The Chemical Heritage Foundation's (CHF's) collection represents the material culture of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries. Included in the collection are chemical instruments and apparatus, historical artifacts, organizational and personal archives, memorabilia, and works of art relating to the history of chemistry. Every new collection that CHF processes presents challenges unique to that collection. In general, organizational records, such as those of IUPAC, are thought to be easier to process because they possess a preexisting and functional order. Archivists have long regarded this internal order as sacrosanct-the one reliable guide to the raison d'etre of the records.