Box Library

The box library is a set of “official” boxes meant to limit the sizes and styles of boxes used by the Archives Team in order to standardize extents and take full advantage of the Container Management features of ArchivesSpace. Processors must only use the boxes in the box library when processing materials, unless the materials cannot be safely housed in any of those standard boxes. When boxes not included in the box library are used, check to see if an existing container profile exists in ArchivesSpace before adding a new one.

The Box Library is both a list of box types with inventory numbers used for ordering and a physical selection of boxes located in the D-level cage.

Beginning in 2016 the Archives Team started using SafeCote style boxes from by Hollinger Metal Edge due to the large amount of friction and wear resulting from transporting our materials from LSC. The following tables should be kept updated with item numbers as housing practices evolve. 

Final stage labels for processed collections

Boxes

Boxes are numbered continuously through a collection; DO NOT restart numbering at 1 for each series. Box numbers should be visible on the end of the box, near the barcode. Write as “Box 1,” “Box 2,” etc., NOT “Box 1 of 30,” “Box 2 of 30,” etc.

ADD EXAMPLE OF PROPER BOX LABELING FOR A COLLECTION -- INSTRUCTIONS ON LABELING BOXES WITH COLLECTION NAME (FULL?), COLLECTION NUMBER OR ACCESSION NUMBER, AND BOX NUMBER.

See Accessions for guidance on adding box information to ArchivesSpace.

Legacy box numbers

Older finding aids started numbering over again in each series (e.g., seven Box 1s in a collection with seven series). We no longer do this, though it often makes sense to retain these original numbers when re-processing older collections. In legacy clean-up projects, we reformat these to read [series number]-[box number].

Example: Box 1 of Series 2 in the Bowman papers was reformatted from “1” to “2-1.”

Folders

We DO NOT number folders continuously throughout a collection, meaning that if Box 1 ended with Folder 32, Box 2 would begin with Folder 1, not Folder 33.

On standard size folders, the collection number, title, and dates of the folder should appear on the upper left side of the folder; the box number and folder number should appear on the upper right side of the folder. On oversized folders, this information should appear on the bottom left and bottom right sides of the folder, respectively. It is appropriate and encouraged to abbreviate hand-written folder titles. Numbers should stand out and be easy to see as a person flips through folders. If you are renumbering, be sure to completely cross out or erase any old folder numbers.

Bound-with folders

Bound-with folders should be labeled with "BW-" before the box number, e.g., BW-1-1 for folder 1 of bound-with box 1.

Disk Labels

Disks are assigned unique identifiers following this template:

If there are no physical disks, such as CDs or hard drives, the purely born digital files will still be assigned disk labels.

See Restrictions for guidance on describing restricted materials.

Short-term restrictions

Short term restrictions, such as all University Archives materials subject to just the 25-year access restriction are stamped with a “Restricted until _____” stamp, with the date filled in. This stamp can be found in the processing area.

Permanent or long-term restrictions

Folders or boxes that contain permanently or long-term restricted materials should be physically and visually stamped with the red RESTRICTED stamp located in Special Collections.

When to use bound-with boxes

As much as possible, we try to keep collections in their own discrete boxes, but that isn't practical for certain types of collections. We use "bound-with" boxes to house materials from multiple collections within the same container. Bound-withs are used in cases where a collection is too small to be housed in its own box or, occasionally, when the size or format of an item in a non-accruing collection requires it to be housed in a separate container that it does not adequately fill on its own.

Examples of when we have used bound-with boxes include:

• A collection consists of a single folder of materials.
• A collection contains a single poster among a set of papers that would be better housed in a standard document box.
• A collection contains a phonograph record.

Examples of when not to use a bound-with box:

• If a small collection contains materials of varying sizes, it is typically reasonable to house them all together in a single large box as long as all materials will be adequately supported within that box. If materials are wildly different sizes, they may need to be separated.
• If we receive an item for an accruing collection that cannot be safely housed in an existing box, we create a new box for that collection, even if it only contains a single item, because we may receive additional materials that could be housed in that box.
• Oversized materials that are 24 x 36 inches or larger are stored in map cases rather than flat boxes. See the Oversized Materials tab for guidance on handling map case materials.

