Fonds, series, file, and item. What do they mean? Let’s talk about these four archival levels that help organize collections. A bunch of papers in a box might seem to be one single block of records, but you soon learn to ask how the pieces within it relate to each other. Hierarchy allows us to describe those pieces as related parts of a whole. Archivists frequently use levels to describe collections, because it’s too difficult to describe each record individually. For novice archivists, there are four main terms to know: fonds, series, file, and item. You can think of these levels as describing different stages of an archive, rather than competing methods for sorting records.
A fonds represents the entire set of records created or acquired by an individual, family, or institution in the course of their activities. Records are often broken down into series within a fonds if there is some similarity between them (in function, activity, or form). So, a collection of correspondence may be separated from a collection of financial records. However, both series would still be part of the overarching fonds and maintain the connection with the creator of the records. A file is a step below series, grouping records that have a closer relationship, perhaps as a result of being part of the same activity, case, project, time period, or transaction.
Within our correspondence series, for instance, there might be a file made up of letters relating to one project. Finally, an item is just a single record (such as a letter, photograph, report, or form) within a file. It’s not necessary to describe every item within a collection, however, because sometimes the file-level description provides sufficient information for retrieval purposes, and it avoids creating overly specific records. This is one reason why learning about hierarchy is essential.
The best way to familiarize yourself with hierarchy is to practice with a small collection. Start by setting aside some records from a local club or society. You’ll have the minutes from meetings, the members’ letters, the accounts, and a few photographs. Identify the overarching fonds, and then divide the records into series based on the activities they represent. Next, create some files within a series and put records within those files. While doing this exercise, write out the levels that correspond to each group of records. You will find it most helpful when you can articulate why a folder is a file and not a series, or why a photo is an item and not a separate collection.
One common confusion relates to the fact that we sometimes confuse physical containers with archival levels. An archival box is not a series, it is simply where the records are kept. A folder is an archival object, but the contents of a folder might only constitute a file if they form a related set of records. Multiple files can be placed in one box, and one series may span multiple boxes. Keeping intellectual arrangement separate from physical storage will make your inventory list or finding aid more readable. You can then use reference codes to map the hierarchy to the boxes and folders. Another thing to consider is that descriptions should match the level being described.
A description at the fonds level could contain information such as the name of the record creator, the date range, extent, and general content of the collection. A description at the series level could include the purpose or nature of the records. At the file level, you would provide a brief summary of what records fall under that file; item-level descriptions can provide more details about one specific record. Once you reach item level, however, additional levels may not be necessary unless you want to delve further into the contents of that specific record. If you can move from fonds to series to file to item without getting lost in the process, you’ve got a handle on archival hierarchy!
