, L. & Long, D., (2024) “Finding Aids for Finding Collections: Using New Description to Intellectually Reunite Traditionally Split Collections”, MAC Annual Meeting Presentations 2024(1).