The Joint Processing Guidelines at Harvard University:
- Provide a coherent Harvard University-wide framework for archival accessioning, processing, and administration in which local practices can be embedded.
- Focus on workflows and processes rather than archival metadata standards.
- Offer tools that support decision-making for repository staff.
- Accommodate evolving archival practice.
The implementation of the Joint Processing Guidelines enables repository staff to:
- Improve the user experience through peer collaboration and shared practices.
- Expedite intellectual and physical control of collections.
- Create efficiencies in practice that produce flexible, appropriate-level processing and accessioning procedures.
- Support and encourage inter-repository projects and initiatives.
- Improve how special collections and archives repositories communicate the accessibility and processing status of collections across Harvard University libraries.
The guidelines do not provide prescriptive rules or standards for creating archival metadata for/in Harvard University systems, though they do offer more specific guidance for born digital description and reparative description. These guidelines are not intended to serve as a processing manual or substitute for archival training.
Learn more about the history of the Joint Processing Guidelines.