Fiona,
Other institutions no doubt can offer various ways to curate a collection of items of mixed provenance, so the way that we have chosen to do it here at the Public Debt History Center might not be the best way, or even the most appropriate way.
As we were establishing the History Center a few years ago, we recognized that we had a lot of material with questionable or no known provenance. Because that material was so voluminous, to accession each item individually, or to appraise the material item-by-item and then incorporate each separate item into other collections, would have been much too time-consuming.
So we made the decision to create an artificial collection, with the generic name of Public Debt History Collection. And as we continue to receive items anonymously and with no known provenance, or items that do not lend themselves to already established collections, that material is added to the Public Debt History Collection.
In PastPerfect, we created a single catalog record for the entire Public Debt History Collection. And when that collection is eventually processed, it will have a finding aid to guide us in locating specific items.
Attached below is a descriptive entry for the Public Debt History Collection from our preliminary guide.
I hope this is of some help.
Take care,
Harry
Harry G. Heiss, Archivist
Public Debt History Center
Room W-104
Bureau of the Public Debt
Department of the Treasury
200 Third Street
Parkersburg, WV 26101-5312
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304.480.5335 [voice]
304.480.5334 [fax]
"Be nice to the archivist, or she'll erase you from history."
--Anonymous
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