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Archives: plural or non plural



I am curator for a collection which was established before I arrived. It was named the African American Archives of Maine. It is collection of collections, personal papers, etc. documenting African Americans in Maine. I recently drafted a brochure for the Archives and throughout I treated it as a singular noun, thus "The Archives was founded..." as opposed to were. The faculty scholar for the Archives, quoting the English Dept. as her authority, thinks we should use plural verbs. I checked the 1992 A Gossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers, but it does not offer any advice.

Does anyone have an authority to cite or an opinion?

To me it seems logicial that is is singular because traditionally an archives is the body of records of an organization. And in this case it is a body of material around a particular subject.


Susie R. Bock
Head of Special Collections
University of Southern Maine Library
314 Forest Ave.
PO Box 9301
Portland, Maine 04104-9301
207-780-4269
207-780-4042 (fax)

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