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Report on second CUSTARD meeting




CUSTARD REPORT

The second meeting of CUSTARD (Canada-US Task Force on Archival Description) was held in Washington, D.C. on 14-16 December. The group's task is to develop 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.

Since the first meeting in July, the Editor/Project Manager has prepared draft rules for all twenty-six elements in ISAD(G) and distributed them for comment by the group.  The comments raised a number of fundamental issues which had to be addressed before the work moves on. The meeting began with a discussion to identify and agree upon the purposes of archival description and the principles on which the rules will be based.  A draft document expanding on the points raised at the meeting will be prepared for review by the group; in due course the Statement of Principles will be made available to the broader archival community.  The group then addressed specific questions about the scope and structure of the standard.  Of particular concern was the extent to which the new standard had to follow the structure and order of ISAD(G).  It was agreed that the new rules need not follow ISAD(G)?s grouping of elements within areas or its order of elements, and that where appropriate, the purpose or scope of an element can be elaborated or clarified.
 
Much of the meeting was spent discussing the structure of the new standard.  The rules will be presented in three parts: rules for the description of records; rules for the description of creators of records (i.e., the administrative/ biographical history element; and the formation of headings for corporate bodies, persons, families); and rules for describing relationships, i.e., the relationships between records and their creators (choice of access points), the relationships between creators (references), and relationships between different descriptions of records (ISAD(G)'s Allied materials elements).

A small working group was formed to clarify certain aspects of the Extent and Medium element.  Another member of the group is looking at the use of the word "fonds" to indicate the nature of the unit being described at the fonds level, and whether there are alternatives which do not confuse the name of the level of description with the nature of the material. The group also agreed on a process for making decisions between meetings. As the rules take shape, draft documents will be posted on the websites of CCAD and the SAA for comment by the broader archival community.

Before the next meeting (tentatively scheduled for late April in Washington), the Editor will complete a second revised draft of the rules for description, and a first draft of the rules relating to access points.  

Further information may be obtained from Kris Kiesling (representing the SAA Standards Committee) or Bob Krawczyk (representing the Canadian Committee on Archival Description).

Kris Kiesling
Head, Technical and Digital Services
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
Chair, Canadian Committee on Archival Description
(416) 921-9551
archivist@sympatico.ca