Approaches to Cataloguing Complex Collections

2. Approaches to cataloguing complex collections Understanding archive standards Melinda Haunton - Accreditation Manager @melindahaunton 12 June 2019

3. Introducing Archive Service Accreditation • UK management standard for archives • Delivered by UK partnership: ARA, ARCW, NRS, PRONI, SCA, TNA, Welsh Govt • Content in 3 modules: organisational health, collections, stakeholders & their experiences • Published 2013, refreshed 2018 • Open to widest possible range of archive-holding institutions

4. Archive Service Accreditation mission “To improve the viability and visibility of UK archive services” • Archive services are well managed • Archive services plan to improve and develop • Archive services contribute to their parent organisations and the wider public

5. The Accreditation Standard • Organisational HealthMission, governance, planning, resources • CollectionsManagement, development, information, care • Stakeholders and their experiencesLegal, effective, developing access, meeting designated community needs • Focus: outcomes and users

6. The Accreditation Standard • Organisational HealthMission, governance, planning, resources • CollectionsManagement, development, information, care • Stakeholders and their experiencesLegal, effective, developing access, meeting designated community needs • Focus: outcomes and users

7. Collections Information

8. How Accreditation sees collections information “Collections information is fundamental to the work of an archive service. It is the bedrock for all access and collections management. If we do not know what is in our collections, we cannot look after it or alert potential users to its presence. “Collections information needs to be high quality, accurate, accessible and secure. Generating collections information is resource-intensive so requires careful planning to ensure the maximum return on the investment.” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/accreditation - find out more

9. The problem with cataloguing archives

10. Principles of archive management and description • Standardised approach does not mean standard content • Original order • Contextual information • Uniqueness • Trust (authenticity, reliability, integrity, usability) • Hierarchical arrangement (description from the general to the specific) • Information relevant to the level of description • Non-repetition of information

11. Understanding hierarchical cataloguing

12. Understanding hierarchical cataloguing fonds series sub-series file item

13. Hierarchies are expandable

14. Hierarchies show structure and context CF1/11/2/1/3

15. But what goes in your hierarchy?

16. ISAD(G) content: overall • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area

17. ISAD(G) content: identity statement area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Reference code* • Title* • Date(s)* • Level of description* • Extent and medium*

18. ISAD(G) content: context area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Name of creator(s)* • Administrative/biographical history • Archival history (eg custody transfers) • Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

19. ISAD(G) content: content and structure area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Scope and content • Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information • Accruals • System of arrangement

20. ISAD(G) content: conditions of access and use area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Conditions governing access • Conditions governing reproduction • Language/scripts of material • Finding aids

21. ISAD(G) content: allied materials area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Existence and location of originals • Existence and location of copies • Related units of description • Publication note

22. ISAD(G) content: notes area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Note

23. ISAD(G) content: description control area • Identity statement area • Context area • Content and structure area • Conditions of access and use area • Allied materials area • Notes area • Description control area • Archivist’s note • Rules or conventions • Date(s) of description

24. ISAD(G) mandatory elements • Reference Code • Title • Date(s) of creation • Name of creator • Extent of the unit of description • Level of description

25. Standards • International Standard for Archival Description (General) – ISAD(G) • International Standard Archival Authority Record – ISAAR (but also NCA Rules for the Construction of Names) • International Standard for Describing Functions [ISDF] • International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings [ISDIAH] • Available (free) at : https://www.ica.org/en/public-resources/standards, • https://www.archives.org.uk/images/documents/namingrules.pdf

26. The good news • Core elements of ISAD(G) allow collections to be managed and described, consistently and internationally • Collection-level description allows an overview of holdings and richer description • Context is supported, vital to understanding archives • Hierarchical approach supports authenticity: evidencing how archives were found • Hierarchy also allows overview and yet detailed view – in a huge collection, you can quickly see how something fits • Hierarchy supports flexible research needs – it does not impose one view of what is interesting in a collection, and retains tacit information as well as explicit

27. The bad news (yes) • Resource heavy if you don’t have a complex collection • Major cataloguing backlogs suggest it doesn’t meet service needs • Not intuitive and can be off-putting for those who aren’t trained archivists – mixed collections may struggle • Hierarchy in practice often changes over time – fixing it can be artificial and hard to maintain • Implementation in past obscures searchability in the now – lack of context when landing from Google due to non-repetition of information

28. The bad news (there’s more) • Approach is not based in user needs or research – it is purely based on archive theory • Downgrades indexing, although names and subjects are probably what users want most • Hierarchical approach compounds archives’ general tendency to support status quo and authority • Retaining original order (and terminology) can tie you to concepts and terms which are now profoundly offensive • Digital records are throwing the set approach into confusion and breaking the core elements of ISAD(G)

29. The future (maybe) Example of RIC-CM shared by EGAD

30. Why/when do it anyway? • To avoid imposing modern concepts onto past activity • To keep the tacit evidence safe, rather than focusing only on the explicit • To show relationships and structures, and let researchers make what they will of the content • To manage the complexity, unpredictability and bulk of archive collections • To give you opportunities to share data through aggregators, like discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk, with global reach

31. Manage Your Collections: share data with millions of users

32. Find out more • Manage Your Collections in Discovery: find out more at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/advice-and-guidance/managing-your-collection/manage-your-collections-in-discovery/help/ • ICA Standards: https://www.ica.org/en/public-resources/standards and more about Records in Contexts: https://www.ica.org/en/records-in-contexts-ric-a-standard-for-archival-description-presentation-congress-2016