Popularizing the finding aid: Exploiting EAD to enhance online discovery and retrieval in archival information systems by diverse user groups

Journal of Internet Cataloging

Volumn 4, Issue 3-4, 2001, Pages 199-225

  Gilliland Swetland, Anne J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Archival description; Archival information systems; EAD; Encoded Archival Description; Finding aids; Information seeking and use

Indexed keywords

EID: 33644555666     PISSN: 10911367     EISSN: 15287017     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1300/J141v04n03_12     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. The trend toward using databases in the preparation of finding aids reflects archivists' attempts to circumvent some of the inflexibility of paper finding aids in terms of facilitating alternate views of, and access points to, the finding aids. EAD, however, takes this approach to a more systematic and standardized level.
2. The term "archival information system" is used in this paper to refer to databases of archival descriptive information that may also include digitized materials and their associated metadata.
3. The term "archival materials" is used in this paper to refer to the official records, personal papers and manuscripts, audio and visual materials, and realia commonly found in archival holdings.
4. Heather MacNeil, "Metadata Strategies and Archival Description: Comparing Apples to Oranges. " Archivaria 39 (1995): 30.
5. The term "archival collections" is used in this paper to refer to aggregates of archival materials such as fonds, record series, and manuscript collections that are addressed as organic units by archival activities such as arrangement and description.
6. Hilary Jenkinson, "Reflections of an Archivist, " Contemporary Review 165 (June 1944): 355-361.
7. Bureau of Canadian Archivists, Planning Committee on Descriptive Standards, Rules for Archival Description [revised by the Canadian Committee on Archival Description, May 1998] (Ottawa, Ontario: Bureau of Canadian Archivists. 1990).
8. International Council on Archives, General International Standard on Archival Description (ISAD(G), Revised: August 18, 1995. URL: http://www.archives.ca/ica/isad.html.
9. Jenkinson, "Reflections of an Archivist, " Contemporary Review 165 (June 1944): 355-361.
10. See, for example, Philip C. Brooks, Research in Archives The Use of Unpublished Sources (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1969).
11. Freeman, "In the Eye of the Beholder: Archives Administration from the User's Point of View, " American Archivist 47 (Spring 1984): 111-123
12. and Barbara Orbach, "The View from the Researcher's Desk: Historians' Perceptions of Research and Repositories, " American Archivist 54, no.1 (Winter 1991): 28-43.
13. See, for example, the results of the Digital Portfolio Archives in Learning Project in terms of understanding the needs of elementary school teachers and children. Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Yasmin B. Kafai, and William E. Landis, "Application of Dublin Core Metadata in the Description of Digital Primary Sources in Elementary School Classrooms" (paper submitted for review).
14. And Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Yasmin Kafai. and William E. Landis, "Integrating Digitized Primary Sources into the Elementary School Classroom: A Case Study" (paper submitted for review).
15. See, for example, efforts undertaken by the Minnesota Historical Society to streamline where and how much administrative information is made available to the user in EAD-encoded finding aids. Dennis Meissner, "First Things First: Reengineering Finding Aids for Implementation of EAD, " American Archivist 60 (Fall 1997): 372-387.
16. David Bearman, "Authority Control Issues and Prospects, " American Archivist 52 (Summer 1989): 282-299.
17. Mary Jo Pugh, "The Illusion of Omniscience: Subject Access and the Reference Archivist, " American Archivist 45 (Winter 1982): 33-40, As Roper observes, "it is incumbent on the archivist to be an administrative historian and to explain to users the administrative background to records in his archives and the arrangement which they have acquired as a consequence...[most users] find the arrangement of archives in accordance with the agencies which created them rather than by subjects difficult to grasp and this has become especially so as administration has become more complex and has extended into areas of new activity. "
18. See Michael Roper. "The Academic Use of Archives, " Archivum (1980): 33.
19. National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States (NIDS-US) (Teaneck. NJ: Chadwyck-Healey. Inc. 1983-).
