Fred Abele Transportation History Collection

Making a Manuscripts Collection User Friendly

A Look at How the Manuscripts and Special Collections Unit of the New York State Library Processes a Collection

• Arrival of the collection and initial rehousing and cataloging work.
• Getting ready for the appraisers.
• Creating a preliminary catalog record.
• The appraisal.
• Looking at the scrapbooks more carefully and taking notes and more notes.
• Sorting and rehousing boxes containing a mixture of photographs, slides, postcards, timetables, etc.
• Relabeling and taking more notes and more notes.