Day 8: Creating a Finding Aid

"Proof of a good finding aid is in the finding."

A good Finding Aid is clear, concise and organized. All finding aids within a repository follow the same format, structure and terminology. All sections are clearly labeled and defined.

In general, the finding aids have an administrative section, an introduction, a scope and content note, overview of the folders/record series, and some kind of inventory. All of the work that went into the preparation for processing the collection comes together and is incorporated into the finding aid.

The processing plan can be reworked into the scope and content section, the background research is incorporated into the abstract, introduction and historical note.

To view the traditional Finding Aid created, please follow this link:

Clarence G. Campbell Collection at CSHL Archive

 

 

For more information on CSHL's digital archival holdings, check out their Archives page and select Digital collections from the navigation box on the right of the screen. You can also access their blog and view their other archival initiatives from the link above.

To go directly to their digital holdings and finding aids: CSHL Archives Digital Collections.