Documentation and Metrics The project also utilizes an Access database that all project participants use to log daily activities related to the collection (or series, or subseries, etc.) to the quarter hour, record the amount of time spent for all activities per cubic foot, extrapolate the amount of time spent per series by adding up time spent on each box in that series, and to track progress on the collection as a whole. Not only does the database record processing metrics, but brings together pieces of the processing plan, including a checklist of deliverables, and commentary from the Project Archivist and Processing Assistants. Introduction In 2008, the Center for the History of Medicine at Harvard Medical School was awarded a Council on Library and Information Resources grant for “Foundations of Public Health Policy,” a project that enables, for the first time, research in the manuscript collections of four influential leaders in public health: Leona Baumgartner; Allan Macy Butler; Howard Hiatt; and David Rutstein. MPLP Experimentation The project is an opportunity to experiment with “More Product, Less Process” (MPLP) techniques to understand how to employ them effectively for the Center for the History of Medicine. Elements of this innovation include use of paraprofessional workers for basic processing and the establishment of multiple levels of processing for each identified series, from the most basic to the most complete. Project collections, which offer a range of Rapid Access The project enables us to test a low-cost innovation: the delivery of folder lists in Excel spreadsheets apart from formal finding aids. We deposit these spreadsheets in an open access digital repository prior to completion of electronically encoded finding aids. This offers three potential benefits: Preliminary Results Allan Macy Butler Papers:  7.5 cubic feet in 2.5 months (80.75 hours)  Average of 10 hours per box (this collection was the ‘training ground’ for the project, so the numbers are slightly higher than other collections) Leona Baumgartner Papers:  89 cubic feet in 6.5 months ( hours)  Average of 4.5 hours per box Added value:  Wikipedia entries  Digitized material in DSpace  Online access to folder lists prior to finding aid  EAD finding aid  MARC catalog record Collection-by-collection and series-by-series documentation Integration of public relations, constituency cultivation, publicity, and exhibitions Preliminary answers to important questions such as  What is the cost of providing access?  What is essential to access? Do researchers really need/want all the description products we offer?  How much staffing/time/money do we need to process a given collection? Michael Dello Iacono, Suzanne Denison, and Cheryl Ostrowski Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School The Center for the History of Medicine’s DSpace portal. Access the collections at Scholarly Engagement Harvard School of Public Health faculty members from across the spectrum of school departments comprise the Public Health Advisory Committee, who advise the Center on developing collections in the history of public health, communicating the value of its historical record to the public health community, and identifying important public health issues and resources to which researchers should be directed. For further information More information on this project can be found at or by contacting Michael Dello Iacono, Project Archivist at or 617- Patient at the Children's Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital (undated). From the Allan Macy Butler Papers The folder list is completed more rapidly than the finding aid; making the lists available speeds access. If a basic processing approach is selected, and a collection is not arranged at the folder level, users can sort folders by title or date to support more meaningful access. Even if a collection has been fully processed, users can sort folders across subseries and series to quickly identify the records that are likely to meet their needs. In addition to the Advisory Committee, the Center is asking students, researchers, and public health professionals to participate in a survey about its collection delivery tools. The survey helps us determine the efficacy and utility of these tools, allows the Center to improve access to our historical resources, and helps make our collections available to researchers over shorter periods of time. The surveys and interviews are currently underway, and will answer important questions about the relationship between our investments in description and how useful that resulting description is to researchers. Foundations of Public Health Policy newsletter Sample entry from the processing metrics database Leona Baumgartner on the cover of Modern Medicine magazine, From the Leona Baumgartner Papers dates and conditions, are reviewed and the appropriate level dates and conditions, are reviewed and the appropriate level of processing for each collection and series is determined. After an initial review of each collection, the archivist identifies the major series, and sets a level of processing appropriate for each record group.