ISAD(G) (General International Standard Archival Description) defines the elements that should be included in an archivalfinding aid. It was approved by the International Council on Archives (ICA/CIA) as an international framework standard to register archival documents produced by corporations, persons and families.
ISAD(G) defines a list of elements and rules for the description of archives and describes the kinds of information that must and should be included in such descriptions. It creates a hierarchy of description that determines what information should be included at what level.[1]
Multilevel description starts from a general level of description, which is usually the fonds, and proceeds to more detailed levels, such as the subfonds, the series, the file, the item, etc. This hierarchical structure must be represented and properly defined in the archival description.[2]
Information relevant to the level of description
Information in each level of description must be related only to the archival unit described in that level.[2]
Linking of descriptions
Every archival unit must be linked to its parent level within the hierarchy and its level must be made explicit.[2]
Non-repetition of information
To avoid repetition, general information common to a group must be declared in the highest level possible. Sublevels must, in turn, contain common information applicable to its child levels.[2]
Elements
ISAD(G) defines 26 data elements of description, 6 of which are mandatory, divided into 7 areas:
1.Identity Statement[3](All elements in the Identity Statement area are mandatory.)
Reference Codes: Elements used to unequivocally identify the unit of description: country code, repository code, specific local reference code/control number/other unique identifier.
Title: Name for the unit of description.
Date: Dates of record creation during the conduction of affairs or dates of document creation.
Level of Description: Level of the unit of description within the hierarchy.
Extent and medium of the unit of description: Physical or logical extent and medium of the unit of description.
2.Context[3](Of the 4 elements that make up the Context Area, only the first one is mandatory.)
Name: Creator of the unit of description.
Administrative / Biographical history: Biographical or Administrative details pertaining to the creators of the unit of description.
Archival history: Relevant historical information on the unit of description.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer: Source of acquisition of the material.
Conditions governing access: Information on legal status that may affect access to the unit of description.
Conditions governing reproduction: Conditions for the reproduction of the unit of description after creation.
Language/scripts of material: Languages, scripts and symbol systems used in the unit of description.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements: Relevant physical conditions, software and hardware requirements for the access and preservation of the unit of description.
Finding aids: Finding aids applicable to the unit of description.
Archivist's Note: Information on who prepared the description and how.
Rules or Conventions: Protocols on which the description is based.
Date(s) of descriptions: Dates of creation and revision.
The standard provides a framework for a common approach, rather than a rigid format.[3][4]
History
The advent of the internet and electronic records changed the way curators conceived archives. The ability to interrelate archives around the world constitutes both an advantage and a challenge. Thus, there was a need to standardize archival descriptions to make the best use of the technologies available. Standardization in the Archival world was born to increase the number of points of contact between multiple archives across different institutions. Standardization can be considered a tool that archivists must adopt and adapt for their functioning in the contemporary information age.[5]
After initial activities since 1988 supported by UNESCO, a subgroup of the AdHoc Commission on Descriptive Standards discussed the first draft of these standards beginning in 1990. The first version of ISAD(G) was released and adopted by the ICA in 1994.[1] In 1999, an evaluation of ISAD(G) was conducted in order to determine its effectiveness of describing datasets and to evaluate how it had been being used in data archives.[6] After lengthy research and evaluation, the ICA published a revised version, the second edition, in 2000. Sometimes abbreviated as ISAD(G)2, the revised version remains the current standard today.[7]
Since its publication, ISAD(G) has been adopted by a great number of institutions around the world.
Adoption
ISAD(G) has been adopted as the standard for archival description by many national and international institutions. For example:
National Organizations
In the United States, the implementation of ISAD(G) by the Society of American Archivists is described in Describing Archives: A Content Standard (2006).[7]
In the United Kingdom, ISAD(G) was adopted by The National Archives Cataloguing Standards in 2000.[8]
In Canada, ISAD(G) was implemented alongside ISSAR(CPF) in the second edition of Rules for Archival Description (RAD2) by the Canadian Council on Archives in 2005.[9]
Transnational Organizations
The World Bank Group has adopted ISAD(G) as the standard for description of its archival records. Each record has at least one level (Fonds) and where multiple levels are available, they are presented in a tree format. The World Bank Group Archive is arranged into Fonds (level of description) using EAD XML schemas with metadata for the description or archival content following the ISAD(G) standard.[10]
UNESCO Archives are organized using the AtoM database and adhere to ISAD (G) standard for archival description. The UNESCO Archives are also organized using a method known as archival description in the archives database AtoM for archival description. The archival description standard used by UNESCO Archives in AtoM is the General International Standard for Archival Description (ISAD (G)).[11]
Compatibility with other archival protocols
This section contains information of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter. Please help improve this section by clarifying or removing indiscriminate details. If importance cannot be established, the section is likely to be moved to another article, pseudo-redirected, or removed. Find sources: "ISAD(G)" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
ISAD(G) has been implemented by many institutions together with other protocols such as ISO 15489 record management protocol or the ISSAR(CPF) protocol on archival authority records. ISAD(G) has been mapped into archival finding aids protocols such as EDA and structure standards like Dublin Core.
