Description

When archives have been arranged they must be described. Description is the process of establishing intellectual control over archival holdings through the preparation of finding aids. Finding aids are the signposts which help the archivist and the researcher to identify the information they are seeking. They are the key to making the archival collection accessible. As far as possible the

National Diploma in Archival Science. Op.cit. p . 7.15 162

archivist should analyse the records in terms of their research potential and attempt to achieve the most helpful level of description. Finding aids may take the form of a guide, a simple list, a more detailed list, a calendar, or an index. However, whatever the form, they should be appropriate in content, concise in length and consistent in format.

Guides

There are various types of guides. Some guides focus on a particular category of records, for instance the records of a particular department or group of departments or records relating to a particular subject area. They may relate to records holdings in several institutions.

Other guides provide information about the total holding of an archival institution. Such a guide should convey essential information about provenance and content to the user. It should also provide a co-ordinating overview of the finding aids and descriptive systems in use in the archives repository. It should enable the user to identify the lists needed to find the records required.“

General guides to archival holdings tend to have several basic components. First, they provide an administrative history of the record creating departments, their

Cook, M. Archives Administration. Op.cit. p . 122. 163

organization and principal functions and any changes in the function over the years. Secondly, there should be a broad description of the records themselves focusing on archive or record groups and series. Normally the guide will provide five basic categories of information about each record series: a title phrase, a reference to the covering dates of the series, an indication of the quantity of records in the series, a description of the physical arrangement of records in the series and a summary of the informational content of the s e r i e s . T h e final element in a general guide is an index.

The Process of Arranging Records

The archivist begins by sorting from the broadest category of records in the consignment to the most specific. Thus if the records of several agencies are mixed together, the first step is to separate the records by provenance. The records of each agency should then be sorted according to the administrative structure of the agency. The records of each department of the agency should be identified and sorted into the series it created. The arrangement should conform to the filing system adopted by the office, whether this is chronological, geographical or by subject. The archivist should ensure that the volumes are in correct sequence according to the existing order of arrangement. In this way, the archivist merely reconstructs the original

“ Ibid.,p.122.

filing system.”

To ensure that the series is complete, the archivist may decide to compile a rough list. The list should indicate all the information that will later appear in the final list such as description of items and the covering dates. This list may be used to establish whether any of the volumes are missing and for which period.

After arranging the series, the archivist examines each item very carefully. He determines whether there are any missing documents or misplaced documents and examines the physical conditions of documents, i.e. he ascertains whether they are torn, stained or faded. He ascertains whether there are photographs, maps or publications which must be removed to be handled specially and decides whether there are documents which should be withdrawn from public consultation in terms of the archives act or any other law.”

Lists

The purpose of a list is to facilitate the immediate use of the archives by helping users to identify individual items. Normally each list relates to a record series and is preceeded by an explanatory introduction which tells the

” National Diploma in Archival Science. Op.cit. p . 8.6. Ibid.,p.8.7.

user where the series came from and gives some facts about its origin, contents, size and physical character. The list itself provides an item by item description of the records which may be more or less detailed according to nature of the items, the degree of use likely to be made of them and staff available at the archival institution. For heavily used series or series whose nature makes them difficult to use, an index, a list of contents or key to the construction of the series and its components may be warranted."

6.4.3 Arrangement and Description of Archives in Swaziland

The Swaziland Archives have not been properly arranged and described according to the principles of provenance and original order described above. The reason is not hard to find. The records have not been appraised and they include a large quantity of ephemeral material. The records have been roughly arranged and described, but to complete the work to archival standards at this stage would be putting the cart before the horse. Surely it would be time consuming and worthless effort as the process will have to be done all over again once appraisal has been carried out.

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Moreover, the establishment of the records centre in the Archives building has an adverse effect on professional archival activities in the Archives. The archivists, instead of going about the work for which they were trained, have concerned themselves with the records centre. As a result, archival work has been almost entirely neglected while work on the backlog of records held in the records centre proceeds.

The problem will continue until arrangements are made for the introduction of regular appraisal procedures. The application of retention schedules and an effective reviewing policy will ensure that only records with archival value reach the Archives. It will then be possible for the archivists to get on with the professional activity of providing finding aids to make the records accessible to researchers.

The only records which have been fully described are the Secretariat records which form the core of the Swaziland National Archives. However, even here the accepted international principles for arrangement and description have not been met. The records were arranged and listed in 1950s in the old Secretariat building and transferred to the Archives in 1977. The Secretariat records were arranged alphabetically by subjects and then chronologically rather than according to the principles of provenance and original order. No appraisal was carried

out. The Secretariat records were listed in an accession book and this list is not easily understood by the researchers without assistance from the staff. Moreover, it takes time for the staff to retrieve the required information because the files are not in their original order in the boxes. Perhaps if the list was indexed, it would facilitate easy retrieval. There are plans to re­ arrange the documents in a more logical way and it is hoped that after this exercise will benefit researchers and archivists alike. However, this will inevitably cause its own problems as many researchers have already made reference to the records in their present arrangement.

The other groups of records which were received in the records centre were arranged according to the filing systems followed by the originating registries and listed on transmittal forms. These lists form an inventory of the records transferred. They indicate the file numbers, contents and the covering dates. The Archives keeps two copies. One copy is used as the finding aid for departmental representatives consulting the records in the records centre and the other forms a permanent record and is filed securely. A third copy is sent to the issuing department where it is retained as a record of the transfer. The transmittal lists are not available to the public.

The Swaziland Archives has not prepared any guides. The staff are being pushed to do so by the Internation of Council on Archives which is keen to have this project completed. But this is not possible until the records are appraised, arranged and described.