Basic Data Collection
Aim to get a sense of what collections the repository holds, where they are stored, how much space they occupy, and if they are discoverable. This information will help staff better understand and report on holdings as a whole, identify hidden collections that should be made discoverable, and plan for space and stacks management.
Basic data to collect:
- Identifier (collection/call number)
- Title
- Creator
- Extent (both physical and digital). Remember to make early decisions as to how to measure collection extent (linear feet versus cubic feet, gigabytes versus megabytes). Consistency is key.
- Locations
- Description/discoverability status (accession record, HOLLIS record, finding aid (paper or digital, local listing or box inventory))
Additional Data Collection
Gaining further understanding of the collections is a good next step. This information will help plan preservation projects, identify collection development strengths and gaps, establish processing priorities, plan digitization projects, identify high-use collections for outreach efforts or stacks/location management, and support reporting and annual planning.
Additional data to collect:
- Date range of materials
- Language(s) of materials
- Physical condition which can be rated on a scale of 1-5 (quantitative approach), and/or describe preservation needs such as rehousing or reformatting (qualitative approach)
- Special formats present (born-digital materials, audio-visual media, etc.)
- Processing status
- Access status (closed/open)
- General subject matter
- Research value
- Anticipated processing level required for access
- Date(s) of acquisition and/or accession
- Acquisition status (gift, purchase, transfer, deposit, loan, etc)
- Frequency of use
Scenarios
What collections do we have and how are they described?
Data needed:
- List of collections (titles, identifiers, etc.)
- Description status
What percentage of our collections need to be rehoused?
Data needed:
- Total number of collections
- Physical condition
Onsite storage space is at a premium; what collections are currently stored onsite that could be candidates for moving off site, and likewise, what collections should be stored onsite that aren’t currently?
Data needed:
- List of collections (titles, identifiers, etc.)
- Frequency of use
- Physical condition
- (optional) Research value