Implementation of ISAD(G) using XML schemas
EAD: Encoded Archival Description (EAD) uses XML schemas to encode content descriptions mapped to ISAD(G) standards as a guide to determine required data elements and hierarchical relations between said elements. These protocols are not exclusive but complimentary. ISAD(G) is not as specific as EAD with respect to finding aid data, but it offers a useful model for determining both essential elements and the amount of descriptive detail an archivist may wish to gather at each hierarchical level.[12]
Example: Excerpt of an XML schema describing the archival unit Records of the Global Environment Facility from the World Bank Group Archive using the ISAD(G) protocol:[13]
<archdesclevel="fonds"relatedencoding="ISAD(G)v2"><did><unittitleencodinganalog="3.1.2">Records of the Global Environment Facility</unittitle><unitidencodinganalog="3.1.1">WB IBRD/IDA GEF</unitid><unitdateid="atom_503_event"encodinganalog="3.1.3">1988 - 2007</unitdate><physdescencodinganalog="3.1.5"> 265.00 linear feet of textual records (approximate) </physdesc><repository><corpname>World Bank Group Archives</corpname></repository><langmaterialencodinganalog="3.4.3"><languagelangcode="eng">English</language><languagelangcode="fre">French</language></langmaterial><originationencodinganalog="3.2.1"><nameid="atom_503_actor">Global Environment Facility</name></origination></did><bioghistid="md5-f21fc51e335ca4fbfd1d0638c5abdd59"encodinganalog="3.2.2"><note><p> The Global Environment Facility (GEF) began operations in (...) <lb/><lb/> The purpose of the GEF is (...) <lb/><lb/> Initially, the World Bank (...) <lb/><lb/> At the conclusion of its pilot phase (...) <lb/><lb/> The governance structure of the (...) <lb/><lb/> * implementing the decisions of the GEF Assembly and Council; <lb/><lb/> * coordinating the formulation and overseeing (...) <lb/><lb/> * ensuring the implementation of (...) <lb/><lb/> * reviewing and reporting to (...) <lb/><lb/> Its business activities include: (...) <lb/><lb/> As of 2012, the GEF involves (...) </p></note></bioghist><oddtype="publicationStatus"><p>Published</p></odd><scopecontentencodinganalog="3.3.1"><p> The fonds consists of (...) <lb/><lb/> Records related to GEF's role (...) <lb/><lb/> The fonds also consists of (...) <lb/><lb/> Also included are records related to (...) <lb/><lb/> This fonds also consists of (...) <lb/><lb/> Records related to (...) <lb/><lb/> Also included are the (...) </p></scopecontent><arrangementencodinganalog="3.3.4"><p> The following arrangement is provisional. Records are arranged into eight series: <lb/><lb/> * Project files <lb/><lb/> * Monitoring and evaluation records <lb/><lb/> * Policy development and business strategy records <lb/><lb/> * Focal Area program records <lb/><lb/> * Corporateaffairs, liaison, and convention records <lb/><lb/> * Meetings <lb/><lb/> * Communications and outreach <lb/><lb/> * Senior management correspondence </p></arrangement><acqinfoencodinganalog="3.2.4"><p>Records were transferred directly from (...) </acqinfo><accrualsencodinganalog="3.3.3"><p>Accruals are expected.</p></accruals><processinfo><p><date>22 June 2012</date></p></processinfo><relatedmaterialencodinganalog="3.5.3"><p> * See Records of the Environment Sector (...) <lb/><lb/><lb/><lb/> * See Records of the Operations (...)* <lb/><lb/><lb/><lb/> * See Records of Individual Staff Members (...)* <lb/><lb/><lb/><lb/> *See records related to the (...) </p></relatedmaterial><accessrestrictencodinganalog="3.4.1"><p>Records are subject to the World Bank Policy on Access to Information.</p></accessrestrict><userestrictencodinganalog="3.4.2"><p>Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group.</p></userestrict><otherfindaidencodinganalog="3.4.5"><p>A finding aid for this fonds does not exist.</p></otherfindaid><dsctype="combined"></dsc></archdesc>
^ abYoun, Eunha (11 May 2015). "Adoption of ISAD(G) in practice: a close look at the standardization process of ISAD(G) in a manuscript archives of Korea". Journal of the Archives and Records Association. 36 (2): 128–145. doi:10.1080/23257962.2015.1029892.
