Class 4: How can I find what I need to know?

•             How are archives organized?

•             What are finding aids?

•             I want to research my family history. How do I do it?

 Researchers, especially amateur researchers, would like to be able to search an archive much as they search for their favorite book in the library.  They cannot understand why archives don’t function that way.

 

Manuscript archives cannot be organized and classified as modern libraries can be.  Modern printed books are standardized.  Librarians have developed scientific systems of classification to shelve them and to allow patrons to find books easily.    

 

Archives contain unique material, of great antiquity, which may defy classification.  In some cases, the imposition of scientific classification developed for modern printed books may create chaos.  For example, in American cataloguing practices, documents issued by the diocese catalogue are catalogued with the Catholic Church as the corporate author.  If you were to take every item in the Cathedral Museum and assign the Catholic Church as the corporate author, you would not be able to find anything.  

 

Archives are organized by several guiding principals

            First, if an archival collection consists of all the materials generated by a governing body or entity, this entity usually already contains several discrete parts that produce documents.  For the Knights of Malta, these parts included the Treasury, the General councils, the Master’s household, the infirmary.  For the inquisition, these include the record of various tribunals.  Entities will also keep records of correspondence.  Ecclesiastical institutions, such the the Knights and the diocese, kept records of their papal bulls, or bullaria. 

• These sections are organized by fonds or series.

• Series are usually produced by committees or tribunals within the entity

  • Within the series, documents should be arranged in chronological order

  •  Each volume in the series will be numbered and dated

  •  The archive will have a record of the number of volumes, the range of dates that they encompass, and if any parts are missing

It also helps to know a brief history of the committee and the types of records that it generated.       

 Exceptions

1. Legacy organization
               Historical archives may not follow these principles of organization.  The archivist may inherit an ancient system of organization.  Unless there is a compelling reason to change, the archivist should preserve the ancient system as much as possible.  This concept is called le respect du fonds  which preaches that the original order and arrangement of documents must be preserved, in order to appreciate the relationship between society and the documents that the society produced. 
               Example -- the Papal Bulls of the Knights of Malta are arranged by the name of the pope, and not by date.  This provides insight into Maltese indexing practices.  Other archival materials, such as registers, also were indexed on the first name.   Rather than break up the traditional arrangements of the papal bulls to place them in strict chronological order, it is more practical to calendar them.  An index of the bulls can then be placed in chronological order for the convenience of researchers.  The original fonds remains intact for future generations.
               Organization is like conservation -- do no harm, and don’t do anything that can’t be undone by future generations.
    

2. The problems of loose documents

Example -- Section I of the Knights of Malta

                        Usually, loose documents are stored together because they are loose documents.  Section 1 of the archives contains items that don’t fit easily into the other sections – they’re loose charters, or odd account books. It is not unknown for libraries and institutions to treat loose documents as artifacts or decorative objects.    

The archive may also note related documents in other collections.  Single copies of documents and manuscripts should be listed under the entity that created them; the place where they are housed.  The principle is that the researcher should be able to find them easily.

 

What are finding aids? 

Finding aids take many different forms.  These finding aids are compiled by the archivist:

• Handlist : A list of the series, the volumes, and the dates covered.

• Shelflist :  A list of the items on the shelf

• Calendar :  A list of the documents within the archive, arranged by date and with a reference to where they are located.  Usually done for medieval documents, as later documents become too numerous.

• Catalogue :  A catalogue is a detailed description of the item, both in terms of its physical appearance and its contents.  Catalogues should also be indexed.

 

Other finding aids, or legacy finding aids, may have been created at the same time as the documents or by earlier archivists.  These include:

• Indexes.  The index may apply to the volume or to the entire series.

• Repertories.  These are summaries of the materials

• Registers.  Lists of types of documents recording specific events

Finding aids can also go online.  The Library of Congress sponsors the Encoded Archival Description, which consists of sgml tags to markup archival finding aids.

 

Publication of Documents

            Documents may also be transcribed and edited for publication, especially if they are frequently consulted.  The publication of documents provides greater access to the collection, and also saves wear and tear on the originals.  Publication is a serious work of scholarship.  Remember that once the document is published users will consult that rather than the original.  Therefore, care must be taken with transcription and with editing.

 

How to do archival research?

            First, researchers do some reading on the subject.  They check the footnotes, which contain archival citations, and they follow the trail of the footnotes back to the archives.

            After a while, experienced researchers get a feel for where things should be.  Scholars always check “loose documents” or “Miscellanea” to see if there are things of interest there that defy normal classification.

            A common question is archival research to find family history.  Here, the researcher should start by talking with family members and following leads from them.  You then work your way back as far as you can. 

            Ask questions.  There’s no substitute for human contact.  Other researchers may have leads; also, the archivist is a source of information.  Most of them are thrilled to have somebody to talk to.