C. BUSINESS FILES: 1970 May [?]-1993 Nov [?]; n.d.: 7.09 linear feet (17 boxes)

The business files contains all documents that were either not associated with any particular record group or subgroup or are linked to more than one record group or subgroup. Generally these documents fall into broad genre files and are classed together because of their similarities in format and information type. Included are Series I. Working papers, Series II. Autographed notes, Series III. Clippings, Series IV. Press releases, Series V. Travel requests and schedules, Series VI. Reprints, Series VII. House/Senate/Government documents, Series VIII. Enclosures, Series IX. Ephemera, Series X. Biographical data, Series XI. Restricted and Fragile Materials.

Series I. Working papers includes all documents resembling theses, dissertations, discussion papers, etc. to whom which no specific relationship can be deciphered. They have been classed generally as working papers because this was a familiar term used to describe such documents by United Nations organizations: the title has been generated by the processor. It is because there is no indication that they have been published at any time that they are called informally working papers rather than reprints. The working papers have been arranged alphabetically by title of the paper.

Series II. Autographed notes contains notes, generally undated and the information contained therein typically indistinguishable, written under the hand of Peter S. Thacher. Because of their unreadable nature and because the notes were scattered throughout the collection usually unattached to any documents that might bring light to their relationships, they are classed together under the similarity of format and arranged chronologically.

Series III. Clippings consists of articles clipped from newspapers, journals and magazines. Most of the clippings in the series are preservation photocopies, the originals in a state of acidic deterioration, have been placed at the end of the collection under Series XI. Restricted and fragile materials. They are arranged chronologically.

Series IV. Press releases includes all press releases found in the collection regardless of relationship to other record groups and subgroups. They are arranged chronologically. Series V. Travel schedules and requests contains all travel requests and schedules, not only those of Peter Thacher but those of other individuals as well, found in the collection.

Series VI. Reprints contains photocopies of articles from journals, magazines and other published sources and official reprints generated by respective publishers. They differ from working papers only in that they originally served as part of a larger published work. They have been arranged alphabetically by title of the article.

Series VII. House/Senate/Government documents makes up a series of miscellaneous documents that appear to have been generated by legal institutions such as the senate, the house, Congress, etc. They are arranged chronologically.

Series VIII. Enclosures refers to those materials found within the pages of bibliographical items that accompanied the papers in the original donation, which are now catalogued in Harvard's online catalogue, HOLLIS and available for circulation. The term "enclosures" has been created by the processor for lack of an applicable, standardized term that properly describes them. They range from correspondence to pamphlets to flyers and other forms of ephemera. Each item includes, on the back side of the document, the HOLLIS (unique, 7-digit number given to each bibliographic item by the Harvard On-Line Library Information System. Search in HOLLIS using fi hn #######) number and call number that refers to the item from which it came. They have not been formally arranged chronologically or otherwise. IMPORTANT NOTE: While materials in this series could have been interfiled into other series, it is believed that their link to bibliographic items is deemed important in itself. It was the joint decision of the archives that the link was important and has, therefore been retained.

Series IX. Ephemera contains all materials found in the collection, regardless of relationship to particular record groups or subgroups that have time-sensitive meaning. Generally the series includes Conference brochures, program descriptions, pamphlets of differing natures, etc. These documents were created to announce an event, describe a particular project in the life of a program, etc. The series has been arranged chronologically or otherwise.

Series X. Biographical data contains all information found in the collection which describes Thacher's career. They have not been arranged chronologically or otherwise. Series XI. Restricted and fragile materials contains documents that for one reason or another may incur damage if handled. These items have been preservation photocopied and the photocopies placed in their respective series. They have not been arranged