2. Initial questions to consider before writing a description 1

The following are general questions to consider before writing a new description or revising an existing description (accession records, all levels of archival description). They are intended to help archivists gain an initial sense of what aspects of the content might need attention and what aspects of the style guide might be of particular use. While the questions below aim to spark reflection, archivists can document answers in the case file or in an archivist’s note if future decision-making requires detailed background.

Are there specific elements of the records (e.g., individuals, groups, activities, or context) that should be highlighted or emphasized in your description?

  • What are the origins of the material and does this differ substantially from who the content represents? What power dynamics exist between various parties, and was the process of collecting the material extractive? E.g., an anthropologist who has conducted research on specific communities outside their own.

  • Were there factors considered in the appraisal process (such as significance to a specific community, diversity of perspective, etc.) that would help inform choices made in description?

  • Is additional information required to appropriately contextualize the records and recognize institutional or personal responsibility? Were records created in the context of an event, programme, or ideology for which there was there direct or tacit involvement by the individual or group being described? For example, a description of the records of a missionary working within the residential school system would include an acknowledgement of UofT’s role in educating figures who designed and ran these schools.

  • Are there perspectives of those who were either impacted by an event or an individual that are being left out of a description? What are the contexts and dynamics of the creation of these records?

How will someone reading our descriptions or encountering content be either impacted negatively or informed by the language choices and tone used in our description?

  • Are you writing for a general audience (not just specific users)?

  • Whose perspective is being reflected when describing actions or roles? What research have you done about how to best describe people and activities documented in the material? Do the records include representations or depictions of behaviors and actions that could be racist, discriminatory, or otherwise harmful towards an individual or community? How can this content be harmful to the researchers, users, and subjects encountering the descriptions? Are you in a position to recognize potential harm or is additional guidance necessary?

Endnotes

  1. Questions based on those from “How We Describe,” Technical Services Department, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, June 2021. https://library.duke.edu/sites/default/files/rubenstein/pdf/HowWeDescribe_2021_06.pdf ↩