How We Prepare Manuscript Collections For Use

• Articles (both published and unpublished)
• Books
• Charts
• Graphics (photographs, drawings, etc.)
• Letters (with envelopes if possible)
• Genealogical notes
• Objects
• Original documents (deeds, wills, bonds, etc.)
• Postcards
• Records concerning a church, town, corporation, or organization (originals and/or copies)
• Compiled genealogy (if documented)

Collections will be organized by NEHGS in a systematic manner so researchers can find useful information.

The first procedure is to survey the collection and analyze it as a whole to note any pre-existing organization before rearranging its parts. Next, the collection is arranged by a manuscripts curator.

The physical arrangement involves unfolding and flattening papers and removing items that might damage the papers, such as staples, paper clips, rubber bands, or newsprint. Published material may be transferred to the Reference Library, the Circulating Library, returned to the donor, donated to another institution, or sold, depending upon our needs and arrangements with the donor.

Intellectual arrangement involves recognizing the type(s) of records: their origin, content, and organization. Since manuscripts are unpublished, collections usually lack indexes and other bibliographic features (e.g., title page, table of contents or chapters) which assist readers in finding information quickly. As a result, a finding aid is created to describe the physical and intellectual arrangement of a collection. NEHGS finding aids include the following elements:

• Creator/compiler's name(s);
• Dates covered by the collection
• Collection's volume
• Historical note detailing the history of the collection before arriving at NEHGS
• Description of the contents including its strengths and weaknesses
• Folder-level listing of the collection contents

Finally, NEHGS creates a catalog record for each collection for inclusion in the OCLC WorldCat database, a national subscription database containing the holdings of over 37,000 libraries. A copy of the catalog record is then exported to our local online public access computer (OPAC) called SydneyPLUS. At this point the record can be searched through the NEHGS online catalog.