Special Collections > Archives and Manuscripts > Glossary

Glossary

Below is a list of definitions for common archival terms. For answers to questions about the Archives and Manuscripts Department at the University of Maryland, check out our Frequently Asked Questions page.

For a comprehensive, searchable glossary of archival terminology, please visit A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology at the Society of American Archivists.

ARCHIVES

(1) The non-current records of an organization or institution preserved because of their continuing value. (2) The agency responsible for selecting, preserving, and making available records determined to have permanent or continuing value. (3) The building or part of a building where archival materials are located.

ARCHIVIST

The professional staff member within an archival institution responsible for any aspect of the selection, preservation, or use of archival materials. See also MANUSCRIPT CURATOR

BOX INVENTORY

A listing of the contents of all the boxes that comprise a collection, folder by folder; this listing may also include indications of which materials have been moved to oversize boxes or map drawers or transferred to other storage areas such as the photograph, memorabilia, or audio-visual collection.

COLLECTION

1. An artificial accumulation of materials devoted to a single theme, person, event, or type of document acquired from a variety of sources.
2. A general term used to describe groupings of archival or manuscripts materials.

DEED OF GIFT

A signed, written instrument containing a voluntary transfer of title to real or personal property without a monetary consideration. Deeds of gift to archives and manuscript repositories frequently take the form of a contract establishing conditions governing the transfer of title to documents and specifying any restrictions on access or use.

DOCUMENT

A written paper, recording, photograph, computer file, or other item that bears the original, official, or legal form of something and can be used to furnish evidence or information. Letters to an individual, business reports, architectural drawings, photographs, videos, and computer files are all examples of documents.

FILE FOLDER

Filing unit, preferably made from acid-free materials; titles of file folders are listed in the box inventory in a FINDING AID. The use of parentheses with a number and a lower case f at the end of a folder entry, e.g. (5f), indicates that there are multiple file folders with the same title.

FINDING AID

General term used to describe the various research tools the Archives and Manuscripts Department creates to provide information about its holdings; types of finding aids prepared by the department include PRELIMINARY INVENTORIES, RESOURCE GUIDES, and MARC RECORDS which are entered into the University of Maryland's online catalog (VICTOR).

HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS

Correspondence, notes, reports, financial records, meeting minutes, photographs, memorabilia, ephemera, and other primary and secondary materials commonly associated with the work or life of an historical figure or an organization.

LINEAR FEET

A standard measure of the quantity of archival materials on the basis of shelf space occupied or the length of drawers in vertical files or the thickness of horizontally filed materials. For example, a moderately full manila folder file is typically 3/4 of an inch wide at the bottom. Approximately 16 such folders may equal one linear foot.

LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS

Drafts, notes, manuscripts, proofs, correspondence, and other primary and secondary materials commonly associated with the work or life of a literary figure.

MANUSCRIPT CURATOR

The professional staff member within a manuscript repository responsible for any aspect of the selection, preservation, or use of documentary materials.

MANUSCRIPTS

A grouping of documents created or accumulated by an individual or family, usually having historical or literary value or significance.

MARC RECORDS

A brief description of a collection in a coded form that is entered into the University of Maryland Libraries' online catalog (VICTOR); MARC is an acronym for "machine-readable cataloging".

PRELIMINARY INVENTORY

A type of finding aid that is created upon accession of new materials to an archive or manuscript repository. The preliminary inventory usually contains a box or folder level listing, but usually does not attempt to arrange items in a collection into series or other groupings.

PROCESSING

The activities of accessioning, arranging, describing, and properly storing archival materials.

PROVENANCE

1. The "office of origin" or original source of the materials in a collection or the archival principle of not intermingling records from different creating bodies
2. The section in a finding aid that describes how the University of Maryland Libraries acquired the collection in question

RECORD GROUP

A body of organizationally related records established on the basis of PROVENANCE with particular regard for the administrative history of the record-creating institution or organization. For example, University Archives record groups include the Records of the College Park Campus Senate and the Records of the Agricultural Experiment Station. For a complete listing of processed record groups in the University Archives, please click here.

RESOURCE GUIDE

List of materials in an archive or manuscript repository that relate to a certain subject or theme. The Archives and Manuscripts Department has created several resource guides; clickhereto view the complete list.

SERIES

A grouping of file units or documents arranged in accordance with a unified filing system or maintained by the records creator as a unit because of some relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use. For example, correspondence or meeting minutes are typical series designations within an archival/manuscript COLLECTION or RECORD GROUP.

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

The University Archives is the repository for a broad range of materials, including official office records, printed publications, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting the history and present activities of a university. The holdings of the Univesity Archives at the University of Maryland relate to the entire University of Maryland system and in particular, the College Park campus.

Credit for definitions:

1. University of Maryland Libraries
2. Bellardo, Lewis J. and Lynn Lady. A Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers, The Society of American Archivists, Chicago, 1992.

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