ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTIVE STANDARDS: Some RemarksAuthor(s): Jan DahlinSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July-September 1996), pp. 271-273Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23508213 .

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ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTIVE STANDARDS

Some Remarks

Jan Dahlin (Lund, Sweden)*

En 1994, le Conseil international des Archives a adopté une norme professionnelle pour la création de différents types d'outils de recherche propres aux archives, appelée

ISAD(G). Elle propose un cadre de catalogage à niveau qui peut être modifié par des

règles locales. Les bibliothèques et les archives doivent maintenant adapter les outils

de recherche existants à la nouvelle norme. Une autre norme internationale concernant

les notices d'autorité des collectivités, des personnes physiques et des familles,

ISAAR(CPF), achevée en 1996, facilitera l'harmonisation de la description des archives dans le monde entier.

Der Internationale Archivtag legte 1994 eine Norm fest, ISAD(G), für die Schaffung von

verschiedenen Typen von archivalischen Findhilfen. Diese Norm bildet den Rahmen für

eme vielschichtige Beschreibung, die durch lokale Regeln modifiziert werden kann. Bi

bliotheken und Archive stehen nun vor der Herausforderung, bestehende Findhilfen den

neuen Richtlinien anzupassen. Weitere, 1996 beschlossene internationale Richtlinien für

amtliche Dokumente für Körperschaften, Personen und Familien, ISAAR(CPF), sollen

die weltweite Harmonisierung von Archivalienbeschreibungen unterstützen.

Computerized finding aids to archives are now being developed in many countries. These vary according to different professional traditions. We also see local variations depending on what resources certain institutions have for this type of

project and what potential use the archives may serve. The possibility of exchanging automated data and doing online searching in

external databases is something fairly new to the archival community at large. Much work needs to be done before we can enter our information into advanced archival networks, but basic international guidelines are already there.

In 1994 the International Council on Archives adopted a professional standard for the creation of different types of finding aids to archives. The document is

ISAD(G), International Standard Archival Description (General). It is published both separately (ISBN 0-9696035-1-7 can be ordered from the Commission's

*Jan Dahlin is Deputy Archival Director at the Regional Archives in Lund, Sweden, and a member

of the ICA Ad Hoc Commission on Descriptive Standards.

271

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272 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 43/3

secretariat, c/o National Archives of Canada, Office of Archival Standards, fax + .1.613.995.2267) and in the ICA journal Janus 1994:1. In this standard we find both rules and different data elements.

The most important ISAD rule concerns multilevel description and helps us to handle basic strategic problems. The multilevel description is a traditional hier archical technique for describing paper documents as a fonds and its parts, i.e., series, dossiers etc. Such parts usually include several documents, and describing them all in one unit saves a lot of time. This is essential, and here we find a big difference between archives and libraries. In library tradition it is normal to describe each single document, whereas the archivist tries to group papers by type of document and to describe them as collective units like dossiers. However,

maps and photographs, on the contrary, used to be described by archivists as individual documents, and thus most institutions have serious backlogs of this type of document. The finding aids for maps and photographs are customarily kept apart from finding aids for other paper documents. The implementation of multi level description for this type of document will make it possible to describe the material on a higher level, such as dossier or series level. Yet it will still be

possible to search and retrieve information about the material. Eventually we can return and describe the same material on a more detailed level.

The ISAD(G) is a framework, requiring complementary national rules. How

ever, the existence of ISAD(G) has already influenced the development of national and international agreements on rules and planning for data exchange in different

parts of the world. It has also promoted the use of a harmonized terminology. Most of the information about archives that we can provide for our colleagues

and researchers must rely on the use of finding aids. To be reliable and efficient our networks must include this information. There are various ways to approach the problem of entering pre-existing information into ISAD-based systems. It takes planning and analysis to find the best way, and the choice will be dependent on the existing description structure, the financial resources, and the availability of trained staff.

One solution is to restructure existing descriptions. This will be expensive and time consuming, possibly even including the rearrangement of documents. Al

though this may be viable in some institutions, most of us cannot afford such a

course, and would not give it top priority. A second way to deal with the problem is to transfer existing descriptions to

the standardized ISAD data elements. The descriptions themselves often follow established routines, a so-called de facto standard, and most parts will probably fit into an ISAD description. Those elements that do not fit in must be analyzed. Probably it will also be necessary to define additional national data elements to facilitate computerization.

The third approach will be to include only those parts of the description compatible with the standard, providing a further reference to the complete description. This is probably the easiest alternative and ISAD(G) assists us by defining a few mandatory elements essential for data exchange. These are: name or title, dates, and the extent of the materials. We must also add a reference or

identity code to secure identification of the material described. In addition the

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ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTIVE STANDARDS 273

level of description must be given. For descriptions on the fonds level, the information mentioned should be fairly easy to collect.

The ISAD(G) also holds the possibility of giving information about the context

through special authority records. The ICA Ad Hoc Commission on Descriptive Standards has recently developed a special standard for this purpose. The

ISAAR(CPF), International Standard Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families will be concluded during 1996. In the future this will give us the opportunity to collect information from different sources—for example about a certain composer or a piano factory—in one single authority record. Parts of the ISAAR structure have been developed to handle defined access points such as

subject headings. So in the future we can expect more use of subject headings for archival materials. Broad subject headings can be applied by archivists who are not

specially trained in music. Using such a system, IAML members could obtain access points to descriptions, and at the same time have an opportunity to add information based on their professional skill and knowledge in the field of music.

The ISAD(G) and ISAAR(CPF) will not solve all our problems. The ISAD(G)

description is related to the representation of the material, not the physical material itself. The standard has to be supplemented with physical layers of

materials, such as volumes and folders. While the ISAAR(CPF) gives us the

challenge of building a common authority file, it will be necessary to develop national and institutional routines for the authorization and updating of these

authority records. Making software which can exploit the flexibility of the

ISAD(G) is a real challenge, and this development has only begun. However, any new advanced project for information exchange must be based on standards. The

ICA standards provide us with a good basis for such work, especially since they also make it possible to integrate valuable existing library standards and practice with technology for the future.

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