Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The records of the American Council of Learned Societies were given to the Library of Congress in 1949 by its first permanent secretary, Waldo Gifford Leland. This gift and additions received from the organization between 1958 and 1979 were processed as Part I of the collection. Part II consists of material given from 1983 to 1998. Part III consists of material given in 2014. Part IV consists of material given in 2020 and one earlier item acquired in 1987. Other material was received by gift and transfer between 1954 and 1982.
Processing History
Part I of the records of the American Council of Learned Societies was processed from 1968 to 1979. The finding aid was revised and Parts II and III were processed from 2013 to 2015 by Morgan Sawicki and Caroline Muglia. Part IV was arranged and described at the ACLS by Leslie Albamonte from 2019 to 2020. The finding aid was revised and the digital media in Part IV was processed in 2022 by Katherine Madison.
Digital files were received as part of the American Council of Learned Societies records in Part III on a variety of storage media, each of which were assigned a unique digital ID number. A single USB flash drive received with Part IV was split into two parts, each assigned a unique digital ID number, for ease of use. Use the digital ID number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital.
Transfers
Audiocassettes and videocassettes have been transferred to the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where they are identified as part of the American Council of Learned Societies Records. Patrons are encouraged to contact the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division in advance of a research visit.
Other Repositories
Other records of the American Council of Learned Societies can be found in the Hoover Institution Archives of Stanford University, Stanford, California. These records pertain to the East European Constitutionalism Teacher-Training Project.
Related Material
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include the American Studies Association Records (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008048), the American Historical Association Records (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms014082), the International Research and Exchange Board Records (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms016004), and the Waldo Gifford Leland Papers (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms013140).
Technical Requirements
Digital files in Part III were received on 3.5" floppy disks. The content contains files in Microsoft Word 97-2003 (.doc), plain text (.txt), Lotus 1-2-3 Worksheet (.wk1), and backup file (.bak) formats.
Digital files in Part IV were received on a single USB flash drive. The files were created on a Windows operating system, version unknown. The content is primarily text files in Microsoft Word 97-2003 and 2007 (.doc, .docx); Acrobat Portable Document Format v. 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7 (.pdf); plain text (.txt); and rich text (.rtf) formats. Additional file types present include Microsoft Excel 97 and 2007 (.xls, .xlsx) and Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 (.ppt), Microsoft Outlook 97-2003 (.msg) email files, and MPEG-4 Media (.mp4) files. Files are accessible with modern software or standard file viewer software.
Microfilm
Microfilm on thirteen reels was received as part of the records of the American Council of Learned Societies and is listed and described in this finding aid. This microfilm is not available for interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Roman numeral designating the Part followed by a colon and container, reel, or digital ID number, American Council of Learned Societies Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.