Weeding out identical items (duplicates) and collection file material
After discussions with Collections Development, the decision was made for the team to weed out identical items of post-1851 material from the boxes before cataloguing. As the post-1851 ephemera is not under Museum Accreditation, it can be removed without additional listing or recording.
An identical item suitable for weeding is:
one dated post-1851
whose design is identical to another item in the box
where there is no variation in size, colour or pattern from another item
where there are no copy specific differences e.g. no handwritten text, stamps or other evidence of use or ownership
When you have identified the identical items, retain the item which is in better condition and remove the rest from the box.
Be aware that some items, while looking nearly identical, may have small but key differences. A good example are labels EPH/147A/59 - 63. While they all have identical wording and incredibly similar designs, each is slightly different.
For these, you would catalogue them on different bibliographic records but use the 520 to provide extra information to aid identification.
Once you have removed an item, place it in a acid-free sleeve (the sleeves we use for box lists) and place it in the EPH Duplicates post-1851 box on the inventory shelf in the 371 workroom [FR;10;2]. If there are multiple identical items e.g. 10 identical labels, or items from the same pharmacist/company/creator, keep them together in a single sleeve. These items will be given to Collections Development to be offered to other institutions and engagement teams. You will also need to update the 'Number of duplicates removed' column in the ephemera spreadsheet for the box you have just completed. This will allow the team to keep track of how much weeding has been carried out. You do not need to update this column if you have not removed anything.
Duplicates in other parts of the collection
If you think there may be a duplicate item in another box, or in another part of the wider collection, continue to catalogue as normal but add the macro, 'Unsuitable housing or storage: duplicate'. If possible, add the shelfmark/reference number to the end to make it easier to find the identical item e.g. 'Unsuitable housing or storage: duplicate [WC750 1969J66m]'. This will allow for further checks and potential weeding in the future.
Pre-1851 multiple items
For pre-1851 material, or undated material which is on the borderline, as these items are covered by Museum Accreditation, the team are not weeding out the multiple copies. For this material, create a single bibliographic record with a single Ref No (001) e.g. EPH/123/1, and attach multiple items with a / suffix e.g. copy one would be EPH/123/1/1 and copy two would be EPH/123/1/2. Be sure to update the copy number field [COPY#] in the item records e.g. 1, 2, etc, as this field does not update automatically.
Collection File Material
Some ephemera boxes contain material relating to the ephemera e.g. letters from the librarian asking for material from companies/charities, but should not be catalogued as part of the collection. Such items should be pulled out of the boxes and added to the Rare Materials physical collection file labelled "Collection Information Ephemera Inventory" [215;3rd floor;Cabinet 43;Shelf 2]. If the material relates to a specific item, write the reference number in pencil on the back of the pulled out material.
Pre-Nov 2024 procedure
Although not part of the macro, if you come across a melinex sleeve with more than 3 identical items, such as 10 identical labels, use the word 'duplicate'.
If a single melinex sleeve contains multiple identical items, make sure the extent records how many there are e.g. 10 labels. If there are more than three identical items which have no clear copy specific difference, use the word 'duplicate' in the unsuitable storage and housing field. We can choose to go back and reconcile this data on another occasion.
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