7.3 Finding Aid Data

February 10, 2021 - 1:20pm by Anonymous (not verified)

Finding Aid Header Elements

EAD Analog: <eadheader>

Listed below are “minimum elements” and “additional elements” used for describing the finding aid itself in the finding aid/EAD header. 

Minimum Elements

Additional Elements

EAD Identifier

Definition: Designates a unique code for a particular EAD finding aid.

DACS           none

EAD            <eadid>

MARC          035

Rules: The value of the <eadid> element should be the filename of the finished finding aid, minus the “.xml” file type extension. <eadid> values are comprised of two segments separated by a period. All <eadid> values begin with “beinecke.” followed by a string of between 3 and 16 letters or numbers that uniquely identifies the finding aid among all Beinecke Library finding aids. Generally, a finding aid is identified by the last name of the collection creator, plus initials, if necessary, to disambiguate it from other collections. In some cases, call numbers have also been used. All characters should be lower case. This string must correspond with the value added to the 035 field of the collection MARC record. For example, if a finding aid has the <eadid> value “beinecke.quiller,” the corresponding 035 field must have the value “(YUL)ead.beinecke.quiller.” As soon as you assign an <eadid> value (and by extension a filename), add that value to the spreadsheet brbl.fa.filenames.xls spreadsheet. [link or add location] The value of <eadid> should be the same as the value of the id attribute on the <ead> element.

Examples:

  • Collection:  Georg Gissing Collection
    • ​<eadid>:  beinecke.gissing
  • Collection:  Kathleen Foster Campbell Papers
    • <eadid>:  beinecke.campbellkf
  • Collection:  Maureen Owen Collection of Greenwich Village Poetry
    • <eadid>:  beinecke.green
  • Collection:  Thornton Wilder Collection
    • <eadid>:  beinecke.wild162
  • Collection:  Henry Raup Wagner Collection of Texas Manuscripts
    • <eadid>:  beinecke.wa339

Finding Aid Formal Title

Definition: Name of the finding aid in direct order.

DACS           none

EAD            <titleproper type=”formal”>

MARC          none

Rules: The formal title of the finding aid comprises the title of the collection and the call number.

Examples:

  • Collection:  L. Frank Baum Collection
    • Call number: YCAL MSS 13
    • Formal title: Frank Baum Collection YCAL MSS 13
  • Collection:  Agnes Boulton Collection of Eugene O’Neill
    • Call number: YCAL MSS 122
    • Formal title: Agnes Boulton Collection of Eugene O’Neill YCAL MSS 122

Finding Aid Filing Title

Definition: Name of the finding aid alphabetical filing order. The filing title is used to automatically generate lists of finding aid titles.

DACS           none

EAD            <titleproper type=”filing”> 

MARC          none

Rules: The filing title of the finding aid comprises the title of the collection in alphabetical filing order.  For collections of personal papers, list the creator segment in reverse order.  For collections of family papers or corporate records, list the creator segment in direct order.  For intentionally assembled collections, choose which name is more dominant and begin the filing title with that segment of the collection title.

Examples:

  • Collection: L. Frank Baum Collection
    • Filing title: Baum (L. Frank) Collection
  • Collection: Hapgood Family Papers
    • Filing title: Hapgood Family Papers
  • Collection: San Francisco Custom House Records
    • Filing title: San Francisco Custom House Records
  • Collection: Agnes Boulton Collection of Eugene O’Neill
    • Filing title: O’Neill (Eugene), Agnes Boulton Collection of

Finding Aid Author

Definition: Records the name(s) of the archivist(s) responsible for compiling the intellectual content of the finding aid.

DACS           none

EAD            <author>

MARC          none

Rules: Record the name of the processing archivist(s) in direct order. Do not include names of students who merely assisted in processing. Collections that were actually processed by student assistants may be recorded here, after the name of the supervising archivist. For finding aids generated through retrospective conversion of previous descriptions (e.g. card sets or existing lists), credit the finding aid to Beinecke Staff. Ongoing artificial collections should also be credited to Beinecke Staff. Archivists who reprocess or significantly change or enhance a finding aid may add their name after the name of the initial author.

Examples:

  • Collection: Yehuda Amichai Papers
    • Author: Finding aid by Michael L. Forstrom
  • Collection: Yale Collection of American Literature Manuscript Miscellany
    • Author: Finding aid by Beinecke Staff
  • Sergei Evreinow Correspondence and Papers
    • Author: Finding aid by Robert Bird and Nicole Bouché

Finding Aid Publisher

Definition: Records the name of the of the party responsible for issuing or distributing the finding aid.

DACS           none

EAD            <publisher>

MARC          none

Rules: Beinecke Library finding aids include three <publisher> elements. The first is for Yale University Library, the second is for Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the third is for the Beinecke curatorial area. Beinecke curatorial areas include the following:

  • General Collection of Rare Books and Manuscripts
  • James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection
  • Yale Collection of American Literature
  • Yale Collection of German Literature
  • Yale Collection of Western Americana

Example:

Yale University Library

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Yale Collection of American Literature

Finding Aid Publication Date(s)

Definition: For <date type=”original”>, records the date the finding aid was completed. For <date type=”ead”>, records the date the finding aid was encoded in EAD. For <date type=”revised”>, records the date a finding aid was revised.

DACS          none

EAD             <date type=”original”>, <date type=”ead”>, <date type=”revised”>

MARC          none

Rules: For new finding aids, record an original date, noting the month and year the finding is completed. For legacy finding aids encoded in EAD for the first time, encode the original date and the ead date, noting the month and year the finding aid was originally completed and the month and  year it was encoded. For revised finding aids, insert another revised date for each significant revision to the finding aid. No labels should be included in these fields. If necessary, labels will be supplied by stylesheets.

Example:

June 1997 

Revised: October 1999

Finding Aid Publication Note

Definition: Records a brief copyright statement.

DACS          none

EAD             <publicationstmt><p>

MARC          none

Rules: Boilerplate text is as follows. Supply the year in which the finding aid was completed. 

Copyright © [yyyy] by the Yale University Library. 

Example:

  • Copyright © 2008 by the Yale University Library. 

Finding Aid Creation

Definition: Records information about the encoding of the finding aid, including the responsible person and the encoding tool used.

DACS          none

EAD             <creation> 

MARC          none

Examples:

  • Finding aid encoded by [archivist name], with Yale Finding Aids Creation Tool (XMetaL Author Customization).
  • Finding aid encoded in EAD 1.0 by Manuscript Unit staff, Beinecke Library, with Edix/Wordix macros.

Finding Aid Language Usage

Definition: Records the language(s) in which the finding aid is written.

DACS          none

EAD             <language> 

MARC          none

Rules: Boilerplate text is as follows:

Finding aid written in English.

If another language is used in the finding aid, note that as well.

Finding aid written in English and Spanish

Finding Aid Descriptive Rules

Definition: International, national, or local rules or conventions followed in preparing the description.

DACS          Rules or Conventions (8.1.4)

EAD             <note type=”bpg”> 

MARC          none

Rules: Boilerplate text for newly created finding aids is as follows:   

Finding aid prepared according to Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Older finding aids include the following:

Finding aid prepared according to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Archival Processing Manual.

Finding Aid Frontmatter Note

Definition: Record notes that will display on the title page of the finding aid. 

DACS          Rules or Conventions (8.1.4)

EAD             <note type=”frontmatter”> 

MARC          none

Rules: Used chiefly in finding aids processed to baseline level.

Standard text:

[JM to supply]