A finding aid is not the collection. It explains who created the records, why they were created, how they are organized, the date span, and how to request individual series, boxes, or folders. Reading it before you open the documents will save you hours of aimless searching, and allow you to place a record in context.
Take one finding aid and read it without looking for a familiar last name. Start with the collection title, creator, date range, and repository. Next look at the biographical note or administrative history and read about the person or institution that generated the records. Finally, check the scope and content note, arrangement, access restrictions, and container list. This brief exercise will help you determine whether the collection will be useful before you start reading individual documents.
The scope and content note is especially important. It may list correspondence, registers, reports, photographs, maps, meeting minutes, financial records, etc. It may also alert you to gaps in the collection. Just because a collection spans 1900 to 1970 doesn’t mean there is material from each of those years. And just because the title refers to one organization doesn’t mean every department or activity is represented. The scope and content note gives you a general overview, but it’s not a comprehensive list of every person or topic mentioned.
The arrangement describes how the records of the creator have been grouped. The collection might be divided into series like correspondence, personnel files, project reports, or photographs. Those series may be further divided into subseries, boxes, folders, and individual items. Sometimes beginners focus only on a folder title and ignore the rest of the structure. Doing so could pull a document out of context, or deprive you of knowing why it was created. For example, a letter found in a project file may read differently if you know it accompanied reports, annotations, and other correspondence in the same series.
Container lists will allow you to translate a research question into actual requests. Instead of asking an archive for everything they have about the harbor, you could refer to a series of planning files, one box from 1948 to 1953, and two folders dealing with the repair of docks. Make sure to record the full collection title, series, box number, folder title, and reference code in your research log. Be sure to note any access restrictions, reproduction policies, or warning labels for fragile items before you make plans to visit the archive or submit an inquiry.
Before requesting any documents, draft one sentence stating why you think the folder you’ve chosen will answer your question. Base your reasoning on the collection creator, date range, scope and content, and arrangement description. If you cannot justify the link, return to the finding aid and pick another one. This brief moment of reflection changes a finding aid from a page you quickly scan into an active tool that helps you choose records with intent.