^ abcdeBonturi, Lina (2017). "Archival Description". Archives in the Digital Age. Chandos Publishing. pp. 1–22.
^ abcdefgh"ISAD(G) standard - Archives Hub". Retrieved 7 July 2012.
^Casini, Paola (2014). ISAD(G): Synthesis or Innovation in Archival Description Traditions?. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC. pp. 13–14.
^Shepherd, Elizabeth; Smith, Charlottte (2000). "The Application of ISAD(G) to the Description of Archival Datasets". Journal of the Society of Archivists. 21: 55–86. doi:10.1080/00379810050006911.
^Garmendia, Jone (March 2017). "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. Retrieved 2021-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Canadian Committee on Archival Description (2005). Toward a Second Edition of RAD : A Report.
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ISAD G General International Standard Archival Description defines the elements that should be included in an archival finding aid It was approved by the International Council on Archives ICA CIA as an international framework standard to register archival documents produced by corporations persons and families Contents 1 Description 1 1 Principles 1 2 Elements 2 History 3 Adoption 4 Compatibility with other archival protocols 4 1 Implementation of ISAD G using XML schemas 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksDescription EditISAD G defines a list of elements and rules for the description of archives and describes the kinds of information that must and should be included in such descriptions It creates a hierarchy of description that determines what information should be included at what level 1 Principles Edit ISAD G follows 4 general principles 2 Description from the general to the specificMultilevel description starts from a general level of description which is usually the fonds and proceeds to more detailed levels such as the subfonds the series the file the item etc This hierarchical structure must be represented and properly defined in the archival description 2 Information relevant to the level of descriptionInformation in each level of description must be related only to the archival unit described in that level 2 Linking of descriptionsEvery archival unit must be linked to its parent level within the hierarchy and its level must be made explicit 2 Non repetition of informationTo avoid repetition general information common to a group must be declared in the highest level possible Sublevels must in turn contain common information applicable to its child levels 2 Elements Edit ISAD G defines 26 data elements of description 6 of which are mandatory divided into 7 areas 1 Identity Statement 3 All elements in the Identity Statement area are mandatory Reference Codes Elements used to unequivocally identify the unit of description country code repository code specific local reference code control number other unique identifier Title Name for the unit of description Date Dates of record creation during the conduction of affairs or dates of document creation Level of Description Level of the unit of description within the hierarchy Extent and medium of the unit of description Physical or logical extent and medium of the unit of description 2 Context 3 Of the 4 elements that make up the Context Area only the first one is mandatory Name Creator of the unit of description Administrative Biographical history Biographical or Administrative details pertaining to the creators of the unit of description Archival history Relevant historical information on the unit of description Immediate source of acquisition or transfer Source of acquisition of the material 3 Content and Structure 3 Scope and content Summary of scope and content relevant to the level of description Appraisal destruction and scheduling information Appraisal destruction and scheduling actions taken on or planned for the unit of description Accruals Planned additions to the unit of description 4 Conditions of Access and Use 3 Conditions governing access Information on legal status that may affect access to the unit of description Conditions governing reproduction Conditions for the reproduction of the unit of description after creation Language scripts of material Languages scripts and symbol systems used in the unit of description Physical characteristics and technical requirements Relevant physical conditions software and hardware requirements for the access and preservation of the unit of description Finding aids Finding aids applicable to the unit of description 5 Allied Materials 3 Existence and location of originals Information about the existence or destruction of the original unit of description Existence and location of copies Information about the existence and availability of copies of the unit of description Related units of description Information about units of description related by provenance or other associations with the unit of description Publication note Publications that are about or are based on the use study or analysis of the unit of