The Documents Collection at Berkeley had been collecting architectural records since 1955 but never had an archivist until I got there in 1998. At the Environmental Design Archives at Berkeley, we have tried to come up with a standard way for arranging and describing collections. And I think that hierarchy is critical to understanding the context of the records. I have handed out a draft of our recommended hierarchy, which we will make available as a publication in the fall. Standard series makes it easier for researchers to find information, for me to get help processing collections, and for computer automation.
Computers love standards and consistency.
These series are intended to be flexible, not fixed. The recommended hierarchy is intended for the broadest of collections and is designed to work for the records you have in each collection. You can move things around, and you can have different finding aids for different collections. Some collections use all the series, some do not. From these series, the finding aids are created.