How to Use This Resource

NAVIGATION

The Best Practices are structured to facilitate practical reference. They begin with contextual grounding on both accessioning broadly and this project specifically, introduce a foundational ethical platform for accessioning work, guide readers through the day-to-day labor of accessioning archival materials, and point toward external resources for further consideration.

Best practice statements are included throughout these guidelines and are intended as a principal recommendation with foundational actions applicable in many contexts. Each statement is followed by additional explanations, definitions, guidance, and steps for meeting desired outcomes.

Some “best practice” statements are followed by “additional considerations” or steps for “going further” to provide flexibility and adaptability. “Going Further” recommendations are a way to do more, or move beyond what is essential, but are not innately better; they are simply practices that might be relevant in individual contexts.

For a quick reference to all best practice recommendations, see Appendix B. Best Practices At-a-Glance.

A note on the use of “best” An inability to meet a best practice should not be considered a failure! The word “best” has power, both to diminish important labor limited by outside forces and to support advocacy for accessioning resources.

Structure and Organization

The Best Practices consist of four parts:

• Guiding Principles: This chapter consists of foundational positions that serve as a conceptual reference point for accessioning work and provide an ethical grounding for practical accessioning decisions.

• Methods and Practices: The majority of the Best Practices takes the reader through the activities that occur during accessioning work, with a stated “best practice” recommendation grounded in practical implementation approaches and intended outcomes. This chapter also includes recommendations for successful accessioning labor practices that propose a multifaceted understanding of the accessioning archivist, and it offers guidelines for creating accessioning positions.

• Accession Record Elements: This chapter provides system-agnostic guidance on the creation and maintenance of accession records. It includes a recommended elements set.

• Appendices: The Best Practices conclude with complementary resources that individuals may wish to consult in the course of reflecting upon their accessioning practices. The appendices consist of a metadata crosswalk, a compiled list of all best practice recommendations, an expanded exploration of accessioning partners, templates of workflow documents, and a bibliography.

This document is functionally organized; it is structured according to actions rather than specific job titles or roles. The Best Practices are intended to be as flexible as possible with the understanding that institutional contexts vary greatly: not every institution has a defined accessioning archivist position; some archivists oversee all archival functions within their repository; resourcing for collections care varies and has a material impact on workflows; and acquisition rates and models differ.

Similarly, the order of this document does not imply a linear workflow narrative. These accessioning methods are presented in the order that they generally occur, but they are by no means prescriptive. While some activities have a natural sequence (e.g., securing a deed of gift before physically transferring a collection), the collaborative and multifaceted nature of accessioning often demands parallel work or iterative processes. The sections and best practice statements are numbered to ease navigation and reference, but the numbers do not suggest an implicit value or prescribe an order of operations.

Recommendations for Born-Digital materials

General best practices for accessioning apply to all formats, and in this document recommendations related to specific born-digital needs are only made explicit when they diverge from the needs of analog materials. Additional accessioning needs of born-digital materials are interwoven into the relevant functional areas. Accessioners frequently work on analog and digital content concurrently, and born-digital accessioning is a central part of modern accessioning practice, not an addition or footnote.

TERMINOLOGY

For definitions and explanations of most archival terms, please consult the SAA Dictionary of Archives Terminology. This document uses some terms in ways that diverge from these definitions. As used in the Best Practices:

• Accessioning is the basis of all archival stewardship. It is a suite of activities through which archivists appraise, transfer, stabilize, and document archival acquisitions. Accessioning provides pathways to access, informs future decisions, and promotes sustained resource commitment for the care of archival materials.

• Accessioning archivist refers to anyone doing archival accessioning, regardless of their official job title. This phrasing should not be interpreted to imply that the suite of accessioning activities is specific to one person, as staffing levels and organizational structure vary widely from repository to repository.

• Access refers to the availability of archival materials and/or information about them to user communities. Access is an ethical archival imperative, but one that is specific and contextual to each institution.

• Source refers to the agent responsible for transferring custody of an archival resource to a repository, with or without monetary recompense. This might include individuals, families, organizations, vendors, or other repositories. “Source” is used throughout the Best Practices unless a more specific term is appropriate.

• Stabilization refers to the actions that ensure materials can be reliably located, safely moved, and protected from needless damage or deterioration until they receive further attention.

WHO SHOULD USE THESE BEST PRACTICES

The Best Practices are for two primary audiences: archivists doing accessioning work and managers and administrators who oversee accessioning archivists. Due to the broad impact of accessioning across an institution, all archivists and archives administrators will benefit from an increased understanding and appreciation of accessioning.

For accessioning archivists, the Best Practices are a scalable framework to be modified and applied to their local contexts. The document also includes guidance to help them advocate for themselves and demonstrate the value of their efforts to others in their institutions. It seeks to uplift the often invisible and underappreciated—yet highly critical—labor of archival accessioning.

The Best Practices also set forth professionally endorsed, ethical employment practices regarding accessioning labor. The concrete recommendations in this document aim to help managers set accessioning archivists up for success in their roles and support them in their work. The well-honed professional skills and judgment required to perform the work of accessioning should not be overlooked when creating job descriptions, supervising accessioning work, advocating for the importance of accessioning for the institution, and advocating for the individuals performing this labor.

HOW TO MAKE LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION DECISIONS

A reflexive joke in the archival profession often appears in response to many questions: “It depends.” Too often, however, the conversation stops at “It depends.” The Best Practices aim to identify the factors specific situations depend on, allowing individuals to evaluate the matter at hand, exercise judgment, and identify a sensible path forward.

This is not a how-to manual. These best practices strive to be both realistic and aspirational, as well as flexible and scalable to any local context. Practitioners are encouraged to modify these best practices to the unique needs of their collections and user communities based on staffing, workflows, stakeholders, and available resourcing. An example may be instructive: One best practice recommends that archivists maintain original order during rehousing. Some institutions may elect to incorporate some physical and intellectual arrangement activities into their accessioning programs; other institutions may enforce a firm delineation and explicitly avoid any arrangement activities during accessioning. Both are valid options so long as they are thoughtfully considered and based on institutional needs.

These best practices are not meant to be prescriptive. Local implementation decisions are highly specific and contextual, based on unique combinations of resources, organizational structure, collections, and user communities. As such, these recommendations do not endorse any particular tool, system, or workflow, nor do they include an extensive library of examples or templates. Case studies, conference presentations, and an active community of practice are complementary ways to share and learn about local decisions and workflows.

Archivists are encouraged to be reflective and bold in applying these best practices locally.

Ask yourself:

• What is the goal of this best practice?

• What are the risks? What is necessary?

• What can I do with the resources I have?

• What is possible?

These recommendations are also not an all-or-nothing model; some may appear unsuitable or out of reach due to an institution's resources, permanent infrastructure, or other limitations. Read each best practice recommendation for its outcome, and do the best with what you’ve got. Accessioning workflows can be a work-in-progress that you refine over time.