Collection Name IEEE Schenectady Section Records

Records Creator Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Schenectady Section
Volume The collection was initially listed as being 2 cu. ft. in
size. However, one of the two record center boxes
containing the collection is only partially full and
there is an additional letter-size Hollinger box
connected to the collection. The collection will likely
be around 2 cu. ft. after processing but a more exact
number will still need to be determined.
Dates The collection covers a period from 1898 to 2012.
The bulk of the material is focused in the 1950s and
1960s.
Language English
Location The Museum of Innovation and Science Archives.
Scope and Content The collection contains meeting minutes and
agendas, newsletters, lecture programs and
recordings, yearly compilations of the section’s
correspondence and promotional material of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Schenectady Section, a professional organization that
included members of the General Electric Company
in Schenectady. There are also several manuals and
books of yet indeterminate connection to the
organization.
Current Arrangement Currently, one full Hollinger box is dedicated to
newsletters of the IEEE, covering a period of from
1963 through 1986. The newsletter appears to have
gone through a number of name changes and
iterations but they are mostly in chronological order.
While ordered, they lack folders, which will be
needed.
One of the full document boxes contains various
documents relating to the Steinmetz Lectures, a
series of scientific lectures sponsored by the IEEE.
There is not nearly enough in the box to justify a full
records center box and the items will need to be
transferred to a smaller box. Most of the folders are
already labeled and while some are order
chronologically, there does not appear to be a
complete internal logic to how the folders were
organized.
Roughly half of the final box is made up of three-ring
binders ordered chronologically, while the other half
of the box is occupied by four books, at least one of

Proposed Level of Processing
Proposed Arrangement Scheme
Proposed Level of Description
Current Condition
which appears to be a General Electric employee
manual of some sort.
I propose that the collection be broken up into
several series. As the Steinmetz Lectures are not
terribly connected to the rest of the collection
outside of it being sponsored by the IEEE, that will
become its own series.
As the newsletter collection is also of a reasonable
size and arranged on its own already, they will also
be organized as their own series within the
collection as well.
Finally, the box containing minutes books and
folders will also be arranged as their own series. The
items in this box appear to be primarily concerned
with the administration of the IEEE, meaning that
there is already an intellectual connection between
most of the items in this box. The items in this box
that are currently in three-ring binders will need to
be transferred into folders. Upon first inspection, it
appeared that letter-sized folders should suffice.
As most items within the collection can have a year
attributed to it, a chronological order is likely the
best fit for each series. The binders in the collection
covering Institute business are organized by year
and are further broken up into sections (i.e.
correspondence, treasurer’s reports), making for
logical folder separations.
A finding aid will be created for the collection, with
some description for each series. This finding aid
will include: A Collection Title, Collection Number,
Dates, Creator, Repository, Acquisition Information,
Extent, Language of Material, Conditions Governing
Use and Access, Index Terms, Scope and Content
Notes, Processing Information, An Administrative
History Note for the IEEE and information detailing
the arrangement scheme. Folder lists will be created
for each series and box within the collection as well.
The contents of the collection appear to generally be
in good condition. Several of the binders that house
documents appear to be getting rusty, but are not yet
at a point where they have damaged their contents.
As the box containing the Steinmetz Lectures items
was not full, a number of the documents have begun
to warp and folder. Nevertheless, the paper seems to
 be in good condition, save for a few documents that
have been folded.
Preservation/Conservation A good number of the items in this collection are
Needs already in folders and are thus already well-
preserved. Transfer to acid-free folders would be
prudent. Several recordings, including a VHS tape,
will have to be assessed to see what condition they
are in going forward and if they warrant further
conservation.
Items that are currently in binders will need to be
removed from their bindings and transferred into
folders.
Possible Restrictions The collection does not appear to contain any
sensitive material that would require restriction.
Related Collections None known as of yet.
Supplies Needed Acid-free folders will be needed to rehouse the
papers that are currently housed in binder. As one of
the record-center boxes is only partially full, it would
also be advisable to procure at least one letter-sized
Hollinger box.
Estimated Number of Hours ~40 hours.
Processor Miles Lawlor will be processing this collection under
the supervision of Chris Hunter.