n.an internal set of records kept by an archives that documents the acquisition and management of an archival resourceHoober 1979, 471He stresses the importance of written documentation of donor negotiations and has included in the appendix helpful samples of correspondence and control files.Bishop 1982, 330For example, giving the processor responsibility for maintaining control files, appraisal, and publicity for the collection aids in his total view of how an archives functions.Slotkin and Lynch 1982, 157–158Although the control file contains considerable background information, including gift agreements and correspondence, the Institute Archivist takes this opportunity to give the processor additional information about the donors and creators of the papers, the circumstances of the papers’ transfer to the Archives, and the papers themselves. Discussions of how the collection is related to others in the Archives may begin at this point.Novara 2013, 212Mary Boccaccio, letter to Ann R. Hull, September 20, 1972, Ann R. Hull Papers collection control file, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, Md.Hamill 2017, 22Donor or control files should be established for each donated collection. A control file may also be beneficial for institutional records by serving as a single location (per record group) to gather useful information for their management. Adding a copy of the accession form to the control file will help create a link between a deed of gift, the finding aid when written, and the records themselves. This can be done whether the control files are paper, digital, or a blend.Harvard 2018A note about control files ¶ Most repositories keep some sort of physical (or digital) file for each collection. Control files typically contain gift or acquisition agreements, relevant correspondence with donors or dealers, preliminary file lists or other descriptions, collection summaries, authority work documentation, and preliminary research materials. No matter where or how these files are kept, it’s important that they are kept and kept in a place that is accessible to all staff. Control files are a central unit for documentation regarding a collection and often the first place to start research when processing.Hamill 2021, 269control file: The function of a control file and a donor file are the same: to collect important documentation about a body of records for the purpose of managing the same. Examples include the transfer form, accession record, processing plan, and loan or conservation documents. The method of acquiring the material in question is different. An institution may obtain new records by transfer of its own inactive records from an office. Since these records are not donated, the term donor file would be inaccurate.
Notes
A control file is also called a collection file. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably with accession file, acquisition file, or donor file, though technically control file can be used more broadly to include archival resources the repository did not acquire.Control files typically contain preliminary historical or background research, correspondence with donors or transferring agencies, deeds of gift (in the case of donations), transfer documentation (in the case of institutional records), and summaries or preliminary lists of contents. Control files may also contain processing plans, conservation plans, loan agreements, or other records relating to the management of the archival resource after acquisition. Such a file is generally for internal use only, though its contents may sometimes be of value to a researcher and the archivist could consider providing supervised access.
