*
*The Committee of Best Practices and Standards of the International
Council of Archives (ICA/CBPS) is pleased to announce the release the
first edition of the International Standard for Describing Functions
(ICA-ISDF). <http://www.ica.org/en/node/38665>

The main scope of archival arrangement and description is to preserve
the original context of records creation, by safeguarding their
evidential value and their authenticity. Authority records compliant
with ISAAR(CPF) make it possible to collect any important information on
the records creators, corporate bodies, persons or families. That’s the
reason for providing separate but linked descriptions of records and of
their creators – this enables archivists to develop dynamic and
multidimensional descriptive systems.

Functions are often transferred from one corporate body to another.
Therefore, it will be much more difficult for the users to reconstitute
the context of records creation, if they are only provided with
authority records describing corporate bodies that performed the same
function. Separated but linked descriptions of functions can improve the
understanding of that context and can be used in conjunction with
ICA-ISAD(G) compliant descriptions and ICA-ISAAR(CPF) authority files as
a tool for efficient retrieval of archives and creators descriptions in
archival descriptive systems. This approach constitutes the basis of the
new international standard which provides guidance for preparing
descriptions of functions of corporate bodies associated with the
creation and maintenance of archives.

ICA-ISDF is available in English, in French, in Spanish and in
Portuguese. It includes twenty six descriptive elements, organised into
information areas. It also includes a chapter giving recommendations for
establishing links between descriptions of functions and archival
descriptions compliant with ICA-ISAD(G) or with authority records
compliant with ICA-ISAAR(CPF). The appendix contains examples of
applications in different languages.

ICA-ISDF will be presented in the international congress of archives at
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in July 2008. Thereafter, a revision of
ICA-ISAD(G) and ICA-ISAAR(CPF) will proceed during the next four-year
programme 2008-2012, in order to introduce changes required by the
experience of the international archival community that has been using
those standards.



Claire Sibille, ICA/CBPS Secretary/Secrétaire