Archives 101

As university archivist, Lois Hamill is head of the Special Collections and University Archives at Northern Kentucky University. She has earned the rank of full professor. She has been a practicing archivist for twenty years working with academic records, photograph and local history collections, and local government records. She previously worked for a local historical society, local government and a public library. She holds a masters degree in History/Archival Methods from the University of Massachusetts Boston, a masters in library and information science from Simmons College, Boston, is a certified archivist and has earned the Society of American Archivists’ Digital Archives Specialist certification. She also attended Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.She has spoken at national, regional and state conferences on diverse archival, history and library topics, taught a photograph workshop at the annual American Association of State and Local History conference, and state workshops on archival arrangement and collections care. She was the principle investigator for an NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Grant to create and maintain a sustainable preservation environment through monitoring and analysis of the existing HVAC system in order to mitigate humidity problems and save energy; and a security assessment grant. As a successful grant writer, she has also been asked to serve on several federal grant review panels. She has co-managed several digitization projects, development of an institutional repository and installation of compact shelving.Hamill’s focus on archival arrangement and description dates to her master’s thesis, which was followed by an independent study analyzing a library collection management module’s compliance with archival theory when applied to photographs. Her award winning first book focuses heavily on arrangement and description and photography but broadly encompasses her other experiences. A subsequent second book, Archival Arrangement and Description: Analog to Digital starts with analog records and progresses to digital records, integrating information and standards in a unique manner.

Hamill gets back to basics in this practical guide to archives. Beginning with foundational definitions and concepts, she focuses on the types of material that are often found in local historical collections and offers guidance on acquiring new materials, arranging a collection, and managing different kinds of archival resources, including paper-based records, photographs, audiovisual materials, books, artworks, and objects. Particularly useful is the chapter on finding aids, including examples of finding aids that use the descriptive standard known as “Describing Archives: A Content Standard.” Although she references other collection management software too, Hamill uses PastPerfect to illustrate her instructions for creating archival descriptions. There are appendixes for guidelines and policies, sample forms and workflows, representative examples, and vendors. The author relies on real examples throughout the book, and chapters include reading resources. This excellent and practical primer is a solid choice for staff of local collections, and educators and students of archiving.

• List of Figures, Tables, and TextboxesPrefaceIntroduction1. Basic Definitions and Concepts2. Acquiring New Materials3. Arranging the Collection4. Describing the Collection5. Photographs: Part 1—Handling, Arranging, Identifying, Rehousing, and Describing6. Photographs: Part 2—Management and Use7. Managing Digitization Projects8. Reference and Researchers9. Security 10. Exhibits 11. The Collection Storage Environment 12. Other Types of Materials13. Outside Specialists14. Additional Personnel15. Disaster PreparednessAppendixesAppendix A: Guidelines and PoliciesAppendix B: Sample Forms and WorkflowsAppendix C: Representative ExamplesAppendix D: VendorsNotesGlossaryBibliographyIndexAbout the Author