The processing of the Irving Wallace papers is reaching a checkpoint. The nonfiction and fiction writings, or records associated with specific book titles, are nearly complete. So, what’s next?
The next materials in the collection include many more writings, correspondence, and research materials by Irving Wallace such as articles, essays, screenplays, treatments, plays, and short stories.
While looking over the proposed container list, I was paused by a question surrounding biographical materials. How expansive can a series be? I was reflecting on the context, subseries, alphabetization, and how to simplify a complex collection. And I was deliberating about how to represent the nuance between biographical and personal records.
One of the CC Special Collections Archivists offered a simple reminder to consider the role of the researcher. He stated that it is not the archivist’s job to do the research for the researcher, but to make it possible for them to find what they are looking for. My own question was met with another: Is this nuance required for a researcher to locate this record? How much would designating a new subseries change the way this record is labeled, understood, and accessed? It is easy to overcomplicate intricate collections, so returning to reminders that wonderfully capture basic objectives refocuses the big ideas like “what’s next…”
Stay tuned, Chelsea Fox