Norman May 12, 2010 at 8:26 pm

I would say “Collection” and then break each down, i.e., Photo Collection, Video Collection, etc., with, perhaps, further breakdowns with the Document Collection as to the types of documents. Any questions, email me for further input. Thanks for asking.

Yvette May 13, 2010 at 2:11 am

I would expect the word ‘collection’. ‘Holding’ to me suggests the particular venue, ‘catalog’ to me is the index, and inventory and records are words I would expect a professional to use but not the average member of the public. But I’m not a native speaker so my view may be a bit warped!

Jill May 14, 2010 at 8:36 am

Thanks for the feedback, Norman and Yvette! We would love to hear from more of our readers, too.

Stay tuned for more upcoming chances to give us your input on the Archives.gov redesign.

- Jill (admin)

Bill Getchell – NARA May 14, 2010 at 3:02 pm

The opinions expressed in the following posting are mine alone and do not reflect any position of the National Archives and Records Administration.

All of the “stuff” that NARA has is called “holdings.” Some of these holdings, chiefly donated materials that are held by the Presidential libraries, are “collections.” By far the greater part of our “holdings” are those Federal records having enduring value- these are the National Archives of the United States, or, “the National Archives.”

To many of the staff at NARA, particularly to those who have been here for a while, to refer to the totality of our holdings as “collections” is regarded with disdain.

Note that there is a difference between the “National Archives” and the agency that has custody of them, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This is an important distinction that is becoming lost in the public discussion.

What needs to be noted as well is that the terms “National Archives,” “holdings,” and “collections,” and their usage are set forth in NARA directives and have been serving the agency, and the public, well for decades. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Holly May 18, 2010 at 4:08 pm

“Collection” is used by the LOC, the UK National Archives, and Archives of Canada. I don’t know if they’ve done research to suggest that this term is widely-understood, but I do lean more toward “collections” than “holdings.”

Sherry Sarver June 2, 2010 at 11:47 pm

1st choice: Collections
2nd choice: Records

David June 3, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Are you looking for an inclusive yet snappy name? The obvious (Historium, historicum,historion etc are all taken) Consider historiage (not historage) or historillion

Jeni June 4, 2010 at 1:51 pm

Assets or findings?

Mary June 6, 2010 at 4:47 pm

How about the word “Data” or “Facts”

Astrid Camara June 7, 2010 at 8:05 pm

Data, facts, or findings for referring to documents, photos, videos, and other items?

I vote for collections. Holdings and assets sound like finance terms.

Snooze Hamilton June 8, 2010 at 2:20 pm

I gotta go for “collections”. It’s completely neutral of any connotations of content; you can have a collection of anything.

Elaine Justesen July 9, 2010 at 10:47 am

Having used many libraries in my work as a genealogist I understand both the words collections and holdings. Collections makes me think of “a lot of good stuff”. Of course a description of each collection narrows down which one I need to look at. You already do that to some degree. Keep it up. I like the opening page “D” It should be clean and easy to pick out what record collection I would like to know more about.

Mary July 14, 2010 at 5:14 pm

I have to stay with holdings. As Bill pointed out, “collections” has a distinct mean. When I took the “Archives for for Nonarchivists” course many years ago, it was made clear that the two terms have precise meanings. The National Archives doesn’t “collect” ( i.e., solict or purchase items to meet a collections policy). It takes in (accessions) material from Federal entities on a schedule. The National Archives of the United States has collections (in Presidential libraries and Donated Material) and holdings. Why are we even being asked this question? There are meaningful definitions–just stick to them.

Rick Blondo July 19, 2010 at 11:31 am

I concur with the comments made by Bill Getchell and Mary. Snooze Hamilton’s comment actually underscores why an archives has holdings, not collections (with the exception, in NARA’s case, of Presidential Library and donated material collections). An archives has defined holdings (e.g., the records of the Federal government; the records of a State government for a state archives; the records of a particular business for a business archives, etc.). A museum or a library “can have a collection of anything”.

Holly July 19, 2010 at 12:48 pm

It makes perfect sense to use the internal terminology that NARA has determined in policies a long long time ago. But if the mission is to serve the public, it makes more sense to use terminology that’s widely-understood, not governmentese. Anytime you have to educate people on your particular system, you lose participation and effectively score a usability fail. Imagine if every city had their own version of a stop sign?

It’s good that opinions are being sought here though (democracy in action!) The end result should be confirmed with good usability testing.