A collection in a bound-with box may not remain there permanently. While we do not put collections that we expect to accrue in a bound-with, sometimes a collection will accrue in such a way that it makes sense to rehouse it in a separate container.

Legacy practice

Legacy practice was to name each bound-with box "Box 1," making it difficult for us to track bound-withs in our system. As of December 2023, we are renumbering known bound-withs in sequential order and clearly labeling them as bound-withs in ArchivesSpace and Alma. This is an ongoing project.

Legacy practice also had small collections with multiple folders in bound-with boxes. Current practice is to house these collections in their own boxes.

Adding to existing bound-with boxes

1. Locate a bound-with box of the appropriate size that has space for the new folder. G:\archives-and-manuscripts\processing contains a bound-withs tracking spreadsheet with information on existing bound-withs, including box type and whether it has space for accruals.
2. Label the box with the collection number, in pencil when possible.
3. Label the folder. Bound-with folders should be labeled with "BW-" before the box number, e.g., BW-2-3 for folder 3 of bound-with box 2. Folders are labeled sequentially through a box, rather than restarting numbering with each collection.
4. Add the container instance in ArchivesSpace to the collection or file being added to the bound-with box. Search by barcode to locate the box and link it to the archival object.
5. In Alma, add an item to the appropriate holdings record with the following properties. (Note: this is a current work-around because Alma does not permit multiple collections to be linked to the same container.)
   1. In Item record, create dummy barcode “emss[bib]”, e.g., emss6360550. Under Description, add "Bound-with Box [number]."
      
   2. Save and open the item.
   3. Select notes.
      1. Under Internal Notes in internal note 1, add “Status: ebws - Special Coll.: bound w/”
      2. Under Statistics Notes in statistics note 1, add “item#: [Horizon/Alma bib]”
      3. Under Statistics Notes in statistics note 2, add “staff_only: 0”
      4. Under Statistics Notes in statistics note 3, add “alt_ibarcode: [barcode number]”
         

Creating new bound-with boxes

1. Label the box "Bound-with [number]," add the barcode, and add it to the bound-withs tracking spreadsheet in G:\archives-and-manuscripts\processing. Whenever possible, use non-safecote style boxes for bound-withs so that collection numbers may be written in pencil and erased as necessary.
2. Label the box with the collection number, in pencil when possible.
3. In ArchivesSpace, follow the instructions for creating a top container. See the Top Containers and Container Profiles tab for more information on creating top containers. The indicator should be "BW-[number]" and in the Internal Note field for the top container, add "Bound-with Box [number]" to clearly indicate to staff that the box is a bound-with.
   
4. The collection housed in folder 1 of the new bound-with box will be where container information about that bound-with box lives. Create the box as normal, but in the Description field for the Item record, use "Bound-with Box [number]" to clearly label the box as a bound-with.
   

Selecting appropriate housing

“Oversized” materials are generally defined as anything too large to fit in a letter, legal, or records center carton.

Oversized materials are stored in one of two ways: 1) in flat boxes and sent to LSC or 2) in the map cases.

When in doubt, consult with fellow archivists on how to select appropriate housing.

Map case vs. box?

If an item is 24 x 36 inches or larger, it should be stored in a map case drawer. Smaller items should go in boxes, unless:

• The item is fragile. Examples include: wax seals that can crumble, framed items that include glass and have been determined to stay framed, or items that are physically degraded. Consult Conservation for opinions on whether an item is too fragile to travel back and forth to LSC.

• The medium of the object is friable or easily rubbed off. Examples are usually artworks: pencil, charcoal, pastels, and any medium that rests on top of a paper or other carrier (like pencil on paper) and not in paper or another carrier (like ink, which soaks into paper). Consult Conservation for opinions on whether an item is too friable to travel.