description 6 Notes 3 Note Information that does not fit in any of the previous areas 7 Description Control 3 Archivist s Note Information on who prepared the description and how Rules or Conventions Protocols on which the description is based Date s of descriptions Dates of creation and revision The standard provides a framework for a common approach rather than a rigid format 3 4 History EditThe advent of the internet and electronic records changed the way curators conceived archives The ability to interrelate archives around the world constitutes both an advantage and a challenge Thus there was a need to standardize archival descriptions to make the best use of the technologies available Standardization in the Archival world was born to increase the number of points of contact between multiple archives across different institutions Standardization can be considered a tool that archivists must adopt and adapt for their functioning in the contemporary information age 5 After initial activities since 1988 supported by UNESCO a subgroup of the AdHoc Commission on Descriptive Standards discussed the first draft of these standards beginning in 1990 The first version of ISAD G was released and adopted by the ICA in 1994 1 In 1999 an evaluation of ISAD G was conducted in order to determine its effectiveness of describing datasets and to evaluate how it had been being used in data archives 6 After lengthy research and evaluation the ICA published a revised version the second edition in 2000 Sometimes abbreviated as ISAD G 2 the revised version remains the current standard today 7 Since its publication ISAD G has been adopted by a great number of institutions around the world Adoption EditISAD G has been adopted as the standard for archival description by many national and international institutions For example National Organizations In the United States the implementation of ISAD G by the Society of American Archivists is described in Describing Archives A Content Standard 2006 7 In the United Kingdom ISAD G was adopted by The National Archives Cataloguing Standards in 2000 8 In Canada ISAD G was implemented alongside ISSAR CPF in the second edition of Rules for Archival Description RAD2 by the Canadian Council on Archives in 2005 9 Transnational Organizations The World Bank Group has adopted ISAD G as the standard for description of its archival records Each record has at least one level Fonds and where multiple levels are available they are presented in a tree format The World Bank Group Archive is arranged into Fonds level of description using EAD XML schemas with metadata for the description or archival content following the ISAD G standard 10 UNESCO Archives are organized using the AtoM database and adhere to ISAD G standard for archival description The UNESCO Archives are also organized using a method known as archival description in the archives database AtoM for archival description The archival description standard used by UNESCO Archives in AtoM is the General International Standard for Archival Description ISAD G 11 Compatibility with other archival protocols EditThis section contains information of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article s subject matter Please help improve this section by clarifying or removing indiscriminate details If importance cannot be established the section is likely to be moved to another article pseudo redirected or removed Find sources ISAD G news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message ISAD G has been implemented by many institutions together with other protocols such as ISO 15489 record management protocol or the ISSAR CPF protocol on archival authority records ISAD G has been mapped into archival finding aids protocols such as EDA and structure standards like Dublin Core Implementation of ISAD G using XML schemas Edit EAD Encoded Archival Description EAD uses XML schemas to encode content descriptions mapped to ISAD G standards as a guide to determine required data elements and hierarchical relations between said elements These protocols are not exclusive but complimentary ISAD G is not as specific as EAD with respect to finding aid data but it offers a useful model for determining both essential elements and the amount of descriptive detail an archivist may wish to gather at each hierarchical level 12 Example Excerpt of an XML schema describing the archival unit Records of the Global Environment Facility from the World Bank Group Archive using the ISAD G protocol 13 lt archdesc level fonds relatedencoding ISAD G v2 gt lt did gt lt unittitle encodinganalog 3 1 2 gt Records of the Global Environment Facility lt unittitle gt lt unitid encodinganalog 3 1 1 gt WB IBRD IDA GEF lt unitid gt lt unitdate id atom 503 event encodinganalog 3 1 3 gt 1988 2007 lt unitdate gt lt physdesc encodinganalog 3 1 5 gt 265 00 linear feet of textual records approximate lt physdesc gt lt repository gt lt corpname gt World Bank Group Archives lt corpname gt lt repository gt lt langmaterial encodinganalog 