Hello!

My name is Rosemary K. J. Davis and I’m the Accessioning Archivist at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. I’m collaborating with Meaghan O’Riordan, Accessioning Archivist at Emory’s Rose Library, on a long-term research project focused on archival accessioning. We’re interested in making accessioning work more visible in every way, primarily by illuminating the sorts of labor and relationships required in order to steward archival collections during the initial phases of acquisition and accessioning. We want to ground our research in the firsthand experiences of people directly involved in this work.

To that end, we have crafted a survey that collects information and experiences related to the intellectual, emotional, and physical labors involved in archival accessioning.

https://yalesurvey.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0Vza9JzfyNvQSZ7

Developing a better understanding of how repositories define and navigate accessioning is crucial to performing special collections stewardship that is rooted in transparency and mutual trust between all parties, and ultimately results in richer archival description, faster processing of materials, and greater access for researchers. What’s more, raising the visibility of individuals performing accessioning work will hopefully contribute to the creation of an empathetic and engaged community of practice, while also making this work's value more readily apparent throughout archival profession.

This survey will be open through December 20, 2019.

We encourage you to give yourself plenty of time to give specific and thoughtful answers. We’re interested in collecting information about the nuts and bolts of accessioning work, but we also want to hear about how this work is valued, how individuals navigate the complexities involved in their work, and how a more supportive community of practice might emerge.

Thank you all for your time and feel free to reach out to us with questions: accessioningresearch@gmail.com.

All best,

Rosemary K. J. Davis
Accessioning Archivist
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

Meaghan O’Riordan
Accessioning Archivist
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library