Michele -

At SAA I learned that the French, in their national CALAMES project,
consciously decided not to erase records for "lost" manuscripts. I find
this commitment to transparency refreshing.

Jennifer
***************************
Jennifer Schaffner
Program Officer
RLG Programs/OCLC Research
650.287.2140
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-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Michele R Combs
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 9:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: EAD encoding and missing items

Hello all --

In the process of converting some 2000+ finding aids to EAD, we
occasionally have need to consult the collection itself to clear up some
questionable areas of the inventory or to double check box numbers or
etc etc etc. Once in a while, this consultation of the actual stuff
reveals that a box or tube or folder or etc is missing. Now of course
internally we log this, and try to find the item(s) or otherwise account
for them, because we want to know where all our stuff is at all times
(ideally, anyway...).

My question is the best way to handle this in the publicly-accessible
EAD inventory. Among our thoughts:

* We can hold off putting the entire inventory online until the missing
item is located or otherwise accounted for.
* We can omit the missing item from the inventory; we can include it in
the inventory but comment it out so it won't be visible to the public.
* We can include it in the inventory but add a note saying "This item
not presently available for research".
* We can include it in the inventory visible to the public and add a
note saying flat-out "Missing" and the date.
* ???

What have others done as they encounter this during conversion?

Michele

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..Michele Combs..
..Manuscripts Librarian..
..Special Collections Research Center..
..E.S. Bird Library..
..Syracuse University..
..222 Waverly Ave...
..Syracuse, NY 13244..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~