Arrangement techniques for archives and manuscripts

Arrangement is the process of gaining physical and intellectual control over archives and manuscripts, in accordance with archival principles. Throughout the arrangement process, two goals must be kept in mind: protecting the integrity and identity of the records, and making them accessible for research. Archivists base arrangement decisions on provenance and original order, and they establish control over groupings of materials rather than individual items. Up to five levels of control may be established, based on provenance and filing structure. The most critical level, the series, identifies records with common characteristics based on function, activity, form, or use. When manuscripts and archives are disorganized, the archivist must bring order out of chaos.