Introductory page viii of the new descriptive manual *Describing Archives:
A Content Standard* (2004, published and distributed by SAA) says "Gone is
the motion of the 'artificial' collection.  Materials that are gathered
together by a person, family, or organization irrespective of their
provenance are intentionally and consciously assembled for some purpose.
Most repositories in the U.S. have such collections, and they need to be
handled and described the same way as materials traditionally considered to
be 'organic.'"  

Further to this, on page xv, in "Statement of Principles," under "Principle
8," "The repository as collector does not need to be described."

So under current rules of description, you do everything the same as if the
collector were outside your repository, but you do not need to describe the
repository under "administrative" or "biographical" history.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I about DACS could elaborate?

Arel
(the usual disclaimers)
Arel Lucas, C.A.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott Campus
-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Bishop, Lawrence P
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 9:38 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Help or advice re:Artificial collections

Hello all,
I'm writing about a subject that seems to be generally ignored in the
literature; artificial collections, i.e. archival colections of disparate
types of materials, from multiple sources, or from unknown sources, but
connected topically. Can anyone point me to any scholarly texts on the
subject? Are there any? The phrase "artificial collection" appears in
glossaries of archival terms, but nowhere have I yet to find writing on the
pros and cons or the processing methodologies used in such collections. How
do archivists generally approach such "collections?" I would very much
appreciate any suggestions or insights on this topic.
Larry Bishop,
California State University, Sacramento
[log in to unmask]

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