“Documents,” “Old Papers,” and “Miscellaneous” describe the contents, but they provide little help if you’re trying to locate a particular record. Archival titles should identify and differentiate one folder from another; they should contain as much information as possible but not become a full summary. In practice, a folder title will consist of some combination of activity, record type, creator, subject, or dates covered, depending on how the records are best described.
When revising a folder title, look over the entire folder rather than naming the folder from the first page. A folder currently titled Letters may in fact contain the correspondence between one project coordinator and various suppliers from 2014 to 2016; that would become better titled Supplier Correspondence, 2014-2016, since it provides information that supports retrieval. Do not create a new title if you cannot determine from the content the creator or subjects, the activity, or when it occurred; if those details are not evident to you, don’t create a title to fill the gaps.
Try to title folders consistently, so that the entire collection feels unified. If one folder is titled Meeting Minutes, 2018 and another is titled 2019 Meetings, select one pattern and follow it. The dates should be described in the same way, as should the types of records within the folder. Abbreviations and capitalization should also be the same. Otherwise, a folder list will become difficult to review when similar records are named in a number of different ways.
Take five current generic folder titles from a non-sensitive or copied collection, and rewrite each of them twice. Try to create a shorter, general title first and a second, more detailed one. For example, Finance can become Expense Records, 2021, or, more detailed, Community Event Expense Records, March-August 2021. Assess each title against its contents. While the longer titles often give you better information and support retrieval, they’re not the better titles if that extra information isn’t justified by the folder content.
Don’t be overwhelmed with including every name, subject, or date from a folder; when related records are part of a larger activity, folder-level description is more practical. Provide other descriptive or contextual information in a scope and content note instead. This makes the folder inventory easier to read, and still provides space for relevant detail that may not be best suited for the folder title itself.
Keep the original title of the folder, when it’s possible to do so. When it has evidential significance, the original folder title can be noted, as well. Put it in a note field, a column on your inventory spreadsheet, or a decision log before updating it with a new, more descriptive title. This can be particularly helpful when a folder title is used for its original value and the folder’s content doesn’t fit with the current title. The current folder title will help you identify the folder when retrieving it, but documenting the original title can preserve its context for future researchers.
The simplest way to test if your folder titles are helpful is to try retrieving the folder. Without opening the folder, can you identify the activity, the type of records, and the date range from the title alone? Read a series of adjacent titles. Is each folder identifiable, and are similar records being described in similar ways? Those are the signs of good folder titles.