It is a tool that helps researchers navigate the information contained within a collection through some form of archival arrangement done by the archivist. It typically consists of some form of structural and contextual information about the resource.
UASC's published finding aids can be found here. Note that there is no template so each finding aid may have a different look to it. Some finding aids may be more complete than others, so the degree of arrangement may vary. Please speak with UASC faculty who can help fill in some of these gaps and provide more information to the collection as we work on completing more finding aids for our users.
Let's take a look at what information is contained within a finding aid using the Victor McLaughlin Papers from our general collection.
Accession is internal information that indicates when the archive gained custody of the records.
Date indicates the entire range of dates covered by the records. The first date is always the oldest and the second the most recent.
Extent is the physical quantity of material. It is measured in feet. Digital records may be measured in digital increments, such as megabytes.
Title refers to the name assigned to the collection. This is often given by the archive.
Biographical Sketch provides background information on the creator of this collection. This element can be as detailed or as simple as the archivists chooses to make it. It can be based solely on the information extracted from the records or an archivist may do additional research.
Scope and Content summarizes the characteristics of the records and the function or activities that led to their creation.
Arrangement is the process of organizing the materials to provide some form of physical or intellectual control while also maintaining original order, so as to provide an authentic organizational structure for the researcher to use to access information.
Series are a similar group of records with some relationship to one another (such as personal letters/correspondence, official documents). It is one system of arrangement archivists use.
Conditions to access can vary for each collection. They may relate to whether a collection is open for consultation, or closed, and any copyright or terms of use conditions. In the form of multimedia or digital records, technical access may highlight the equipment needed to view records.
Language indicates which languages are contained within the collection.
Custodial History highlights the succession of the records. It is important to know who has had responsibility over archival records to capture any potential gaps within the collection.
Accruals indicates whether a collection is complete or whether an archive expects to continue adding more information to the collection over time.
Notes contains information on when the records were processed and by whom.
The file list is the meat of the finding aid. It contains an inventory of the records contained within the collection organized based on the structure of the arrangement. In this example, you can see two series (Correspondence and Audio/visual Materials).
File title is the name of the folder you will see the records within the box. Dates refers to the dates of those records. The box and file number refer to the physical location within the archive that the record is held in.
