The Arrangement of the Inventory

The Nazarene Archives’ primary finding aid is a system of inventories, or lists, that identify and describe items in the collections. The inventory also gives the shelf location of items. Collections and their inventories are arranged according to fourteen categories, divided in turn into “record groups.” The fourteen categories are numbered 100 through 1400. Each record group is assigned its own number within the category (101, 102, 103, etc.). If the collections under a particular record group are large or complex, they may be subdivided.

The inventories and collections of the Nazarene Archives change with each work day and every new acquisition. The most complete and accurate inventory is always the “working copy” in the archives workroom. The working copy contains frequent handwritten additions, many untyped inventories, and lists of unprocessed collections. A researcher can obtain access to portions of the working inventory by corresponding with the Archives manager.