Intermediate Review

1. A donor deposits a collection of 19th-century medical records containing sensitive patient information. The deed of gift transfers ownership but makes no mention of access conditions. What is the most appropriate next step?

  • Make the collection immediately available since the deed of gift transferred ownership

  • Restrict access to all materials until HIPAA review can be completed

  • Review applicable HIPAA guidelines and consult legal counsel before setting access conditions

  • Digitize the materials but limit metadata to protect identities

2. You’re arranging a collection created by a federal agency. Midway through processing, you discover the filing structure was reorganized by a contractor before transfer. What best honors archival principles?

  • Reconstruct the agency's original order prior to the contractor's involvement

  • Retain the contractor's structure as the last order maintained by the creator

  • Reorder the files alphabetically for clarity

  • Interfile documents by subject regardless of original arrangement

3. An archives building has limited cold storage capacity. Which materials should receive highest priority for cold storage preservation?

  • Glass plate negatives from 1910

  • Acetate microfilm reels from the 1940s

  • Paper maps from the 1890s

  • Bronze sculpture documentation from 2000

4. Which of the following best distinguishes evidential value from informational value in appraisal decisions?

  • Evidential value reflects content; informational value reflects context

  • Evidential value supports historical inquiry; informational value supports legal claims

  • Evidential value shows how an organization functioned; informational value shows what it did

  • Evidential value refers to uniqueness; informational value refers to frequency of use

5. A local activist archive partners with a university. To align with reparative description practices, what action should be prioritized?

  • Removing all outdated or problematic terms from historical documents

  • Updating finding aids in collaboration with impacted communities

  • Discarding offensive materials to prevent harm

  • Assigning all collections new titles with neutral language

6. Which is the most appropriate preservation strategy for obsolete digital media such as Zip disks?

  • Secure physical storage with no access

  • Reformat to accessible formats and document the process

  • Restrict to staff-only use

  • Place in cold storage

7. What distinguishes a records continuum model from a traditional life cycle model?

  • It views archival functions as occurring linearly

  • It limits access during records' active use

  • It integrates recordkeeping into all stages of creation and use

  • It separates management and preservation tasks

8. An archivist is describing a collection with multiple creators and no obvious original order. What’s the most defensible strategy?

  • Arrange by subject

  • Establish a logical order and document decisions

  • Merge with a related collection

  • File items alphabetically by title

9. Which scenario reflects a violation of intellectual property rights?

  • Donating public domain government records

  • Copying oral histories to distribute without interviewee consent

  • Citing materials in a published article

  • Linking to digital surrogates in a finding aid

10. Which metadata standard is most often used for hierarchical archival description?

  • Dublin Core

  • MODS

  • EAD

  • METS

11. What should an archivist consider first when appraising a new collection of emails from a nonprofit organization?

  • The potential for donor restrictions

  • The volume of attachments

  • The presence of malware

  • The value of the content to institutional collecting scope

12. A local organization wants digital stewardship help but cannot transfer records. What strategy applies?

  • Digitize the materials and house them at your institution

  • Offer reference services only after acquisition

  • Accession in place with documented stewardship and metadata standards

  • Decline involvement unless physical custody is granted

13. Why might an archivist choose series-level rather than item-level description for a large photographic collection?

  • To comply with DACS rules

  • To hide sensitive content

  • To reduce labor while preserving access

  • To avoid subject indexing

14. Which law most directly affects an archive holding student transcripts in the U.S.?

  • ADA

  • FOIA

  • FERPA

  • HIPAA

15. Which is the most strategic form of outreach for a community archive serving historically marginalized populations?

  • Creating a printed brochure

  • Writing a press release for academic journals

  • Co-developing programs with community leaders

  • Sharing institutional reports

16. An archives receives records with a note: “do not open for 50 years.” What’s the first step?

  • Remove the restriction and open access

  • Review legal enforceability and repository policy

  • Accept the restriction without question

  • Transfer records to restricted offsite storage

17. Why is functional analysis used in appraisal?

  • To identify creators’ personalities

  • To determine record order by date

  • To link records to the activities that generated them

  • To distinguish archives from libraries

18. A set of PDF files from 2002 are unreadable. What's the most likely preservation oversight?

  • Lack of version control

  • Improper box labeling

  • Obsolete file format or loss of rendering environment

  • Incorrect copyright metadata

19. An archivist is revising access policies for a repository with minimal reading room space. What’s the most equitable approach?

  • Restrict all access to digital surrogates

  • Implement an appointment system with remote service options

  • Allow first-come, first-served use of materials

  • Limit access to university-affiliated users only

20. A small archives has no cold storage but must accept color negatives. What’s the best short-term preservation action?

  • Store in a standard file cabinet

  • Freeze immediately in a home freezer

  • Isolate, cool as much as possible, and document risks

  • Reject the donation

21. An archivist is creating access copies of a collection for online reference. What should be the primary concern when uploading digital surrogates?

  • File size for user downloads

  • Search engine optimization

  • Copyright and privacy risks

  • Using flashy design templates

22. Which of the following best defines intrinsic value in the context of archival appraisal?

  • The ability of records to generate revenue

  • The usefulness of records for administrative reference

  • The unique physical characteristics that warrant preservation of the original

  • The quantity of records produced over time

23. In applying documentation strategy, what is the archivist’s most important task?

  • Gathering records based solely on donor availability

  • Identifying gaps in societal documentation and coordinating collection efforts

  • Prioritizing digital-only records for cost savings

  • Avoiding overlapping collecting scopes across institutions

24. A researcher asks for redacted access to records under restriction. What is the archivist’s best response?

  • Decline all access requests for restricted records

  • Allow access if the researcher signs a waiver

  • Review the restriction terms and assess whether redaction complies with access policy

  • Provide only metadata descriptions

25. Which best reflects a key ethical duty of archivists when working with marginalized communities?

  • Interpret records without external consultation

  • Apply standard description without community involvement

  • Collaborate with communities to ensure respectful representation and access

  • Remove content that might be upsetting