Many archivists working in libraries find themselves responsible for
manuscripts (as well as archives); both manuscript collections and
so-called single item manuscripts. I have found that the latter
category can cause problems, since these also fall within the
traditional purview of librarians. In this Library they are (in the main)
catalogued by archivists and entered into our archives and
manuscripts database to allow for searching across one database.
However, the eventual intention is to allow for searching across
both library and archives systems since the collections are
complementary. I do have my suspicions however, about what
constitutes a single-item manuscript. There is a tendency among
some librarians to break up manuscript collections into single
items and catalogue these separately, disregarding provenance
and the relationship between the items. On the whole, I believe that
manuscripts are best left to archivists!
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Rosemary Seton,
Archivist,
School of Oriental and African Studies,
Thornhaugh Street,
Russell Square,
London WC1H OXG
Tel +44(0)171-323-6112
Fax +44(0)171-636-2834
Email [log in to unmask]
http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/guides/archives.html
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