In 2017, the Conservation department supplied 24 x 36 inches (aka “poster size”) as the threshold size for whether something should automatically be stored in a map case drawer. This is the size past which boxes begin to sag and flex.

Flat boxes

• Select the flat box from the Box Library (see Box library tab) that is closest in size to your item. Folders for certain flat boxes are kept in stock; otherwise, folders can be cut down from pre-existing materials, if necessary.
• The same information is recorded on flat folders as is recorded for other folders (see Labeling tab). Title information should be written in the bottom left and box/folder information the bottom right. Note that years of legacy practice may result in seeing older oversized folders labeled differently. Standardize when practical.
• Boxes sized 16 x 20 and larger should be pre-pended with OB, e.g., OB-1. We will not retroactively do this for boxes already in the system.

Map case drawers

Top container

• For the map cases specifically, the top container (see Top Containers and Container Profiles tab on this page) is the map case folder. The map case folder will receive a barcode, and that barcode will be recorded in both an ArchivesSpace top container record and an Alma item record attached to the appropriate bib record.
• The top container for the folder will then be linked to the appropriate map case drawer location record (see the Locations section below).
• All map case folders will be represented both in ArchivesSpace and Alma, just like any other top container. Folders in the map cases may be shared by collections; the creation and representation of shared folders is exactly the same as that for bound-with boxes. (See Bound-with Boxes tab for more information.)

Physical folders

• The same information is recorded on oversized folders as is recorded for other folders (see Labeling tab). Title information should be written on the bottom left.
• Oversized folders stored in the map cases are pre-pended with OF-#, e.g., OF-1. Oversized folder numbering restarts with each collection, such that there may be multiple "OF-1" folders within a drawer. These are differentiated in ArchivesSpace by their barcodes, and all folders in a map case drawer may be viewed in ArchivesSpace by selecting Browse > Locations and viewing the location of interest. Folder numbers should be recorded in the lower-right of a map case folder.
• The barcode should also be placed on the bottom right of the folder. If labeling legacy folders without room for barcodes, just remember that a person looking through the map cases should be able to easily see both the barcode and the folder number. Consistency and visibility are most important.
• Map case and drawer numbers should be recorded on map case folders. e.g., "01-02" for map case one, drawer two.
• Note that decades of legacy practice may result in seeing older oversized folders labeled differently. Standardize when practical.

In ArchivesSpace:

• Container Profile will be Map Case Folder. Folder sizes have been standardized based on the dimensions of the drawers.
• Container type: Folder
• Container Indicator will take the form of OF-#, e.g., OF-1, for oversized folder 1.
• Remember, locations are assigned to map case folders! See the Locations section below for more information.

In Alma:

• Map case folders are represented in Alma. The naming convention for Alma is Folder OF-#, c. 1.

Locations

ArchivesSpace allows for materials to be physically managed by creating and linking to Location records, which record the details of a specific location including its building, room, and optionally, a location profile. Note that Locations display across repositories, so staff members working in the Special Collections repository can see Locations managed by the Peabody Archives, and vice versa. While you can see the Locations for other repositories, the holdings themselves are scoped to the repository you are in, so Peabody locations appear empty to Special Collections staff, but this is just a feature of different views for different repositories.

Linking to Locations is accomplished through top container records. Locations may be linked one at a time from individual top containers, or in bulk through the Manage Top Containers view in ArchivesSpace.

Special Collections repository only uses Locations to record information about folders stored in map cases.

See example below of how to assign a location to a map case folder. Note that Status is always Current and the Start Date can always be the current day.

The extent calculator performs two operations: 

1. Mathematically calculates cubic footage (e.g. 34.4 cubic feet) based on the container profiles linked to the resource or accession being calculated. 
2. Writes a container summary (e.g. “3 containers”) 

Copy the cubic footage calculated in the extent calculator, but ignore the container summary and DO NOT click the "Create Extent" save button. The copied cubic footage may be pasted into the Extent field in the collection level description in ArchivesSpace.

The extent calculator cannot be used in cases where there are no top containers.

