MicheleR <[log in to unmask]> asked:
>When implementing EAD for finding aids for manuscript/archive collections,
>does the structure of the finding aid more often reflect the intellectual
>organization of a collection or does it reflect the physical organization?
>It seems to me from my initial (thus far brief) study of EAD that the
>structure of the finding aid needs to match the structure of the physical
>collection, otherwise elements like CONTAINER aren't really very useful,
>right?
I have done a number of collections and accompanying finding aids where the
physical order of the collection was different from the intellectual order.
In my division, this is a necessity since our limited storage space has
forced us to shelve medium-sized boxes far away from larger sizes.
Hence if you look at the finding aid for scores (series 1) of Sy Oliver
(arranger for Jimmy Lunceford and Tommy Dorsey):
http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/music/musoliver/
...you'll note the obvious alphabetical arrangement of song titles, but
that the sequence of folders is not totally regular (the higher numbers
being oversized items which have to be shelved in a separate area).
Though the term "container" suggests a purely physical arrangement, I have
not found a guideline that forces one to accept that as the only valid
arrangement.
Bob Kosovsky, Ph.D., Curator, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Music Division -- The New York Public Library
Listowner: OPERA-L ; SMT-TALK ; SMT-ANNOUNCE ; SoundForge-users
My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions.
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