NHPRC Basic Processing Grant

In October 2007, the Kansas Historical Society State Archives and Library staff wrote a grant application to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission requesting funding for 3 project archivists and related expenses to eliminate current backlogs by adding contents to finding media for state archives and manuscripts, create basic content information for all unprocessed state archives series and manuscript collections including microfilm, create an authority database for state agencies and major subdivisions with brief summaries of provenance and function to aid in future cataloging, create standardized contents descriptions for records common to multiple agencies and counties, note series or collections that may be candidates for reappraisal or deaccessioning review, tag records found needing immediate preservation treatment, determine the provenance for all state records, and develop a work flow and procedures model that ensures that future accessions can be processed promptly without accumulating backlogs. In May 2008, the Society was notified that the application was successful and the Society was awarded $161,186.

This project incorporates principles espoused in the article “More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing,” by Mark A. Greene and Dennis Meissner (American Archivist, 68 [fall / winter 2005]: 208–263).

In the hope that other organizations might benefit, links to specific components of the grant application are below. All are in PDF format, requiring the free Adobe Reader.

• Project Summary
• Project Narrative
• Appendices
• Charts
• Project Archivist position description