Care and Handling of Non-Governmental Archives

TO THE PURIST, the topic of this chapter might be considered somewhat of a contradiction in terms. But the word “archives ” has come to be used broadly to include not only govern-ment records, but also the records of business firms, institutions, and even families. And those records are often called archives even when they are no longer in the custody of the person or institution creating them. Properly speaking, such records would then be historical manu-scripts, but they will be considered as legitimate subjects for discussion here. Non-governmental archives, then, are the records of business firms and institutions of all kinds, whether in the custody of the firm or institution itself or transferred to a collecting library or similar de-pository. They may be distinguished from historical manuscripts in many ways, aside from the primary characteristic that they were once part of an organic unit. One of their important properties is likely to be bulk. For example, Baker Library, of the Harvard Business School, has a number of collections of the records of business firms, any one of which would number over a thousand volumes or the equivalent. Associated with the point of size, is the importance of series. The ledgers, journals, and cash books of the nineteenth century firm, or their twentieth century equivalents, possess the maximum re-search value only when found to be complete for the life-span of the firm. On the other hand, it is a characteristic of such records that some are often found to be of marginal value, and that judicious weeding is desirable. Finally, a greater portion of such collections is apt to consist of recent materials than is the case with historical manuscripts; and they are likely to contain more varied forms, in-cluding bound and unbound records, pictures, maps, printed items such as employee magazines and advertising, and the like. Logically