Encoded Archival Description: The Development of an Encoding Standard for Archival Finding Aids

Abstract

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) is nearing completion and formal release as a standard. EAD attempts to overcome obstacles to intellectual access for geographically distributed primary resources by providing a standard encoding structure for archival finding aids. EAD is the most recent in a line of similar efforts to address universal intellectual access to such data, and like its predecessors, EAD applies emerging technology to the problem. The technology underlying EAD is Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML). This article reviews the background of EAD and the contributions of archivists in both large and small repositories to its development.

Researchers at Work: Assessing Needs for Content and Presentation of Archival Materials

“…Along with this trend, archivists have sought to understand how users are responding to online materials in order to increase the usability of their online access systems. The development of EAD entailed considerable analysis of finding aid structural elements from diverse repositories; 8 however, there was no user input into the development of the standard or the early finding aids utilizing EAD that were published on the Web. Thus, most online archival description looks much like its paper counterpart.…”

Encoded Archival Description as a Halfway Technology

“…He and others had developed it over the course of the previous few years, and it seemed ready for public scrutiny. 1 Developed specifically for encoding archival finding aids for presentation on the World Wide Web, EAD received a warm reception as a much-needed tool, and it has dominated the professional conversation about archival description since then. Nobody called it a halfway technology.…”

A New Archival Model?

“…21 A virtual location, the website provides remote access that is "not geographically and temporally constrained" and can be accessed twenty-four hours a day and the user can stay as long as needed. 22 Although the website is "less concerned with . .…”