Whether you came here after visiting our website and were interested in learning more about archives, were dropped into one of our finding aids without warning as part of a search and are trying to figure out what exactly you are dealing with, or were using a finding aid and came across an unfamiliar term that you need explained, this page is designed to answer some of the more basic questions and to help you use our collections and their finding aids more effectively. It includes a glossary of terms and concepts commonly used in archives, and a more detailed section on finding aids. This finding aids section describes the types of finding aids one will find in Special Collections and the various parts that make up a finding aid.
Unlike books, which are single items usually created to discuss a specific topic or concern and published in many copies, archival collections are made up of many items created during the course of living one’s life, or as part of the daily business of an organization, and which are for the most part unique. Archives are the very stuff from which history is written. Finding aids thus describe many items, unlike a catalog record for a book, which usually describes only a single item or one issued on a regular basis (like a magazine or a journal).
Catalog card files: only a few collections have these; most of the time they are indexes to individual items in a collection. Available only in Special Collections.
Catalog record (in Libraries’ online catalog): usually a copy of the information in the guide entry (see below) put into electronic form for the online catalog. May describe a series of a larger collection.
Guide entry: short (no more than four pages; usually only one page) description of a collection and sometimes a series. In the case of a collection that also has a register (see below), the guide entry is an abstract of that register and/or series descriptions within the register. Does not include a box/container/folder-title list.
Register: usually describes a collection of one cubic foot or more, although collections smaller than one cubic foot may have a register and larger ones (no more than two to five cubic feet) may not. More detailed than a guide entry (see above), it includes a box/container/folder-title list. A similar finding aid found in other archives is called an inventory.
University Archives Series Description: almost the same as a register; the entire University Archives is considered a “collection.” Includes a box/container/folder-title list.
Collection ID: A number assigned to a manuscripts collection or University Archives series. When requesting material you will need to know this number.
Quantity: How much “stuff” there is in a collection. This is usually expressed in cubic feet followed by the number of folders, volumes, items, etc. that are in the collection.
Biographical/organizational history note: gives the highlights of the life and activities or history of the individual, family or organization that created the documents in the collection. It provides context for understanding the collection.
Scope and content note: describes the collection itself. It will usually list the types and formats of material within a collection (correspondence, photographs, etc.), its span and bulk dates (if appropriate), how the material is arranged (alphabetically, chronologically, etc.), the functions or activities that resulted in the creation of the material and the most significant topics, events, persons, places, etc. represented by the collection. It may also list the most significant correspondents in the collection, highlight certain items within it and describe materials that would not normally be in the collection but are and/or items that should be in the collection but are not. It is a good idea to read this section before using a collection.
Separation list: list of items that have been separated from the collection because of size (oversize), nature of the item (like photographs) or because they have been restricted.
Series description: as the name implies, describes a series; will have its own equivalent of a scope and content note for that series and may also include something like a biographical/organizational history note. This is another section that should be read before doing research in a collection.
Box/container/folder-title list: a list of the titles of all the folders in the collection.
NOTE: Not all finding aids will have each of these parts; for example, catalog cards, records in the online catalog and guide entries do not have a box/container/folder-title list. However, catalog records and guide entries will always have the equivalent of a scope and content note, and most will have the equivalent of a biographical/organizational history note.
Archives: “The documents created or received and accumulated by a person (also family) or organization in the course of the conduct of affairs, and preserved because of their continuing value.” (The “official” definition) It is also used to describe a place where such documents are kept, especially when it is the place where an organization keeps it own records.
Bulk dates: dates within which most of the material in a collection falls. For example, the material in a collection may date from 1900-1989 (the span date), but most (or the bulk) of the material falls between 1930-1980.
Clippings File: As the name suggests, a file of newspaper clippings relating to a particular subject or individual. May include magazine articles as well.
Collection: An artificial grouping of documents brought together because of a common characteristic (creator, format, subject, etc.) without regard to the individual/organization that created, accumulated and/or maintained and used the documents (provenance) Also used as a general term for a group of papers or records.
Copyright: the legal right of the author of a documents and his/her heirs to publish or reproduce a document or to authorize such publication or reproduction. While an archives may own the physical document, it might not own the copyright to that document. (See our Copyright page for more information)
Cubic foot: takes up 12” x 12” x 12” of space on a shelf. One cubic foot = approximately 2,800-3,000 pages or 350 8”x10” photographs.
Documents: Recorded information in any format. So “documents” are not just paper items, but include artifacts, photographs, sound recordings, films, videotapes, material in digital form, etc. as well.
Finding Aid: a tool used by archivists to describe a collection and by researchers to locate material of interest to them; in Special Collections these includes catalog card files, guide entries, registers, records in the Libraries’ online catalog, and University Archives series descriptions.
Manuscript(s): used to refer to archival materials that are not part of an organization’s archives. For example, all archival materials in Special Collections that are not part of the Clemson University Archives are manuscripts, even if it comes from someone who went to, worked for, or is associated in any way with the University. Manuscripts are sometimes said to be kept in a manuscript repository.
Original Order: The principle that an archives/collection should keep the arrangement established by the creator of the archives/collection in order to preserve existing relationships within the files and any evidential significance these relationships may have. (It also allows us to use any finding aids the creator made)
Papers: usually refers to the documents received or created and accumulated by an individual or family.
Provenance: the individual/organization that created, accumulated and/or maintained and used the documents before they were transferred to an archives or a manuscript repository. The principle of provenance, or “respect des fonds,” is “the principle that records/archives of the same provenance must not be intermingled with those of any other provenance.” (another “official” definition) In other words, material from one office (or person, or family) shouldn’t be mixed up with the material from another office (or person, or family).
Records: usually refers to documents received or created and accumulated by an organization.
Restrictions: limits on the access to and/or use of single items or a group of documents; they may be required by federal or state law. An access restriction determines whether the collection is available for use and under what terms; a use restriction determines what you can do with the collection once access is provided. An example of an access restriction is “These files are closed for use until 2010.” An example of a use restriction is “No photocopying.”
Series: a subdivision of a collection, usually representing a specific group of files. A subseries is a subdivision of a series. One can have sub-subseries, etc.