When I took Maynard Brichford's archives classes at the University of Illinois, the "standard" that I heard most frequently was an archivist should be able to process one cubic foot of records per day (e.g. 8 hours/cubic foot). Now, granted, there are collections that I get with ten cubic feet, the records are all in folders, carefully labelled--I only need go through them and verify folder contents, labels, perhaps add dates...and I could get through these ten cubic feet boxes in a day, plus have the times to do all the other paperwork (e.g. inventory, selection of subject/name terms, box labels, etc.). On the other hand, I've spent entire days processing just one box of scrambled up, unsorted, folded, rusty stapled, etc. messes .... Also in a one or two person shop, the interruptions can be frequent for reference, administration, phone calls, etc. So I have used this standard "one day equals one cubic foot" and I think it is fairly valid. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian Special Collections and West Florida Archives John C. Pace Library University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 Tele: 850-474-2213; Fax: 850-474-3338 A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List! To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>