Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections
Tips on Reading Manuscript Inventories
Inventories are written guides to manuscript collections. They tell who the creators of the
collection are, what the collection contains and what it is about, and how to physically locate
specific documents or groups of documents within the collection. An inventory contains a summary,
biographical/historical note, scope and content note, a series list and descriptions of series,
index terms, and a container list. At present, not all inventories available on the web site,
however, have all of these elements. Nevertheless, a word about each will help you understand how
to use the inventories most effectively.
Biographical/historical note
Describes the life of the creator(s) of the manuscript group, whether the creator is an organization or an individual, as that life relates to the collection. Example.
Container list
A list showing the physical arrangement of the boxes and folders in which
a collection is housed. Each box's location in the stacks/shelves is given. The container list is
also useful for identifying in which box(es) a particular series is located, thereby preventing the
researcher from having to pull and go through boxes that are not relevant to his or her research.
Example.
Index terms
Give reference to people, organizations, places, topics, and things” that
figure prominently in a collection. The terms are then keyed to indicate in which series documents
about that entity can be found. Example.
Scope and content note
Briefly describes the coverage of materials in the collection,
including the range of dates, geography, topical subjects, persons and organizations. It also
indicates what kinds of materials are in the collection—letters, journals, photographs, ledgers,
diaries, etc. Example.
Series descriptions
Collections are arranged into series according to the form and/or
function of the materials within them. The series is the main unit at which description occurs,
that is, most inventories do not provide descriptions for every single item in a collection.
Rather, as those items have been grouped together because they document the same activity
(IE--plantation operation papers, personal correspondence, legal papers) or share a common format
(IE--correspondence, minutes, writings, or manuscript volumes) those groups, or series, are
described. Series can be broken down further into subseries, groups of like materials within a
series. The series descriptions are presented to reflect the physical order and arrangement of the
collection. Example.
Series list
A list of the series in a collection that provides the researcher, at a glance,
with the overall arrangement of the collection. Example
Summary
The summary is a one page profile of the collection. It gives the size;
geographic location(s) where the activities documented in the collection occurred; the dates of the
collection, including bulk dates (the time period from which a preponderance of the collection
dates); the language(s) in which the documents are written; a very brief and concise description of
the collection; any collections relating to the same family, business, or organization; any
restrictions on access; a statement of copyright; the correct citation for the collection; and its
stack location or call number. Example.

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