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CUSTARD project report



CUSTARD IS COOKING

The first meeting of CUSTARD (Canada-US Task Force on Archival Description) was held in Toronto on 20-22 July. The group's task is to support the process of reconciling the two principal North American standards for archival description with each other and with a broader international standard. The anticipated final product of this project will be rules for the description of archival holdings which reconcile RAD and APPM within the structure of ISAD(G). It is also expected that the resulting standard will form the basis of a content standard for EAD.

The production of this new standard is a joint effort of the Society of American Archivists and the Canadian Council on Archives. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the work will be accomplished through the efforts of a Steering Committee, an Editor/Project Manager, and an editorial and consultative group, consisting of equal representation from Canada and the U.S.  The main part of this project will take place over the next year.

Because this is an entirely new venture, considerable time was spent at the first meeting coming to agreement on the scope and structure of the standard, and the process for accomplishing the task, bearing in mind the related initiatives under way such as the review of ISAAR(CPF) and the development of  a DTD for Encoded Archival Context.  Discussion then moved on to specific elements of description, i.e., title, dates, extent, scope and content, etc.  While there are many places where APPM and RAD are already in agreement, the discussion of specific elements exposed the areas where the rules and practice differ significantly, and where more extensive discussions will have to take place.  The Editor will begin work on the preparation of the first draft of the new rules, consulting as required with CUSTARD members. The first draft of the rules will be distributed to the group by 30 November.  The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 14-15 December in Washington.

Further information may be obtained from Kris Kiesling, Chair of the SAA Standards Committee, or Bob Krawczyk, Chair of the Canadian Committee on Archival Description.

Kris Kiesling
Head, Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
P.O. Drawer 7219
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78713-7219
Voice: (512) 232-4614
Fax: 512.471.7930
kiesling@mail.utexas.edu

Bob Krawczyk
Descriptive Standards Program Coordinator
Archives of Ontario
(416) 327-1574
bob.krawczyk@archives.gov.on.ca