What kind of records do archives collect?

Libraries are full of stuff, archives are full of stuff—so what’s the difference? Who gets what? 

As a rule of thumb, libraries collect published works (which can take the form of physical books, e-books, newspapers, and journals, and often extend to other formats like film), while archives collect unique, one-of-a-kind records. This often takes the shape of correspondence, photographs, meeting notes and minutes, academic and other organizational certificates, memos, journals, sound recordings, and annotated drafts of manuscripts. 

Golden Age Association, from left to right: Mrs. Eva Greenberg, Mrs. Esther Faigen, and Mrs. Celia Bregman show off sewing, Montreal, QC, 1967

ID: 1255_PR011885

Archives’ specific “mandates”—those clauses that stipulate what gets collected, and from whom—vary from institution to institution. For instance, the Jewish Public Library Archives’ mandate is to collect, preserve, and make available original documents, photographs and recordings that tell the social, economic, and cultural stories of Montreal’s Jewish community. Meanwhile, the Museum of Flight Archives in Seattle, Washington collects materials that represent the history of aviation and aerospace from 18th century ballooning to 21st century rocketry, including 3D objects, photographs, textual documents, ephemera, audiovisual materials, books, and periodicals.

Folder containing several of Maurice’s works as well other pamphlets and additional sheet music

ID: 1473

Since what libraries and archives collect is different, the way materials in libraries and archives are described and catalogued is different—namely because the needs of the users, researchers, and patrons of these institutions differ, but also because different types of materials require different physical intervention. For example, while a copy of a book in a library might be encased in a plastic sleeve and shelved, archival photographs are given a special home (like an envelope or a clear plastic sleeve), and archival objects could be wrapped in tissue paper and stored in a box. Of course, some aspects of the description and cataloguing process in libraries and archives overlap: items (or groups of items) receive a title and/or unique identifier, and those items are systematically tagged and organized within a catalogue so that they can become “findable” to users.

French reverse of pamphlet for The Organizer, International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union, 1937.

ID: 1266

So, while what is acquired by libraries and archives differs, and how it’s presented may look a bit different, libraries and archives share one fundamental goal: to make resources findable by—and accessible to!—their patrons.