hierarchy; catalogue hierarchy
a term conveying a particular structure within an archival catalogue, based on an arrangement of a whole collection of archival items into smaller groups or sections, with items falling into each of these segments. This may sometimes also be referred to as a ‘tree’.
Archival approaches to cataloguing consider how a collection or fonds of archival materials were used and kept in relation to each other by the person(s) or organisation(s) which created them for use in the first place. By trying to preserve this structure when collections are cared for within an archive service, archivists aim to preserve this additional layer of information about the way in which materials were being used in the day to day, before they were moved to an archive. See also the archival principles of respect des fonds and original order