Hello all:
Far too long ago, I posted an inquiry to this list about EAD and MPLP
processing, particularly the problem of encoding box-level descriptions. I
received many helpful replies, for which I am grateful. Apologies if I
didn't get to thank many of you individually; I had intended to do so, and
recently lost a large portion of my back email, which contained all of your
names and email addresses.
Based largely on the answers I received, the Northwest Digital Archives
consortium discussed options
and solutions. Although as a consortium we
avoid being proscriptive at the level, we felt that coming to some
consensus was important for data exchange and stylesheet presentation. And
since an NHPRC-funded field test of MPLP processing forms a portion of our
consortium members, we needed to provide those members with appropriate
guidance.
So, here are the guidelines we have crafted, which will appear in the next
update of our Best Practices, available at nwda.wsulibs.wsu.edu/tools.html.
Thanks again, everyone!
***************
EAD and MPLP
Northwest Digital Archives
Regarding the question of encoding at the container level (often box level)
for minimally processed or unprocessed collections, the Best Practices
Working Group (BPWG) strongly
encourages NWDA archivists to process papers and records at least to the
series level. This will benefit researchers and also insure that the NWDA
adheres to the EAD
principle of describing archival collections based on
intellectual rather than physical categorization. The encoding for
series-level description (with no description at the file or item level)
would appear as in the following example:
[if applicable]
1-3
Reports
1945-1962
[if desired -- e.g., Annual and financial reports
document ...] /scopecontent>
...
If only a file, item, or box list is provided in because the
collection lacks any major subdivisions, such as series and subseries, use
"in-depth" as the value of the TYPE attribute in . In the entries
that comprise an "in-depth"
inventory, use "file" or "item" as applicable as
the value of the LEVEL attribute in . Note that for a box-level
without series, contiguous boxes with the same should *not* be
encoded in separate s, but encoded as one with multiple
containers. The primary focus of a should be on intellectual content
and form, even when the content does not reflect careful arrangement,rather
than on the boxes in which the materials have been placed:
[if applicable]
1-4
Correspondence and lecture notes
circa 1945-1953
[if desired ] /scopecontent>
...
If the latter approach is taken, the Best
Practice Working Group recommends
the inclusion of some text in the collection-level element
explaining that the collection is unprocessed or has been minimally
processed. E.g.:
...
These records have been arranged into broad, series-level groupings. More
detailed processing is not anticipated.
This approach is compliant with the NWDA Best Practice Guidelines. Because
the portion of a finding aid is itself not required by the NWDA, this
recommendation should be seen as just that -- a recommendation, not a
requirement. We believe, however, that following the recommendation will
result in both encoding efficiency and in NWDA adherence to the spirit of
EAD.
--
Jodi Allison-Bunnell
Consortium Administrator
Northwest Digital
Archives
Oregon State University
418 Woodford
Missoula, MT 59801
(Yes, this is really my address!)
(971) 327-8134
Fax (860) 540-8281
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