Archival Processing

Archival processing is a term used in the United States of America to refer to the act of arranging and describing the papers of an individual or family or the records of an organization. A person who is engaged in this is known as an archival processor or archivist.

Ideally, when an archives receives a collection of papers or a group of records, they will have been arranged by the originator (the original person, persons, or organization that created or assembled the collection or records) and boxed up for the move to the archives in such a way that this order has been preserved. However, collections and record groups are often only semi-organized, and sometimes they lack any organization at all. Observing this organization, or imposing one where it is lacking, and then describing the organized material, are the tasks which archivists refer to as "archival processing" or "arrangement and description".

Read more about Archival Processing:  Surveying, Preservation Activities