Inventory overview

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An inventory overview is a finding aid in archiving . It gives an overview of all holdings in an archive, including further descriptions of the individual holdings. The archive material stored in the archive is assigned to individual holdings.

purpose

Two examples of printed inventory overviews

The holdings overview gives the user an overview of the holdings in one or more archives before and during use of the archive . Depending on the intensity of the information listed, the user receives an introduction to the individual holdings and their contents, which may be very detailed.

Inventory overviews can be available in both printed and electronic form and are increasingly being made available on archive portals such as archive.nrw, making them an essential part of the online presentation of an archive.

Differentiation from other finding aids

Repertory (Finding aid)

In a holdings overview, the user only gets an overview of one or more holdings of an archive, without going into more detail about individual units of description or classifications .

In contrast to this, in a repertory the units of description of an individual inventory are given by specifying u. a. Content, duration and contains-note described in more detail.

The holdings overview leads the user to the individual holdings and thus to the associated repertories.

inventory

There are different forms of inventories:

  • Holdings of particularly high importance are described in detail in an analytical inventory . In contrast to the inventory overview, this not only contains the structure of the inventory, but also descriptions of individual important units of description or even documents . Since analytical inventories are very labor-intensive, they are only made in exceptional cases for outstanding stocks.
  • The total inventory is a more detailed finding aid of the total inventory in a larger archive.
  • In special inventories , a selection of archival material on a specific topic is summarized across all holdings. Due to their work intensity, special inventories are only suitable for particularly important and sought-after topics.

Inventory list

Since it is often difficult to publish comprehensive inventory overviews, especially for smaller archives, the inventory list is an alternative. It lists all of the holdings in the archive according to the archive tectonics and, under certain circumstances, adds information such as duration and scope.

Possible bullet points for an inventory overview

Bullet point Explanation
1. History of the archive, development of its jurisdiction Under this point, the user can find out why the archive is keeping the relevant documents and what the responsibility for safekeeping results from.
2. Reference to the usage regulations Each user must agree to the usage regulations before using the archive. It regulates the basic prerequisites for using the archive, such as the type of use, the basics of using various archive material or the costs for reproductions.
3. Notes on legal bases Each federal state and the federal government in Germany have their own archive laws, which regulate the legal basis for use (e.g. protection periods for archive material). In addition, reference is made here to other legal bases (e.g. copyright for photos ).
4. Publications from the archive / via the archive Here are publications based on single or multiple archives or individual Archivalen based listed. These may have been published by the archive itself, but also by researchers after they have been used, and may help users with their own research .
5. Detailed information on the individual holdings This includes an introduction to the history of the archive medium, the development of the holdings, key information on the content of the individual holdings, the scope and duration of the holdings, references to literature, references to supplementary holdings in their own or in third-party archives, as well as the processing status and, if applicable, any Finding aid signatures.
6. Technical equipment of the archive Here, the user is informed about technical devices in the archive that help with use (e.g. user PC, copier, microfiche reader ).
7. Use and work opportunities Information on the address and opening times of the archive, prior registration or the size and equipment of the reading room.
8. Accommodation of the archives If the archival material is stored in a magazine outside the building in which it is being used, there may be waiting periods for making them available for use.
9. Indices During the archival distortion can in the archive software for. B. individual persons, places or facts can be indexed, from which one or more indices are then generated to facilitate research.

literature

  • Norbert Reimann (Ed.): Practical archival studies: a guide for specialists in media and information services; Specializing in archives. Ardey-Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-87023-255-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ U. Aschwer (edit.), Mechthild Black-Veldtrup (edit.): The holdings of the state archive of North Rhine-Westphalia, Westphalia department: Brief overview. 5th, updated edition. Landesarchiv NRW, Abt. Westfalen, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-932892-25-7 . - Lying in the photo
  2. ↑ Gabriela Matthes (red.), Lars Lüking (red.): Landesarchivs Nordrhein-Westfalen, department Ostwestfalen-Lippe: inventory overview. Landesarchiv NRW, Dept. OWL, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-927502-12-3 . - Standing in the photo
  3. ↑ website of archive.nrw
  4. ^ Landesarchiv NRW, Westphalia department in Münster - inventory overview. Archive.nrw website. Retrieved May 28, 2012.

Web links