An Analysis of Processing Procedures: The Adaptable Approach

Abstract

Archivists view themselves as intermediaries between the creators and users of records. Critical to this role is the archivist's responsibility to process collections, to impose intellectual and physical control on archival and manuscript collections. Few repositories seem to have resources sufficient to keep up with their growing backlog by processing as intensively or as extensively as is necessary. A project carried out at the Institute Archives of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from October 1978 to September 1981 with funding from NEH was intended to help the Institute Archives process its manuscript backlog. The project gave M.I.T. the opportunity to examine its processing procedures and formulate techniques that would make possible the efficient processing of manuscript and archival collections.