Scope: This section includes a variety of frequent choices occurring during archival description. The majority apply primarily to University Archives collections, but they are applicable to any type of RMC collections. For all processing staff.

Contact:  Freddy Loew

Unit: ATS/RMC

Date last updated: March 2025

Date of next review:  March 2026

Contents:

Cornell Department records 

Title

  • Include “Cornell University” at the beginning of the title whenever possible (if necessary, it can go elsewhere in the title.) 

Ex: Cornell University Department of Engineering records 

  • Use the authorized version of the department name (look for an authority record for it in Voyager; if there isn’t one, notify Margaret.) 
  • If there is no authorized version: use what the department calls themselves (check the website, or letterhead in the collection.) Tell Margaret, and if you know what the authorized name should be, then let her know. Ex: English department vs. Department of English (generally, the latter is correct)
  • Do not use abbreviations, such as Dept. 
  • Do not include Colleges in the title, such as “New York State College of Human Ecology. Department of Human Service Studies records”, unless the material is from the college administration. Contract colleges???  Don’t know yet. 

Creator 

  • If the creator of the collection is a sub-unit of a department, or a program jointly administered by a couple of different departments or other units of the University, the authorized form of name may be different from what you’d expect. Do a guided keyword search in Voyager and try different versions of the name; you might also try searching for it at http://www.cornell.edu to find out what it’s called. 
  • If the collection includes material from the department under its current name and also from when it had other, previous names, use the most recent version of the name as the creator, and add subject headings for the previous ones. 

  Subject Headings 

  • Include a subject heading for the department under its current name and any former names. (Note: Many older Archives catalog records don’t include a subject heading for the person or organization whose papers/records they’re describing, because in RLIN, a name search in the Archival and Manuscript Collections format used to retrieve both the name as a creator *and* the name as a subject. In Folio and OCLC, it doesn’t work that way. A subject heading is important to include, because without it, researchers looking for material about the person or organization will totally miss our collection of their records.) 
  •  In ASpace, this means including the name as an agent link for the creator, and the same name as a Subject heading. 

Genre/form terms

  • Include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent (about 20%) in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. (A rule of thumb: if you mention it in the abstract or scope and content note, also add a subject heading) 
  • Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  •  If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

 Abstract

  • Keep the title of the collection the same if the department name changes, but include the new name in the abstract. EX: In 2012, the department name changed to Department of Engineering 

 Faculty papers 

 *A good example (if you disregard the HTML tags left over from the EAD version of the guide): Adrian M. Srb papers, #21-28-3159. 

H3 Titles 

  • Format as “[First name, middle name/initial, last name—taken directly from Wikipedia or their faculty page] papers” 
  • The name does not have to match the authority record. EX: Eugene Dynkin papers 

Creator 

  • Authorized name 

Subject Headings 

  • In ASpace, include agent links for the faculty member as both a creator and a subject. 
  • Include: 
  •  “Cornell University – Faculty” as a subject. Note that this is a different subject term than “Cornell University. Faculty,” which refers to the faculty as a formal body (like the University Faculty). We’ve actually used “Cornell University – Faculty” as a subject term for only a few of our collections of faculty papers, but it would certainly be useful in identifying all the faculty papers we have. 
  • College 
  • Department 
  •  “[subject of study] - study and teaching” EX: economics – study and teaching (what is being taught can be different than what their personal research is) 

Genre/form terms

Include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 

  •  Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  •  If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 


Biographical/Historical note 

Include: 

  • Class year, major, college, and degree if an alum. 
  • Professorial title, i.e. Assistant Professor 
  • Subject, i.e. Associate Professor of economics 
  • College 
  •  Department 
  •  Areas of research 


Student papers 

*A good example: Eva Frances Humphreys papers, #37-5-406. 

Title 

  • Format as “[First name last name] papers” 
  • Does not have to be authorized name 

Creator 

  • Name of student or collector 
  • If the student is a woman who later married and changed her name, use judgment as to whether to use her birth name or her married name for the creator and subject of the collection. If she seems to be known mainly under her birth name and has not told us she would rather be listed under her married name, consider listing her under her birth name, since that is the name she was known by when she was at Cornell, and it’s probably the name that her fellow alumni remember her by. In case of doubt, contact her and ask her what she would prefer. 

Subject Headings 

  • In ASpace, include agent links for the student as both a creator and a subject. 
  • Agent links to include in every collection: 
  •  “Cornell University – Students” 
  • Student’s class year, such as “Cornell University. Class of 1903” 
  •  If the student is a woman, include an agent link for “Women college students – New York (State) – Ithaca” as a subject. 
  •  Include the college and department the student graduated from, if known. 

Genre/form terms 

  • Include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 
  •  Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  • If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

Biographical/Historical notes 

  • Include: 
  • Class year(s) and degree(s) awarded 
  •  Major and college 
  •  Include any former names/name changes, including married names. 

  H2 Fraternities, Sororities, and Societies 

 Title 

  • Name of organization, chapter title, records. 
  • Ex: Alpha Chi Rho, Pi Theta chapter records 

*Note: Sometimes, the organization has an unusual chapter title or uses “Colony” instead. Ex: Tau Kappa Epsilon, Scorpion colony records. 

  Creator 

  • Use the authorized name. If there is no authorized name for the organization, contact Margaret. 

  Subject Headings 

  • Include: 
  • Name of the organization 
  • “Cornell University – Students” 
  • “Greek Letter Societies” 
  • Greek Letter Societies > United States 
  • “Cornell University – Societies, etc.” 

  Genre/form terms 

  • include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 
  • Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  • If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

  H3 Biographical/Historical 

  • Include: 
  • Date that the organization was established at Cornell. 
  • Any mergers with other chapters or organizations 
  • Important information about the organization, including house information (such as Llenroc, or the Chi Psi fire) 


Athletics 

Title 

  • Begin title with “Cornell University” 
  •  EX: Cornell University Crew records 

Creator 

  • Authorized name for creator 

Subject Headings 

  • Include: 
  • “Cornell University – Students” 
  •  “Cornell University – Athletics” 

  Genre/form terms

  • Include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 
  •  Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  • If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

Biographical/Historical 

  • Describe when the team was established at Cornell, any name changes or mergers, and other important team information. 

Class records 

Title 

  • “Cornell University Class of ___ records” 

Creator 

  • Usually the class, or sometimes an alum 

Subject Headings 

  • Include: 
  • “Cornell University. Class of XXXX” 
  •  “Cornell University – Students” 

Genre/form terms 

  • include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 
  • Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  • If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

Biographical/Historical 

TBD

Scrapbooks 

Title 

  • “[Student name, first and last] scrapbook” 

Creator 

  • Creator(s) of the scrapbook 

Subject Headings 

  • Include: 
  •  “Cornell University – Students” 
  • “Cornell University – Class of XXXX” 
  •  “Scrapbooks” 
  • “Cornell University – Pictorial Works” 
  • “Ithaca – Pictorial works” 

  Genre/form terms 

  •  include terms for material that is noteworthy or prevalent in the collection. Common terms include scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, manuscripts for publication, etc. 
  • Use the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source for terms. 
  •  If the term you’d like to use is authorized in AAT but isn’t yet in ASpace, you can create it as a subject term (capitalize the first letter of the term, and use “genre/form” as the subject type). 

  Biographical/Historical 

  • Name of the scrapbook compiler (usually a student), class year(s) and degrees(s) awarded, college and department they graduated from.