The word archives has three meanings:

1. the place where historical records are kept
2. the organization (or part of an organization) responsible for preserving and providing access to historical records
3. records (such as papers, electronic files, microfilm and audiovisual materials) created or collected by an individual, family, corporation, organization or government that document the development, structure, functions, policies, decisions and significant operations of an organization, or that reflect the evolution of an individual's career, interests or activities

The Ohio Historical Society is an archives in the first two senses of the term--it is a place where records are kept and the organization responsible for keeping records. In addition, the society collects archives from the state of Ohio and private citizens, like the third sense of the word.

Unlike libraries, archives are non-circulating repositories, which means that materials are not loaned and may only be used in the Reading Room. Archival collections are created in the course of business or daily life and are not intended for publication or distribution. For that reason, the same collection cannot be held by many archives, nor can it be replaced if lost or damaged. Requiring onsite use is one of several security precautions archives take to ensure the preservation of unique materials.

What is a Finding Aid?

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Archival Methodology:
Archivists are trained professionals, many of whom hold post-graduate degrees in history, library science or related disciplines. The work of an archivist involves the following processes:

Appraisal: not all records are worthy of long-term preservation. Even if they were, archivists would need to select only the best and most important because the extremely large volume of records created every year makes it impossible to save everything. The process of examining records to determine which have historical value is called appraisal. An archivist makes decisions about the value of a records based on many factors. The most important factors are: the authority of the creator, the subjects covered, the size and physical condition of the records, the time period the records span and expected research interest. Most archives have a collecting policy or appraisal guidelines that define priorities for appraisal. Of all the records produced or collected by an individual or organization, only an extremely small percentage (less than 10%) are selected for preservation in an archives.

Accessioning: records are acquired by transfer from a government entity or official, by donation or by purchase. When they arrive at the archives, materials are accessioned. The Ohio Historical Society takes physical custody of the materials and enters them into its record keeping system by assigning an accession number.

Arrangement and description: after a collection has been accessioned, but before it can be made available for public use, it must be arranged and described. Two principles guide the archivist in preparing archives for use by the public--provenance and original order. Arrangement involves removing duplicates, weeding non-record materials, grouping similar records into series and re-housing records in archival boxes and folders. Description results in the creation of a finding aid.

Reference: an important aspect of archival work is helping users find the information they need. Reference archivists are familiar with their repositories' collections and are ready to assist and educate users in finding and using archival tools and materials.

Glossary of Terms:
Archives: the place where historical records are kept; the organization (or part of an organization) responsible for preserving and providing access to historical records; records (such as papers, electronic files and audiovisual materials) created or collected by an individual, family, corporation, organization or government that document the development, structure, functions, policies, decisions and significant operations of an organization, or that reflect the evolution of an individual's career, interests or activities.

Arrangement: the process of putting a collection into a logical order to facilitate its use. Also, grouping related records into series and re-housing materials in archival boxes and folders.

Description: the process of creating a finding aid for a collection. A related process is cataloging, or creating bibliographic records to be included in a card catalog or online catalog. Bibliographic records generally contain less descriptive information than finding aids.

Finding aid: descriptive tools that lead users to the materials in archival collections; also known as guides, inventories, registers, catalogs, shelf or box lists or location indexes. See an annotated sample.

Original order: the order in which records were kept when in active use (before they were accessioned into the archives). An archivist attempts to preserve or reconstruct the original order unless it is determined to be random or too difficult to use. The way in which records were stored generally reflects the way that they were accumulated or used, and thus provides important contextual information. For example, if the creator of the records arranged correspondence alphabetically, the archivist does not reorganize in chronological order.

Provenance: the provenance of a collection reflects the chain of custody for the collection, documenting the office of person(s) who created, collected and used the records. Because archival records are organized by provenance rather than by subject, as library books are, the main point of access for a collection is the name of its creator or creating body.

Series: records with the same provenance that are part of a discernable filing system (i.e. alphabetical, numerical, chronological), result from the same activity (i.e. correspondence, project files), or are of types of materials (i.e. reports, publications, photographs)

How to Obtain Copies or Additional Information
For information about audiovisual collections (including photographs), please contact the Audiovisual Department at audiovisual@ohiohistory.org

For information or reference assistance with manuscripts, State Archives records and all other collections, contact the Research Services Department at ohsref@ohiohistory.org.