Special Collections
Numbering Scheme

The Center of Southwest Studies has adopted a standardized scheme for accessing the materials in its collections.  This involves assigning accession numbers, collection numbers, and location numbers, as explained below.  Cooperation of all staff is important to assure proper controls over the Center's holdings.
 

1.    Accession numbers
At the time of its receipt at the Center, each discrete donation receives a nine-digit number in the following format: YYYY:MM###, each month's numbers beginning with 001.  For example, the third donation received in the month of June, 1992 is 1992:06003.   This scheme enables us to create an inventory of donations and of backlogged unprocessed materials.  Due to the addition of the month to the year number, this list can be created for each fiscal year's annual report and for monthly reports.  No accession numbers were assigned prior to 1992; they are assigned retroactively where possible.  Accession numbers and collection numbers are the Center's two primary agents of intellectual control.

2.    Collection numbers
Each collection receives a three digit number preceded by a letter which denotes the predominant genre of the collection. This is the call number for the collection.  Note: unless all of a collection is donated at once, a collection will be related to more than accession number.  Furthermore, it is possible that an accession number will be linked with more than one collection number.  For instance, if part of a donation is photographs and part is manuscripts, the two types of material will be placed in two separate collections, linked by the accession number.

The Center's genre collection prefix codes are expanded in the automated OPAC TALON catalog displays as follows:
 

3.    Location numbers
These numbers lead the staff to the physical location of materials at the Center. They are assigned as soon as materials are accessioned.  The location number begins with an alphabetical prefix denoting the room.  The shelving is numbered by section, as is each shelf within each section.  For eight-shelf sections, the numbering sequence is 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,... 1.8, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc.  Location numbers are noted on the Center's accession records, in the Access database, in the Center's inventory of processed collections, and in the Center's guide to each particular processed collections.

Location numbers are apt to change over time.  Where possible, collections are shelved in collection number order, but collections are not necessarily shelved all in one spot.  Location numbers are the Center's primary agent of physical control over its holdings.  The section numbering sequence in each storage area begins on the left, as one enters the area, and proceeds from left to right.

The Center of Southwest Studies wishes to provide access to its collections in every way consistent with good scholarship, productive research, and established archival considerations.  Your comments and suggestions are welcome.  Thank you!

4.    Series

Series are the building blocks of archival collections.  They preserve the integrity of the files in the order in which they were actively used by the creator, and they document a particular function or activity of that creator.  Click here to see a list of typical series categories.  The earmarks of a particular series are:

1. All of its records are filed in a single coherent system (alphabetical, chronological, geographical, numerical, or by some other classification system that is consistently used for the arrangement of that group of records), and/or
2. The records pertain to (or document) the same function or activity (e.g., Rio Grande Southern freight invoices; Board of directors' minutes), and/or
3. The records are united by their sharing a common format (e.g., CD-ROMs), and/or
4. They were maintained as a unit by the organization or individual that created or managed them, due to some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use (e.g., submissions of essays for a contest).

Unless noted otherwise, series at the Center of Southwest Studies are arranged in ascending chronological order.  That is, the first document on the top of the first folder in the series is the oldest.

The Center's numbering system for series begins with the record group number, a decimal point, and the series number.  For collections that are fairly simple in their organization, the sequence would be as per the following example from the Fort Lewis College Archives.  Note that 9.1 is actually a sub-group, a category that has series (9.1.1, etc.) within its structure.

Series description

9.1 Fort Lewis College's intercollegiate athletic associations (includes Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference records of Fort Lewis College)

9.1.1 Constitutions and bylaws, 1976-2001 (bulk, 1986-1998), .5 document case.
9.1.2 Yearbooks and media guides, 1985-1999, .5 document case.
9.1.3 Minutes, 1966- , 3 document cases.
9.1.4 Records and correspondence, 1950-1989, 3 document cases.
9.1.5 Financial reports, 1950-1988, 1 document case.
9.1.6 Administrative and other reports, 1960-  (bulk, 1986-1998), .5 document case.

9.2 National intercollegiate associations records regarding Fort Lewis College, 1952- , 5 document cases.  Includes NCAA records of Fort Lewis College.

9.3 Publicity materials, 1985- , 1 document case.

form SW-26

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Page last modified: October 19, 2005