Empty folders

Empty folders are evidence of an expectation.  They don’t need to be kept, but the fact that they are discarded should be recorded.

The place they are most poignant: folders set up in expectation of receiving correspondence from German Jewish refugees in 1938.  The correspondence never came.

If you do discard, I think it’s wise to make a record in the processing note for the series (or appropriate level of description).  “Empty folders labeled ‘J,’ ‘Q,’ and ‘XYZ’ were discarded.”

Kate

Kate Bowers
Collections Services Archivist for Metadata, Systems, and Standards
Harvard University Archives
kate_bowers@harvard.edu<mailto:megan_sniffin-marinoff@harvard.edu>
voice: (617) 998-5238
fax: (617) 495-8011
web: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:archives
Twitter: @k8_bowers