Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Balancing The Art And Science Of Archival Processing Metrics And Assessment, Cyndi Shein, Sarah R. Jones, Tammi Kim, Karla Irwin

Journal of Western Archives

At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries, archival processing metrics are used to support value propositions, project proposals, project management, and strategic planning. When making data-driven decisions, UNLV Special Collections Technical Services staff strive to balance the art and science of archival processing metrics—to critically assess their data and look beyond the numbers for additional information that brings meaning to the metrics. In this research paper, the authors review processing metrics across the profession and place their own archival processing field data within the context of more than three decades of professional practice. They report and explore …