Terry,
I agree that four hours is a bit short. However, we all must keep in
mind that your study was published in 1985. As we are all aware 1985
hours are different than 2005 hours. Why I can remember sitting class
listening to professors drone as the hours dragged by. Now there are not
enough hours in a day. So maybe you can adjust your matrix to account
for the quantum shift in time, maybe apply string or chaos theory or
something.
Chris Flynn
Laurie,
Four hours per foot seems awfully low to me. I would estimate closer
to
20 per foot for the unprocessed group and ten per foot for the
reprocessing. You might look at our article in American Archivist:
"What is backlog is prologue: a measurement of archival processing," by
Terry Abraham, Stephen E. Balzarini, and Anne Frantilla. The American
Archivist, 48:1 (Winter 1985) 31-44.
There have been a few other articles since.
---Terry
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Terry Abraham Special Collections, University of Idaho
<http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/>
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005, Laurie Langland wrote:
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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>
> I've been asked to calculate some estimates to finish processing one
of
> our collections (the non-political papers, photos, memorabilia, etc.
of
> a former politician) and to re-process another collection (political
> papers and other material of a former politician). I'm to use my
salary
> and benefits to calculate the labor. But we're unsure of the amount of
> time to use. One formula we've been told is 4 hours per linear foot.
> Does that seem reasonable for processing additional boxes of papers
and
> other material, as well as updating the current finding aid?=20
>
> =20
>
> As for supplies for both collections, I can estimate the number of
> record storage boxes we'd need - we use the legal by letter size
> archival boxes. But I'm unsure of how many folders to estimate as an
> average per box, as it can vary from 10 or 12 per box to 30 or 40. I
> also need to guesstimate supplies for other formats, such as photos,
> audio and visual material, and artwork. =20
>
> =20
>
> Re-processing may not be quite the right word for the one collection -
> it's approximately 250-300 linear feet of political papers plus family
> memorabilia, artwork, and other miscellaneous items. It was indexed
> quite extensively 40 years ago, but the collection has undergone many
> changes over the years. It needs to be re-housed in archival folders
and
> boxes and other storage containers. Also, the massive index needs to
be
> corrected and updated as the collection is worked through. Would the 4
> hours per linear foot be a workable estimate for this type of project?
> (In the handling of this collection, files have gotten out of order -
> some may have been misfiled, but we're afraid that others have
> disappeared forever.)
>
> =20
>
> Is there anything else we haven't thought of? Any suggestions and
advice
> will be greatly appreciated!
>
> =20
>
> Laurie Langland
>
> University Archivist/Director of Service Learning
>
> Layne Library, Dakota Wesleyan University
>
> 1200 W. University Ave.
>
> Mitchell, SD 57301
>
> =20
>
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by
the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
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>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'>I’ve been asked to calculate some estimates
to =
> finish
> processing one of our collections (the non-political papers, photos,
> memorabilia, etc. of a former politician) and to re-process another =
> collection
> (political papers and other material of a former politician).
I’m =
> to use
> my salary and benefits to calculate the labor. But we’re unsure
of =
> the
> amount of time to use. One formula we’ve been told is 4 hours
per =
> linear
> foot. Does that seem reasonable for processing additional boxes of =
> papers and
> other material, as well as updating the current finding aid? =
> </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'>As for supplies for both collections, I can
estimate =
> the
> number of record storage boxes we’d need – we use the
legal =
> by
> letter size archival boxes. But I’m unsure of how many folders
to =
> estimate
> as an average per box, as it can vary from 10 or 12 per box to 30 or
40. =
> I also
> need to guesstimate supplies for other formats, such as photos, audio
=
> and visual
> material, and artwork. </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'>Re-processing may not be quite the right word for
the =
> one
> collection – it’s approximately 250-300 linear feet of =
> political
> papers plus family memorabilia, artwork, and other miscellaneous
items. =
> It was
> indexed quite extensively 40 years ago, but the collection has
undergone =
> many
> changes over the years. It needs to be re-housed in archival folders
and =
> boxes
> and other storage containers. Also, the massive index needs to be =
> corrected and
> updated as the collection is worked through. Would the 4 hours per =
> linear foot be
> a workable estimate for this type of project? (In the handling of this
> collection, files have gotten out of order – some may have been
=
> misfiled,
> but we’re afraid that others have disappeared =
> forever.)</span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'>Is there anything else we haven’t thought of?
=
> Any
> suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated!</span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
> style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
> font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoAutoSig><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'>Laurie Langland</span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoAutoSig><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'>University Archivist/Director of Service =
> Learning</span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoAutoSig><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'>Layne Library, </span></font>Dakota Wesleyan University</p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoAutoSig><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'>1200 </span></font>W. University Ave.</p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoAutoSig><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'>Mitchell, SD 57301</span></font></p>
>
> <p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
> style=3D'font-size:
> 12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
>
> </div>
>
> </body>
>
> </html>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored
by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
> For the terms of participation, please refer to
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> Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt
<[log in to unmask]>
>
> ------_=_NextPart_001_01C51A1F.C12BF5BE--
>
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the
Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to
http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
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Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>