Society of American Archivists, 2008 eISBN: 978-1-945246-59-3
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
As diverse and rich as the American demographic is in their contents, the personal papers of members of Congress have tremendous and often untapped historic value in documenting each members district or state and its relationship to the federal government. Yet congressional collections challenge archivists and collecting institutions with every conceivable management problem associated with twentieth- and twenty-first-century records. From soliciting the collection and working with the member's office through detailed processing guidelines to planning effective outreach activities, each chapter of this manual includes the best practices for managing these unwieldy collections.
A project of the Congressional Papers Roundtable of the Society of American Archivists and funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, Managing Congressional Collections serves the needs of administrators and archivists who work with these specialized collections.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments v
Introduction - 1 Chapter 1: Soliciting or Donating a Congressional Collection - 9 Standards for Acquiring Congressional Collections - 10 A Model Congressional Collections Repository - 15
Chapter 2: Administering a Congressional Collection - 21 Calculating Costs, Space, Personnel, and Budget - 22 Sustainability and Outside Funding Sources - 25 Acquisition - 27 Access - 30 Deed of Gift - 34 Deed of Deposit - 39 Loans - 40 Oral History - 41 Ongoing Donor Relations - 43
Chapter 3: Transferring the Papers - 45 Planning for Transfer - 46 Cost-Saving Strategies - 53 Electronic Records - 55 Artifacts and Memorabilia - 57
Chapter 4: Processing a Congressional Collection 59 Planning for Processing - 60 Physical Control of the Collection - 63 Processing - 67 Appraisal Decisions - 70 Quick Checklist for Appraisal Decisions - 73 Classification, Declassification, and Reclassification - 74
Chapter 5: Reference Services and Outreach - 75 Description Practices and Access Tools - 76 Reference Services and Supporting Research - 80 Exhibitions and Outreach - 81
Appendices - 85 A. Chronology of Advances in Managing Congressional Collections - 86 B. Professional Network and Support - 91 C. Sample Deed of Gift - 94 D. Congressional Office Staff List - 95 E. Guidelines for File Disposition - 98 F. Frequently Asked Questions - 114 G. Bibliography - 120 H. House Concurrent Resolution 307 - 128
Index 133
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