Archival Processing

Try not to use abbreviations - few are absolutely standardized and it is best to avoid possible ambiguities.

Common words and abbreviations you may not think about:

• memo = memorandum (plural: memoranda)
• info = information
• misc = miscellaneous (try to avoid this word unless the rest of your title or series is more descriptive)
• & = and (except for instances where the ampersand is part of a business name or similar, such as AT&T, Lewis & Clark College)
• # = number
• etc. = et cetera (try to avoid this too)

Exceptions:

• St., Jr., and Ft. and similar in city and person names
• U.S. (United States) and D.C. (Washington, D.C.) (note the use of periods in these); Please write out state names if possible.
• Degrees: B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (note the use of periods in these)

Acronyms: Do not use acronyms without describing them fully the first time they are used.

• Use acronyms sparingly: With electronic finding aids, researchers may jump to a portion of the finding aid without reading all of the notes. If you have a series title that has an acronym, make certain that you include the full name in the series title, in addition to the acronym. Example: School of Nursing (SON), Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
• If using an acronym and pluralizing it, make it a small 's' and don't use an apostrophe. (e.g., PACs, EISs, EAs)

   

Inclusive Dates:

• 1849-1851 (no spaces around the dash)
• NOT 1849-51

If the collection continues to accrue, place the most recent accrual in the date span:

• 1965-2009
• NOT 1965- OR 1965- (Ongoing)

Bulk Dates:

• 1895-1960, bulk 1916-1958

Significant Gap in Records:

• 1827, 1952-1978

Estimated Date Ranges:

• circa 1870-1879 OR approximately 1952-1978

Single Dates:

• 1975
• 1975 March
• 1975 March 17

Estimated Dates:

• circa 1967
• before 1967
• after 1967 January 5
• 1960s

No Dates:

• undated

• Capitalization: Use sentence structure – capitalize the first word and proper titles or names. DO NOT capitalize every word. Do capitalize the word directly after a colon (:).
• Initials: Put a space after each period in a name (J. R. R. Tolkien). For places, do not use a space (U.S., D.C.).
• Possessive case: If a word is singular, but ends in ‘s’, you still need to add ’s in the possessive case (e.g., Lawton Chiles’s notebooks).
• Commas: Please use the Oxford comma (comma used before the conjunction, e.g., one, two, and three) as it helps clarify your intention.
• Pluralization: An apostrophe is not used to pluralize a noun, date, or acronym (e.g., EAs, 1980s) and in cases of doubt (e.g., thank yous), please use a different phrase (e.g., thank you notes, thank you letters) 
• Miscellaneous: Avoid the use of "Miscellaneous" whenever possible. It doesn't really add anything to a description. If you absolutely must use the term in a series or folder title, please write a description that includes at least a list of the types of materials included therein (e.g., Miscellaneous financial materials).