Survey Forms and Guidelines

The following forms and guidelines are provided to Nebraska Historical Agencies.
You may copy and distribute them as necessary.

1. GUIDE / SURVEY COLLECTION-LEVEL FORM

Use this form to record information for the Archival Collections Database. Print off the form and make as many copies as you need to survey your collections. When you are done surveying your collections, return the completed forms to the Nebraska State Historical Society so that they can be entered into the database.

Collection-level form (PDF)

2. GUIDE / SURVEY COMPONENT-LEVEL FORM

The Nebraska State Historical Society divides their archival collections into "components" based on their format. These components include manuscripts (AM), photographs (PH), moving images (MI), audio/sound recordings (AU), and multi-media (MM). If your agency handles collections in a similar manner, feel free to use the Component-level forms. If your agency makes no such designation, just use the Collection-level form shown above.

Component-level form (PDF)

3. GUIDE / SURVEY PROJECT GUIDELINES

The project guidelines give detailed descriptions of what information should be entered in each field. They include separate sections for both the Collection-level and Component-level forms.

Guide / Survey Guidelines (PDF)

Tips for Writing Collection and Component-Level Descriptions (PDF)

Assigning Index Headings (PDF)

NSHS Subject Thesaurus (776k PDF)

4. INTERNAL COLLECTIONS SURVEY FOR ARCHIVAL RESPOSITORIES

The Nebraska State Historical Society's curatorial staff developed an internal collections survey to be used to gain greater intellectual and administrative control over the archival collections. The survey was designed specifically for the Nebraska State Historical Society, but you are free to use and edit the following guidelines and forms to fit your own needs.

Internal Collections Survey Guidelines (PDF)

Internal Collections Survey Form (PDF)

Send your completed forms to:

Andrea Faling, State Archivist
Nebraska State Historical Society
P.O. Box 82554
Lincoln, NE 68501-2554

For questions about any of these forms or instructions, please contact:

Tom Mooney, Curator of Manuscripts
Nebraska State Historical Society
1500 R St., P.O. Box 82554
Lincoln, NE 68501-2554
(402) 471-6396
tmooney@nebraskahistory.org