20. Jenkinson, "Reflections of an Archivist, " Contemporary Review 165 (June 1944): 355-361.
21. See. for example, Avra Michelson, "Description and Reference in the Age of Automation, " American Archivist 50 (Spring 1987): 192-210.
22. Jackie Dooley, "Subject Indexing in Context, " American Archivist 55 (Spring 1992): 344-54.
23. Bearman, "Authority Control Issues and Prospects, " American Archivist 52 (Summer 1989): 282-299.
24. and Kathleen D. Roe, "The Automation Odyssey: Library and Archives System Design Considerations. " In Beyond the MARC Format (Haworth Press: 1990), 145-162.
25. Bearman. "Authority Control, " American Archivist 52 (Summer 1989): 282-299.
26. Gilliland-Swetland et al., "Application of Dublin Core Metadata in the Description of Digital Primary Sources in Elementary School Classrooms" (paper submitted for review).
27. Meissner, "First Things First: Reengineering Finding Aids for Implementation of EAD, " American Archivist 60 (Fall 1997): 372-387.
28. Randall C. Jimerson, "Redefining Archival Identity: Meeting User Needs in the Information Society, " American Archivist 52 (Summer 1989): 332-340.
29. Elsie T. Freeman, "In the Eye of the Beholder: Archives Administration from the User's Point of View, " American Archivist 47 (Spring 1984): 111-123.
30. Barbara Craig. "What are the Clients? Who are the Products? The Future of Archival Public Services in Perspective. " Archivaria 31 (Winter 1990-1991); 135-141.
31. Paul Conway, Partners in Research; Improving Access to the Nation 's Archive (Pittsburgh: Archives & Museum Informatics, 1994). 50.
32. Maynard J. Brichford, "The Origins of European Archival Theory, " The Midwestern Archivist 7, no.2 (1982); 91.
33. Apart from archivists themselves, who are probably the most intensive of all users of finding aids.
34. William Joyce, "Archivists and Research Use. " American Archivist 47. no.2 (Spring 1984): 124-133.
35. Fredric M. Miller. "Social History and Archival Practice. " American Archivist 44 (Spring 1981): 113-124.
36. Helen R. Tibbo. Abstracting, Information Retrieval and the Humanities: Providing Access to Historical Literature (Chicago: American Library Association. 1993).
37. Marcia J. Bates, Deborah N. Wilde, and Susan Siegfried. "An Analysis of Search Terminology Used by Humanities Scholars: The Getty Online Searching Project Report Number 1, " Library Quarterly 63 (January 1993): 1-39.
38. Michael E. Stevens, "The Historian and Archival Finding Aids. " Georgia Archives 5 (Winter 1977): 64-74.
39. And William J. Maher, "The Use of User Studies, " Midwestern Archivist 11, no. 1 (1986): 15-26.
40. Paul Conway, "Research in Presidential Libraries: A User Survey, " Midwestern Archivist 11, no. 1 (1986): 33-56.
41. See Elizabeth Yakel and Laura L. Bost, "Understanding Administrative Use and Users in University Archives, " American Archivist 57 (Fall 1994): 596-615 for a recent study of administrative use of archives.
42. Several projects at the University of California, Los Angeles and Berkeley have been examining the needs of teachers and children using archival materials. These include the Online Archive of California Evaluation Project, the Berkeley Interactive University Cultural Heritage Pilot Project, the Digital Portfolio Archives Project, and the UCLA Institute for Primary Resources. See Anne Gilliland-Swetland, "Evaluation Design for Large-Scale. Collaborative Online Archives: Interim Report of the Online Archive of California Evaluation Project" (paper submitted for publication).
43. Gilliland-Swetland et al., Digital Portfolio Archives in Learning, "Application of Dublin Core Metadata in the Description of Digital Primary Sources in Elementary School Classrooms" (paper submitted for review).
44. Kafai, Yasmin, and Anne Gilliland-Swetland. "Integrating Historical Source Materials into Elementary Science Classroom Activities, " (paper submitted for publication).
45. And Gilliland-Swetland, "An Exploration of K-12 user Needs for Digital Primary Source Materials, " American Archivist 61, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 1998): 136-157.
46. Conway, "Research in Presidential Libraries: A User Survey, " Midwestern Archivist 11, no. 1 (1986): p. 52.
47. Marcia J. Bates, "The Design of Browsing and Berry picking Techniques for the Online Search Interface. " Online Review 13, no. 5 (1989): 407-424.
48. Marcia J. Bates, "Rethinking Subject Cataloging in the Online Environment. " Library Resources & Technical Services 33 no. 4 (1989): 400-412.
49. Bates, "Where Should the Person Stop and the Information Search Interface Start?" Information Processing & Management 26, no.5 (1990): 575-591.