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Stirring the Alphabet Soup: Standards in Motion

Stirring the Alphabet Soup: Standards in Motion. Mary Lacy mlac@loc.gov Manuscript Division Archives Forum May 17, 2012. Why Use Standards?. Improve quality and consistency of data Enable data sharing Can create tools for creating and using data. Benefits of Archival Standards.

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Stirring the Alphabet Soup: Standards in Motion

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  1. Stirring the Alphabet Soup: Standards in Motion Mary Lacy mlac@loc.gov Manuscript Division Archives Forum May 17, 2012

  2. Why Use Standards? • Improve quality and consistency of data • Enable data sharing • Can create tools for creating and using data

  3. Benefits of Archival Standards By using EAD, DACS, AACR2, and MARC: • Finding aids are searchable in OCLC’s ArchiveGrid; through Google; and LC Website • Data can be viewed in multiple formats, online and print • Information about creators in EAC available through SNAC website (which Google finds) • AACR2 (and RDA) headings promote compatibility within catalogs, and searching in next-generation catalogs • DACS complies with international archival descriptive standards

  4. Better Discovery = More Users • LC now has 1700 EAD finding aids online • Reading room use up for Manuscript Division, with 1500 EAD finding aids discoverable by local and remote users • Researchers better prepared before visiting • In-person visits are up: better for researchers and better for us

  5. What Kind of Standards? • Standards for content of description • Standards for sharing description (encoding)

  6. Standards for Description: General • AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules) – in current use • RDA (Resource Description and Access) – coming in 2013

  7. Standards for Description: Archival and Specialized • DACS (Describing Access: A Content Standard) • For modern archival collections (United States) • CCO: Cataloging Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images • used primarily in museum settings • DCRM (Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials) • Maintained by Bibliographic Standards Committee, Rare Book and Manuscript Section, ACRL/ALA • And more …

  8. Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials • DCRM: Books • DCRM: Serials • DCRM: Music (draft) • DCRM: Graphics (will be second edition of Graphic Materials: Rules for Describing Original Items and Historical Collections) • DCRM: Manuscripts (will cover individual manuscripts on paper, on microfilm, or in the form of digital surrogates) • DCRM: Cartographic (will replace Cartographic Materials: A Manual of Interpretation for AACR2, Second Edition) • AMREMM (Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts)

  9. Catalog Record or Finding Aid? • LC uses both for describing archival collections • Both are used in finding aid search system • DACS is content standard for both cataloging records and finding aids • AACR2 and RDA used only for bibliographic and authority records

  10. Sharing Description: Standards • MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) • Bibliographic records and authority records • EAD (Encoded Archival Description) • XML encoding for archival finding aids • EAC:CPF (Encoded Archival Context: Corporate, Personal, Family) • XML encoding for archival creators

  11. Where Are They Going (General)? • RDA • Set to supersede AACR2 in 2013 • MARC • Not so good for RDA bibliographic and authority records (too flat to express FRBR relationships) • Bibliographic Framework Initiative: working on replacing 1960’s MARC transmission standard

  12. Where Are They Going (Archival)? • EAD • New edition to be published 2013 • Core principles: interoperability, simplification, compatibility with other data standards • DACS • New edition 2013? • Eliminates sections which repeat AACR2 for headings: provide content standard for EAC • EAC:CPF • It’s new, but looking at widespread implementation within U.S. archival community

  13. What’s Up, EAC? • Have a SNAC: Social Networks and Archival Context Project • First phase, 2010-2012 (NEH funding) built test database of EAC records harvested from LC Name Authority File, and EAD records from LC, Online Archive of California, Northwest Digital Archive, Virginia Heritage • Built 175,000 EAC-CPF records from 30,000 finding aids • Second phase, 2012-2014 (Mellon funding) will vastly increase scope: 13 consortia and 35 research repositories in U.S., U.K., and France

  14. Why SNAC? • To demonstrate that names and descriptions can be extracted and assembled as EAC • To show what EAC can be used for: • Provide integrated access to archival resources and context for understanding the resources • Add features such as geographic coordinates, develop timelines, sequential organizational displays, and networks of relationships for research purposes

  15. Relationships are complicated …

  16. Archivists Assemble! • “Building a National Archival Authorities Infrastructure” meeting at NARA in May 2012 • Can U.S. archivists establish a sustainable National Archives Authorities Cooperative? • Like NACO for name authorities (national collaboration, centrally maintained) • Federal agencies, research librarians, and funding agencies to look at desirability and feasability

  17. Change is Good? • Our core principles stay the same: providing access to our archival collections • Change isn’t sudden, but all our standards seem to be in flux at the same time • Not everything will change at once • We’ve done it all before; we can do it again! • We’re using these standards to make our alphabet soup spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s!

  18. Want to Know More? • LC EAD finding aid staff page (will link to handouts): http://www.loc.gov/staff/rr/ead/ • SNAC Prototype: http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/search • RDA at LC: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/ • DACS revision: http://www2.archivists.org/standards/describing-archives-a-content-standard-dacs

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