Rules for Archival Description Examples

At least one access point must be configured for each name included in the Creator(s) Name element in a single-level description or at the highest level in a multi-level description. Names found in other descriptive elements may be used as access points in accordance with local or consortium customs. This is a local decision about which names, terms, and concepts are included in a description as formal access points, but repositories must provide them in all types of descriptions. Such indexing is becoming increasingly important as archivists make encrypted finding aids and digital content available to end users through a variety of online resource discovery tools based on repositories and consortia. Like the AACR2[4], the RAD provides archivists with a framework for creating archival descriptions and finding aids. It is a multi-level descriptive metadata standard structured to reflect the context of a group of records based on how they were created, used, and managed. [5] [6] The current subject to which the documents refer is one of the most important aspects of archival documents. Terms suggesting topics that could be used as access points can be found in the following areas of the descriptive dataset: ICA-AtoM manages date ranges as events involving an actor (entity, person or family) described in an authority record with an archive unit in a specific role (e.g. creator, publisher, contributor, collector, broadcaster, etc.) over a period of time. At the highest level of description, the archive unit must always be associated with its creator through the date range of the material. At lower description levels, enter the date range only to inherit from the creator from the top level (for example, a description inherits from the creator if “actor`s name” is left blank). At each level, you can associate a description with multiple creators in different date ranges.

At each level, you can assign multiple types of relationships. This is especially useful at the article level (e.g. publication date versus creation). Then there is the issue of “access points.” Although the description of the archive is narrative and electronic, catalogues and databases generally allow full-text search for every word in the text, information systems also often identify specific terms, codes, concepts and names for which specialized indexes are created to allow faster and more accurate searches. In a manual environment, these terms appear as entry headings in catalog records. Various protocols, both standardized and local, determine which of the names and terms in a description become “access points” for searching in this way, as well as the form in which they appear. For example, element 3.1 of the DACS requires the archivist to include in the scope and content element information about the “subject to which the records relate, such as topics, events, people and organizations”. The natural language terminology used to describe such a topic in the scope and content statement must then be translated into the formal syntax of a title dictated by a standardized thesaurus such as Library of Congress authorities.2 For example, a collection may contain information about Montana`s railroads. After consulting the Library of Congress keywords and reviewing the instructions in the Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings for formulating compound terminology, the archivist will establish the access point as Railroads—Montana. When embedding in a MARC 21 record, the encoding is “The formal title in another language and/or script” (RAD glossary) and usually appears in conjunction with the formal title in the primary source of information.

For rules and examples, see RAD 1.1D and .1D rules in the media chapters. The Canadian Rules for Archival Description (CRS) are maintained by the Canadian Council of Archives, and a full copy of the standard is available at www.cdncouncilarchives.ca/archdesrules.html. If necessary, enter the date range as you want it to appear in display mode. Add additional text to qualify the date range (for example, “[circa 1940]-1980” or “1940-1980, predominant 1973-1980”). For rules and examples, see RAD 1.4. In each chapter, the complete entries are generally classified from the most general to the most specific according to the scope and application of the standards. In some cases, this means that the first entries apply to important library-based standards. They are followed by standards designed specifically for archiving or related applications, which are often adaptations or modifications to the library`s original standards. Similarly, entries for general national or international standards may be followed by entries for more detailed standards developed for specific areas or applications that implement the broader standards.