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Formulating the Collection Title According to DACS

(page originally created in RMC Confluence by Margaret Nichols)

For the full story, see DACS 2.3: http://www2.archivists.org/standards/DACS/part_I/chapter_2/3_title

In general, use these elements to formulate the title:

creator’s name + nature of the materials (papers, records, collection, ephemera, etc.)

If a formal title is present on the material, use that. The rules below are for a devised title (a title that the archivist devises).

Creator’s name: use the form of name the creator is known by.

Individuals

• If 1-3 people are the creator(s), record all their names in the title.
• If 4 or more people are the creators, record the name of the person whose material predominates.

Families

• If the family that created the materials, in the context of family relations, shares a common surname, record the surname followed by "family": e.g. Harvey family papers.
• If the individuals who created the materials, in the context of family relations, don't share a common surname, record all their names followed by "family": e.g. Paul Hibbet Clyde and Mary Kestler family papers.
• If two or three families created the materials or are mainly responsible for them, record all the family names followed by "families": e.g. Short, Harrison, and Symmes families papers
• If more than three families created the materials, record only the name of the family whose material predominates.

Corporate bodies (such as an organization or government body)

• If more than one corporate body is the creator, mention only one in the title.
• If the name of the corporate body has changed, used the latest form of name in the title.

Nature of the materials

• If the collection consists of 3 or more forms of material and the creator is an organization or government body, use “records” for the nature of the materials.
  • Example: Carrier Corporation records
• If the collection consists of 3 or more forms of material and the creator is an individual person or a family, use “papers” for the nature of the materials.
  • Example: Taylor family papers
• If the collection is an intentionally assembled one, use “collection” for the nature of the materials.
  • Example: Jon Savage punk music collection
• If the collection consists of just one or two forms of material, use those, listed in order of predominance.
  • Example: William Gedney photographs and writings

Optionally: if the collection consists of one or two main forms of material, but additional forms are also present, you may mention the predominant forms of material followed by “and other material.” Specify what the additional forms are in the collection summary (Scope and Content note, MARC 520).

Example: James M. Woodbury diary, letters, and other material

Optionally: you may include in the title a brief phrase on the topic of the collection.

Example: Catherine Clarke civil rights collection

• If the subject of the collection is a person, and the repository is the collector (so no creator name is recorded in the title), phrase the title so as to make it clear that the subject of the collection is not the collector.
  • Example: Collection on Isadora Duncan
  • not Isadora Duncan collection (because she is not the collector)

Suggestion: Don’t go back and retroactively change the titles of existing collections unless they’re actively misleading. Many collections were processed before DACS came out in 2004, and there isn't time to change all their titles.

Creating folder titles 

 One of the challenges inherent in archival processing is determining the level of description a set of archival records needs. Generally, if we are processing something that is because we want a very good folder-level inventory and description of the contents, as well as a higher-level description of the scope of the papers or records. Researchers benefit when archivists can provide subject description at the folder level, especially in a run of chronological or even alphabetical correspondence.

If the majority of folders have titles supplied by the donor, retain those titles (and say so in the scope and content Processing note). Add your own additions to donor titles, or pertinent information, in brackets 

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