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Your First Accession

An Accession in The Archiver is a batch of files that you upload together — like a box of documents from a single donor, or a folder of photos from a particular event. This guide walks you through uploading your first one.

Step 1: Start a new accession​

  1. In the sidebar, click Accessions
  2. Click the New Accession button (top right)
  3. The accession wizard will open

Step 2: Give it a name and description​

  • Name — give the accession a meaningful title, e.g. "Smith Family Letters 1920–1945"
  • Description — add a brief note about what's in it and where it came from
  • Date range — if you know the approximate date range of the materials, enter it here
tip

Good names make searching easier later. Use the name of the person, organisation, or event that the materials relate to.

Step 3: Upload your files​

  1. Drag files onto the upload area, or click Browse files to select them
  2. The Archiver accepts documents (PDF, Word, text), images (JPEG, PNG, TIFF), spreadsheets, audio, and video
  3. Files upload in the background — you can see progress bars for each file
note

File size limits depend on your plan. Free users can upload up to 500 MB total. Paid plans start at 10 GB.

Step 4: Wait for AI processing​

Once files are uploaded, the AI gets to work:

  • OCR (text recognition) is run on scanned documents and images
  • Each file is classified — the AI determines the document type, extracts dates, names, locations, and subjects
  • A transcript is generated for audio and video files

This usually takes a few seconds per file, but large or complex files may take longer.

Step 5: Review AI classifications​

After processing, The Archiver shows you the Classification Review — a list of every file with the AI's suggested description, document type, date, and other metadata.

  • Green tick — the AI is confident in its classification
  • Orange flag — the AI is uncertain; you should review this one
  • Click any file to edit its metadata if the AI got something wrong
tip

You don't have to review every file. The AI is usually accurate. Focus on the flagged items.

Step 6: Complete the accession​

Once you're happy with the classifications, click Complete Accession. The files are now part of your archive and fully searchable.

What's next?​