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The following is a list of all the tasks you might do if you were fully processing a collection from start to finish.

Table of Contents

I. Pre-Processing
Appraise records	Appraisal pre-processing
Physical transfer	Initial site visit
Physical transfer	Pack materials
Digital transfer	Identify media	"Know Your Media" (University of Texas, San Antonio guide)
	Label and photograph the media
	Connecting drives and devices
Create accession record	Create an accession record with all required fields.* *You can complete the record after surveying the materials if necessary	Required fields Title Identifier Accession Date Content Description Disposition Note Provenance Acquisition and Resource Type Access and Use Restrictions Dates Extents (portion, number, type, and container summary) Collection management (processors and processing status)
II. Surveying and Planning
Planning stage - Survey collection or accession during the survey you are just looking at the collection and taking notes - do not start moving, foldering, or otherwise altering the materials
	Note groups / themes Note potential materials to weed Note potential materials to send back to donor Note oversize materials Note legacy media that will have to be reformatted Note preservation concerns	Processing manual link
Create work plan or processing proposal	Processing manual link workPlanTemplate.docx
Update accession record
III. Processing
Appraisal	Deaccessioning	Processing manual link Airtable deaccession request form
Appraisal	Disposal of weeded materials	Processing manual link	Partners' papers	Processing manual link
Access restrictions (Screening)	Determine access based on MIT records policies	Institute Archives & Special Collections: Institute Records Access Policy Institute Archives & Special Collections: Institute Archives Records Collection Policy
	Access restrictions (in years)	75 years - FERPA education records, faculty and staff personnel records, health care patient records, gifts records, PII 50 years - Corporation records 20 years - all MIT records
	Access restriction categories	Processing manual link
Examples	In faculty, "personal archives" - processing manual
Reviewing for restrictions, "screening" (physical collections)	Processing manual link
Reviewing for restrictions, "screening" (digital collections)	Processing manual link
Arrangement	Physical arrangement Intellectual arrangement Digital arrangement Levels of arrangement	Processing manual link
Preservation	In-house preservation (work done by processors)	Best Practices Storage Handling and Lifting Cleanliness Standard Tools and Supplies Rehousing Materials Foldering Bound Materials (books, albums, volumes) Slide and Split Ring Binders and Other Adjustable Bindings Metal Fasteners Newspaper Clippings Photographs (prints, negatives, slides) Telegrams and Other Fragile and/or Acidic Materials Transparencies Physical Legacy Media (Substrates That Hold Digital Media) Textiles Frames Digital Disk Images Photocopying Material Recording Preservation Actions
	Disk image extraction	Processing manual link
	Wunsch Conservation Lab	Processing manual link
Description	Guidelines	Subjects Style Guidelines
	Collection level description	Collection Level Description Overview Identifier Resource Type Level of Description Language Publish
	Component list	Component List Overview Series Level Description Series Level Notes File Level Description Folder Markings File Level Notes Component Unique Identifier Sample Series Titles
	Titles	Collection, series, file level w/ style guide
	Dates	Formatting for Narrative Fields Formatting for Collection Level Description and Component Lists Normalized Dates Date Expressions Using the Date Module Content Reference
	Extents	Calculating Extent Using the Extent Module Guide to Extent Types
	Notes	all Required: Abstract Appraisal Note Arrangement Note Biographical or Historical Note Conditions Governing Access Conditions Governing Use Immediate Source of Acquisition Physical Location Preferred Citation Processing Information Scope and Contents
	Finding aid data	Finding Aid Data Overview EAD ID EAD Location Finding Aid Title Finding Aid Date Finding Aid Author Description Rules Language of Description Sponsor
Preparing materials for storage	Overview	Processing manual
	Labels and barcodes	Creating Labels Barcodes Reusing Barcodes Placement Record cartons (Paige boxes) Manuscript boxes Flat boxes
	Creating locations	Processing manual
	Label and barcode boxes
	Add to HD manifest spreadsheet		HD moves	HD manifest spreadsheet
	Schedule a move

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Old Version 37

New Version 38

Key

I. Pre-Processing

II. Surveying and Planning

III. Processing