See Basic Metadata > Extent for more guidance on extent.

Prepping boxes for LSC

Processed and unprocessed boxes may be sent to LSC for storage. Before a box can be sent to LSC for the first time, the following steps need to be completed:

1. Barcode and strap each box. The barcode sheet template can be found at G:\archives-and-manuscripts\forms-and-templates\horizon-barcoding-template.docx.
2. Create an item record in Alma for each box. See Alma Guide below for instructions.
3. Notify LSC of the incoming boxes and that they will need new RMSTs. Send an email to lsc@jhu.edu with the list of boxes and barcodes that will need new RMSTs.

Barcoding

Barcodes exist to give each container a unique number to facilitate physical tracking. Barcodes are used in Alma, ArchivesSpace, and Aeon.

Basic procedures

• Create a new Alma barcoding template document and fill it out as appropriate.
• Attach one double barcode to the physical box and attach its twin barcode to the sheet. Repeat until all boxes are barcoded and all duplicate barcodes are on the sheet.
• Create top container records in AS using the barcode and container profile information of each box or map case folder either during this process, or afterwards using the barcode sheet for easy scanning. See Top Containers and Container Profiles for more information.
• Create item records in Alma using the barcode information for each box. See below for Alma Guide.
• Send the barcode sheets to Technical Services (currently: Michelle). These barcodes will be used to create a provisional record for the Accession/Collection. 

Upon return of the barcode sheet(s)

• Scan a copy and save it in the appropriate Accession or Collection folder on the G drive. The barcode sheet may then be discarded (as long as all top containers have also been created in AS). If all top containers have not been created, it is suggested that the physical barcode sheet be retained for ease of scanning barcodes into AS off paper. It can be discarded after this process.
• File naming convention:
  • accessionNumber-barcodes.pdf = 2016-17.MS.005-barcodes.pdf
  • collectionNumber-barcodes.pdf = MS.0745-barcodes.pdf
• Record the bib number of the provisional record in the User Defined Bib Number field in AS. 

See the "Bound-with" boxes tab for information on barcoding bound-with boxes.

Adding item records in Alma

Reprocessing/rehousing instructions

If materials have been moved from one box to another but all of the box information remains the same (i.e., box number, barcode, and RMST have not changed and materials are just being shifted around within a collection's existing containers), simply update the finding aid to reflect changes; because no container-level location information will have changed, LSC does not need to be notified of any changes within a box.

If the box number changes but the RMST stays the same (i.e., the box label is changing but the box has not been replaced), just change the box number in the Alma item record and update the finding aid with the new box number.

If the materials are being rehoused in a new box but the box number is not changing, update the Alma item record with the new barcode and delete the RMST so that field is blank. Let LSC know that the box needs a new RMST when you send it back.

If the materials have been condensed and you need to remove a box, see below.

If a box is being removed from the collection

1. Take note of the box's RMST and then notify LSC that the box is being removed and that the RMST is available.
2. Delete the item record from Alma following the Alma Item Withdrawal Guide (see below).
3. Update the finding aid accordingly or follow the instructions on deaccessioning materials if the removed box is being deaccessioned.

Top containers

“Top container” is ArchivesSpace jargon that is another way of denoting a “box” or other container. The “top” container is the parent container, the one which is physically tracked, usually with a barcode. Most of the time, the top container will simply be a box. An alternate example would be a map case drawer as a top container.

A Top Container record must be created for every new box that enters the system. Bound-with collections share a top container. For more information on bound-with boxes, see Bound-withs tab on this page.

Creating top containers in ASpace

1. Under Instances on the accession or resource record, click on Add Container Instance.

2. Select a material type from the drop-down list in the Type field. The default material type is "Mixed Materials."

3. Click on the arrow next to Top Container and select Create.

4. Container Profile: Select the appropriate Container Profile (see next section).

5. Container Type: Currently limited to Box (almost always) or Folder for map case folders.

6. Indicator: The box number. For normal boxes, enter only digits into this field. Boxes 16 x 20 and above should be pre-pended with OB, ex. OB-1, and map case folders should be pre-pended with OF-#, ex. OF-1. See Oversized Materials tab on this page for more information. You may encounter legacy numbering on existing oversized boxes.

