Course Description
Released in 1998, Encoded Archival Description (EAD) has enabled archivists to publish standardized Internet-accessible finding aids. EAD has also provided the archival community with the opportunity to gain a better understanding of emerging technologies and standards and the opportunities presented by them to transform and enhance archival description. The course will focus on the design of archival descriptive systems by exploring markup and database technologies, the International Council on Archives’ (ICA) standards, and the related communication standards. This course is aimed at technologists, archivists, and librarians that either are or are contemplating designing and implementing an advanced archival descriptive system, and individuals interested in archival description theory. This course will explore in detail markup and database technologies, efforts underway to integrate the two technologies, and the opportunity provided by this integration for transforming archival description. Students will then read and discuss the ICA standards ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), ISAF, and ISIAH, and the interrelation of the four standards to form a complete archival descriptive system. Students then will explore the complementary communication standards EAD, EAC, EAG, and the potential for developing a communication standard for ISAF. Finally, the students will develop an archival description system implementation model based on markup and database technologies. While the course will have some hands-on components, the objective will be to develop a conceptual model of a complete archival description system. Applicants must have a good knowledge of archival descriptive practices as well as experience using either markup or database technologies. In their personal statement, applicants should indicate their relevant archival background, the extent of their previous experience with computers in general and EAD in particular, and describe their role (present or future) in the implementation of archival description systems in their home institution.Faculty
Daniel Pitti
Daniel Pitti became Project Director at the University of Virginia‘s Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities in 1997, before which he was Librarian for Advanced Technologies at the University …
Advance Reading List
Preliminary Advices
Please report any malfunctioning links to Daniel Pitti (dpitti [at] virginia.edu)
NB: If you have limited time, the essential reading is marked with an asterisk.
I. International Council of Archives Standards
* ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description (Second Edition: 2000)
* ISAAR(CPF): International Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (Second Edition: 2003)
* ISDF: International Standard for Describing Functions (First Edition: 2007)
* ISDIAH: International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings
(First Edition: 2007)
II. Markup, Database, and Modeling Technologies
* Ronald Bourret. XML and Databases (Last update 2005)
* XML and Databases (Chapter One in XML for DB2 Information Integration (IBM Redbooks))
III. Archival Theory and Practice
Adrian Cunningham. “Harnessing the Power of Provenance in Archival Description: An Australian Perspective on the Development of the Second Edition of ISAAR(CPF)” in Journal of Archival Organization (New York: Haworth), Vol. 5, Nos. 1/2 2007.
Daniel Pitti. “Technology and the Transformation of Archival Description” in Encoding Across Frontiers: Proceedings of the European Conference on Encoded Archival Description and Context (EAD and EAC), Paris, France, 7-8 October 2004 (New York: Haworth, 2005). Co-published simultaneously as Journal of Archival Organization (New York: Haworth), Vol. 3, Nos. 12/3 2005.
Peter Scott, “The Record Group Concept: A Case for Abandonment” AMERICAN ARCHIVIST 29:493-504 (October 1966).
Course History
- 2008 & 2009
Daniel Pitti taught this course.