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History

These guidelines were originally designed to serve as the foundation for a consistent and efficient approach to processing across Harvard University libraries. 

This work was critical, as it was evident that differing approaches to processing over time and across the Harvard University libraries had:

  • Produced inconsistencies in descriptive practices that made systems migration and data harvesting challenging, as was illustrated by the data normalization work done in order to support the implementation of ArchivesSpace.
  • Created disparities in how users experienced and utilized finding aids and other descriptive products.
  • Made it difficult to predict processing rates across Harvard repositories and consistently predict the cost of processing collections, such as for collaborative, grant funded initiatives.

In 2016, the Joint Processing Guidelines Working Group (JPGWG) was charged by the Special Collections and Archives Council (SPARC) with “developing a suite of best practices and guidelines for archival and manuscript collections that will serve as a Harvard-wide framework in which local practices can be embedded.” The JPGWG consulted with the special collections and archives community at Harvard so that the resulting guidelines acknowledge the broad spectrum of holdings and processing practices across the Harvard University Library system. 

In 2020-2021 the JPGWG developed a Harvard-wide Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description and added a section on Conscious and Inclusive Description to the guidelines.

In 2021 the group was renamed the Shared Descriptive Practices Working Group, with a new charge that included oversight of the Reparative Archival Description Task Force and the Born-Digital Content Description Task Force. Guidelines and resources developed by these task forces are or will also be part of the Joint Processing Guidelines. In 2023, the Shared Descriptive Practices Working Group officially ended, culminating with a rewrite of the Joint Processing Guidelines. Archived copies of the original guidelines were retained through archived web page collected at the request of Harvard University Archives using Archive-It.

The current processing levels build on efforts from 2009, when a group of archivists at Harvard University repositories created a processing levels chart in order to facilitate data collection on a repository collection survey. To develop an updated set of processing levels for Harvard University repositories, the Joint Processing Guidelines Working Group combined the 2009 document with more granular processing levels in use by specific repositories at the time of the JPGWG’s tenure. The current levels do not differ too substantially from the 2009 levels, so repositories using that document should not have to significantly alter practices.

Joint Processing Guidelines/Shared Descriptive Practices Working Group Members

  • Betts Coup, Houghton Library (member 2022-2023)
  • Jenny Gotwals, Schlesinger Library (member, 2016-2021, co-chair, 2016–2021)
  • Adrien Hilton, Houghton Library (member 2016-2022, co-chair, 2016-2021)
  • Charlotte Lellman, Countway Library (member 2022-2023)
  • Edwin Moloy, Law School Library (member 2016-2023)
  • Jennifer Pelose, Harvard University Archives (member 2016-2023)
  • Mary Samouelian, Baker Library (member 2016-2023, co-chair 2021-2023) 
  • Jessica Sedgwick, Countway Library (member 2016-2022, co-chair 2021-2022)
  • Kelcy Shepherd, Schlesinger Library (member 2021-2023, co-chair 2022-2023)
  • Ines Zalduendo, Frances Loeb Library (member 2016-2023)

Born Digital Description Task Force Members

  • Jessica Chapel, Harvard Law School Library (member 2021-2022)
  • Monique Lassere, Houghton Library (member 2021-2022)
  • Peter Laurence, Music Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Charlotte Lellman, Countway Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Olivia Mandica-Hart, Harvard University Archives
  • Kate Neptune, Baker Library (member and co-chair 2021-2023)
  • Laura Peimer, Schlesinger Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Sara Rogers, Frances Loeb Library (member and co-chair 2021-2023)
  • Amy Sloper, Harvard Film Archives (member 2021-2022)

Reparative Archival Description Task Force Members

  • Emilyn Brown, Schlesinger Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Danielle Castronovo, Harvard Botany Libraries (member 2021-2023)
  • Betts Coup, Houghton Library, (member 2021-2023, co-chair 2021-2023)
  • Vernica Downey, Houghton Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Michelle Interrante, Harvard University Art Museums (member 2021-2023)
  • Ben Johnson, Baker Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Joseph Kinzer, Loeb Music Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Charlotte Lellman, Countway Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Dave Mayo, Library Technology Services (member 2021-2023)
  • Robin McElheny, Harvard University Archives  (member 2021-2022)
  • Jennifer Pelose, Harvard University Archives (member 2021-2023, co-chair 2021-2023)
  • Katherine Satriano, Harvard-Peabody Museum Archives (member 2021-2023)
  • Bettina Smith, Dumbarton Oaks (member 2021-2023)
  • Chris Spraker, Harvard Law Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Jessica Suarez, Harvard Divinity School Library (member 2021-2023)
  • Sylvia Welsh, Harvard University Property Information Resource Center (member 2022-2023)
  • Julie Wetherill, Library Technology Services (member 2021-2023)