Guidelines for Initial Organization of USMS Paper Archives
These are guidelines (presently proposed) for organizing the paper archives of USMS which are accumulating at ISHOF Henning Library. This includes approximately four large boxes already there, approximately four more boxes Carl is ready to deliver, about the same amount from Jack Geoghegan, and an unknown amount from the Championship Committee.
Everything must be identified in the catalogue. How to do this is evident in the Excel file that now exists, but notation can evolve.
We probably have multiple copies of most items. When this first phase of getting organized is done, we must have at least two copies of every important item. Important means it fits the two top purposes in our "What to collect guidelines". If we must copy some items in order to have two copies, then we must copy them and will do so carefully on a high quality copy machine.
Every important item will get scanned when we've had time to study the best way to do this so that when OCR techology gets good enough all important items can be converted to computer processable text. The first stage of scanning will simply produce graphic images, probably pdf files. Scanning is probably at least a year away. However, we must set aside and safely store the best copy of every important item so that when we are ready for scanning the best copy will be available. This "best copy" will be stored in a not-readily-accessable-but-very-safe place.