7. Barcode: Put your cursor into this field and then scan the barcode attached to this box.

8. ILS Holding ID: Not used.

9. Locations are currently only used for map cases. See Oversized Materials tab on this page for more information.

10. When complete, select Create and Link Top Container in the lower right.

Example top container for box 1 of a collection, with a record center box profile:

Bound-with boxes

For bound-with boxes, prepend the indicator with BW, e.g., BW-1 for bound-with box number 1. In the internal note section, write "Bound-with Box" and the box number, to clearly indicate to staff that this is a bound-with box.

Legacy Barcodes

Prior to migration out of Archivists’ Toolkit, no boxes had barcode information stored in AT. Upon ingest into ArchivesSpace, all top containers were assigned false barcodes in order to make each “Box 1” distinct. It is the long-term goal that all false barcodes will eventually be replaced with actual barcodes, as time and technology allows.

Container Profiles

Container profiles describe physical features of boxes used by the Archives Team, both in the past (legacy boxes), and in the present.

By recording the three external dimensions (height, width, depth) of every type of container, ArchivesSpace can use those numbers to create extent calculations as a measure of either cubic or linear feet. See Basic Metadata > Extent for more information.

To browse Container Profiles in ArchivesSpace, go to Browse > Container Profiles.

Container profiles fall into four categories: boxes in the Box Library, custom boxes, map case folders, and legacy profiles. The Box Library is a list of the official boxes to be used in the course of processing. They have been assigned numbers, such as Flat box09, and physical samples of them are maintained among the supplies. Archivists should always try to use the box library for housing new materials; if an archivist consistently cannot find a proper box, or if a collection with never-before-housed material arrives (such as a collection of film reels or other special size), boxes may be added to the box library. See the Box Library tab on this page for more information.

Finding a pre-existing box profile among Container Profiles in ASpace

If you are uncertain whether a box type is already described, do the following: 

1. Measure the box you wish to describe. Determine its three dimensions: height, width, and depth. As an example, assume your box measures 20.5 (D) x 1.5 (H) x 14.25 (W)

2. Scan the list of facets on the lefthand side of the Container Profiles page for one of the dimensions.
   
   Look for similar dimensions and remember to check the other dimensions of the box you wish to describe; considerations of a half an inch or less should not be too strict.
   

3. Once sorted by one dimension, the list becomes easier to scan for a box that closely matches the one you are describing.
   
   In this example, the archivist should use the pre-existing legacy box description that is only ¼ of an inch different than the box as measured, rather than creating a new custom box profile. 

Creating new container profiles 

New container profiles should only be created if there is no close enough match. Remember, if the dimensions of a container profile are within half an inch of the container you are using, it is considered a close enough match.

New profiles may be created:

• When a new box type has been nominated for inclusion in the Box Library. It is anticipated that this will occur as new material types are discovered or housing practices change. At this point the box will be physically entered into the box library as well as intellectually added to the list of container profiles in ArchivesSpace. See the Box Library tab on this page for more information.
• When a custom container is used infrequently enough (usually once) to not warrant inclusion in the box library. It is anticipated that oddly shaped items may be acquired that cannot fit in the boxes available. In these cases a new Custom Box profile can be created, modeled on the custom box profiles that already exist in the system. Note that numbers must be assigned (e.g., Custom Box127) to differentiate boxes with the same name even if the dimensions are different. 

Map case folders

See the Oversized Materials tab on this page for information on using map cases as top containers.

Legacy profiles

While the Archives Team did adopt a box library in 2016 in order to limit the many types of boxes used in Special Collections, it was necessary to record all the containers that had already been used in order to accurately maintain extent statements. These are denoted by the use of (legacy) in their title. Legacy container profiles should not be used unless using a legacy profile would prevent the creation of a new Custom box profile.