Your archival program can support company staff on a daily basis and enable them to work more efficiently. The databases/inventories created and maintained by your archives committee will provide the principal reference tools for identifying where a particular source of information is located within the archives. Additional tools can include a company history, a listing of productions, and an inventory of artists who have been involved in company productions. Making these tools available to staff on the company website enables them to identify the box/folder location of the documents they want to use. While company staff have internal needs for the company archives, individuals outside the company may also have reason to consult your collection.
In planning for researcher inquiries, your archives committee will need to determine the means and extent to which company records will be made available to outside researchers. The majority of inquiries will no doubt relate to the company’s production and administrative history. By placing a history of the company, a chronological listing of productions accompanied by production photographs, and an administrative history (including names of staff and time periods of their tenure) on your theatre’s website, the number of basic informational requests will be reduced. For many theatre companies, at least initially, providing on-site access to their records is not possible due to staffing, space, or other limitations. In those cases, the archives’ online presence is even more essential. Additionally, a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be linked to the archives website and can be updated as appropriate questions arise. User statistics can inform decisions regarding priorities for adding content to the company/archives website. As photographs are requested by researchers, for example, you may choose to digitize those items and make them available via the website.
Some records are by law restricted for specific periods of time; for example, personnel files and any kind of medical records. Based on discussions with administrators and other staff, you can include notes in the archival inventories regarding what is and is not available to researchers and post relevant information to your website. For example:
- Publicity (photographs, programs, heralds): available after production closes
- Financial records: available 10 years after production
- Videotaped performances: available as union contracts allow
Establishing and publishing policies for outside researchers will save time and help your archives committee handle unexpected requests. Basic information regarding how and when researchers may visit; how individuals register to use the archives; what kind of copying facilities, if any, are available; permissions to publish material from the archives, etc., should be made a part of the archives page of your website. Since needs and requirements vary from one company to another, tailor these policies to suit your theatre.
Once you’ve established basic researcher policies and active use of your theatre’s archives, you may consider developing other policies common at established archival repositories, for example:
- Equal access
- Registration of readers
- Confidentiality
- Restrictions—imposed by company/donor/contracts (unions)
- Restrictions—imposed by law (personnel records, medical records, etc.)
- Copying of material
- Publication rights—who owns rights to materials held in company archives and who gives permission to publish?
While some theatre companies may not have the space and/or resources to provide on-site reference services for outside researchers, you should become familiar with the issues involved in providing this service. You may require that in-person researchers set up an appointment and identify what material they wish to see before they come to your archives. This could be done via telephone, an online form or an email to your archives committee. Registering readers enables companies to track use of the archives and the purpose of the reader’s visit as well as verify identification for security purposes.
While you do not need a fancy reading room like one would find in an institutional repository, you should consider providing the following for visiting researchers:
- A place to check bags, coats, etc.
- A table (with chair) large enough to accommodate the material they wish to see, preferably with an electrical outlet nearby for those using laptops. The table should be within viewing of an archives committee member so that the handling of material can be observed.
- A supply of pencils for taking notes. (No ink pens, which could permanently mark material, should be used by researchers.)
Typically, reading rooms have a list of rules by which readers are expected to abide, and usually include policies regarding handling of material: use of pencils rather than pens and restricting food and drink (for preservation purposes), cell phones, personal cameras, etc. A copy of the rules should be reviewed with and given to the reader. These rules may also be posted to your theatre’s website so that the researcher is aware of the rules in advance.
After a reader has identified, via the inventory, what boxes he or she wishes to see, a staff member retrieves the material and provides it to the reader. In order to insure the preservation and order of the material, readers should use one box, and one folder from that box, at a time. If the company allows photocopying of material, an archives committee member should be responsible for doing the actual copying in order to insure careful handling; the researcher can use acid-free flags to identify items to be duplicated.
Ideally, your archives committee will maintain a record of what material is used by researchers. In this way, use can be measured statistically, rather than anecdotally. These statistics can be helpful when determining what material should receive additional preservation or digitization, when reporting on the activities of the archives to company administrators and/or board members, or when applying for additional grant funding for the archives.
If your company is able to make your archives available on-site to the public on a regular basis, you may consider including a description of your archives for potential researchers in national, state, and/or local archives online catalogs, including the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. If you choose to place your archives in a manuscript repository (see section 8), information about your archives will be included in that repository’s local catalog and will likely be contributed to a national database of archival holdings.
PUBLIC ACCESS
- Create an archives page on your company’s website and include basic company history and production chronology.
- If you are ready to accommodate outside researchers, create and post on your website any rules and policies as well as a listing of items that are publicly accessible.
- Within the parameters of your facility, provide a secure and clean space for researchers to review your archives, one box and folder at a time.
- Keep track of archives usage for further conversations with theatre leadership and funding agencies.