3 4 3 gt lt language langcode eng gt English lt language gt lt language langcode fre gt French lt language gt lt langmaterial gt lt origination encodinganalog 3 2 1 gt lt name id atom 503 actor gt Global Environment Facility lt name gt lt origination gt lt did gt lt bioghist id md5 f21fc51e335ca4fbfd1d0638c5abdd59 encodinganalog 3 2 2 gt lt note gt lt p gt The Global Environment Facility GEF began operations in lt lb gt lt lb gt The purpose of the GEF is lt lb gt lt lb gt Initially the World Bank lt lb gt lt lb gt At the conclusion of its pilot phase lt lb gt lt lb gt The governance structure of the lt lb gt lt lb gt implementing the decisions of the GEF Assembly and Council lt lb gt lt lb gt coordinating the formulation and overseeing lt lb gt lt lb gt ensuring the implementation of lt lb gt lt lb gt reviewing and reporting to lt lb gt lt lb gt Its business activities include lt lb gt lt lb gt As of 2012 the GEF involves lt p gt lt note gt lt bioghist gt lt odd type publicationStatus gt lt p gt Published lt p gt lt odd gt lt scopecontent encodinganalog 3 3 1 gt lt p gt The fonds consists of lt lb gt lt lb gt Records related to GEF s role lt lb gt lt lb gt The fonds also consists of lt lb gt lt lb gt Also included are records related to lt lb gt lt lb gt This fonds also consists of lt lb gt lt lb gt Records related to lt lb gt lt lb gt Also included are the lt p gt lt scopecontent gt lt arrangement encodinganalog 3 3 4 gt lt p gt The following arrangement is provisional Records are arranged into eight series lt lb gt lt lb gt Project files lt lb gt lt lb gt Monitoring and evaluation records lt lb gt lt lb gt Policy development and business strategy records lt lb gt lt lb gt Focal Area program records lt lb gt lt lb gt Corporateaffairs liaison and convention records lt lb gt lt lb gt Meetings lt lb gt lt lb gt Communications and outreach lt lb gt lt lb gt Senior management correspondence lt p gt lt arrangement gt lt acqinfo encodinganalog 3 2 4 gt lt p gt Records were transferred directly from lt acqinfo gt lt accruals encodinganalog 3 3 3 gt lt p gt Accruals are expected lt p gt lt accruals gt lt processinfo gt lt p gt lt date gt 22 June 2012 lt date gt lt p gt lt processinfo gt lt relatedmaterial encodinganalog 3 5 3 gt lt p gt See Records of the Environment Sector lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt See Records of the Operations lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt See Records of Individual Staff Members lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt lt lb gt See records related to the lt p gt lt relatedmaterial gt lt accessrestrict encodinganalog 3 4 1 gt lt p gt Records are subject to the World Bank Policy on Access to Information lt p gt lt accessrestrict gt lt userestrict encodinganalog 3 4 2 gt lt p gt Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group lt p gt lt userestrict gt lt otherfindaid encodinganalog 3 4 5 gt lt p gt A finding aid for this fonds does not exist lt p gt lt otherfindaid gt lt dsc type combined gt lt dsc gt lt archdesc gt See also EditArchival processing Describing Archives A Content Standard Finding aid International Council on ArchivesReferences Edit a b Youn Eunha 11 May 2015 Adoption of ISAD G in practice a close look at the standardization process of ISAD G in a manuscript archives of Korea Journal of the Archives and Records Association 36 2 128 145 doi 10 1080 23257962 2015 1029892 a b c d e Bonturi Lina 2017 Archival Description Archives in the Digital Age Chandos Publishing pp 1 22 a b c d e f g h ISAD G standard Archives Hub Retrieved 7 July 2012 ISAD G The Basics PDF 16 Jun 2003 Casini Paola 2014 ISAD G Synthesis or Innovation in Archival Description Traditions Ann Arbor MI ProQuest LLC pp 13 14 Shepherd Elizabeth Smith Charlottte 2000 The Application of ISAD G to the Description of Archival Datasets Journal of the Society of Archivists 21 55 86 doi 10 1080 00379810050006911 a b Describing Archives A Content Standard DACS Society of American Archivists Archived from the original on 14 July 2010 Retrieved 8 July 2012 Garmendia Jone March 2017 The National Archives Homepage The National Archives Retrieved 2021 09 22 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Canadian Committee on Archival Description 2005 Toward a Second Edition of RAD A Report API Access to Archival Description Metadata a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Organization of the Archives a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link EAD Application Guidelines for Version 1 0 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Records of the Global Environment Facility a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link External links EditISAD G General International Standard Archival Description PDF 2 ed International Council on Archives Committee on Descriptive Standards 2000 archived from the original PDF on 2011 10 27 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ISAD G amp oldid 1075781050, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
