I was fortunate enough to get a box full of nearly only correspondence. However, despite the overflow of correspondence in my box, there was very little variation. It was all about grants that Hane helped get, institutions asking Hane to conduct reviews of articles and books and matters regarding various committees that Hane was involved with.
Based on my experience with the correspondence thus far, I think the most efficient method of organization for the collection would be to sort by what the subject of the correspondence was (or the “type” method). I think that the best way to explain my reasoning for this sorting method is the grant correspondence. Hane spoke with a vast variety of individuals about the grants that he wanted to receive. If we were to sort by correspondent, then we would have far too many categories, and the collection would be unnecessarily disorganized. Furthermore, I think that sorting by date would not be as efficient because I think it would make it more difficult for a researcher to find specific correspondence that they may or may not need.
However, I believe that both sorting by correspondent and date have a useful place in this collection. Both would have excellent use as subcategories, and, in my view, would greatly strengthen the capabilities of the collection’s organization in this way. A researcher would be able to first know the material in the correspondence, and then be able to find the date or to whom the message was sent.