Archives Terminology

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Asset- any digitized item in the database

Database- a platform for a digital collection to be housed and made accessible

Digitizing- the process of scanning and uploading physical materials from an archival collection so they can become accessible through a database

Keywords- the who, what, where, and when that describes and tags a particular asset

Collections (Groups)- assets grouped together for a specific purpose

Acquisition- the process of receiving a collection or individual items to be processed and housed in the archive

Appraisal- process of overviewing collection and determining what is relevant to the scope of the archive, what will be processed, and what will not be part of the collection

Processing- the act of arranging, describing, and creating access for items in an archival collection

Arrangement- the order in which different items in an archival collection are placed (this influences the ways in which the collection is researched)

Provenance- 1. The origin or source of something. – 2. Information regarding the origins, custody, and ownership of an item or collection.