Dictionary definition(s) for: archival description

• n., The creation of an accurate representation of a unit of description and its component parts, if any, by capturing, analyzing, organizing and recording information that serves to identify, manage, locate and explain archival materials and the context and records systems which produced it. Syn.: description.
  [ Archives - International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR (CPF) , Page: 10 ]
  International Council on Archives. ISAAR (CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families. 2nd ed. Paris: ICA, 2004. Also available online at http://www.ica.org/sites/default/files/ISAAR2EN.pdf.
  See Also:

  • intellectual control
  • descriptive instrument
  • archival documentation
  • administrative control
  • described records
• n., A written representation of archival material.
  [ Archives - School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) Glossary ]
  School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. "Select List of Archival Terminology." School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. http://www.slais.ubc.ca/RESOURCES/students/Archival_Terminology.pdf.
• n., The equivalent for archives of cataloguing in librarianship. The most common standards in use are MAD, RAD and APPM.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary and Reference Book ]
  Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary and Reference Book. 9th ed. Edited by Raymond John Prytherch. Brookfield, Vt.: Gower, 2000.
• n., The process analyzing, organizing, and recording details about the formal elements of a record or collection of records, such as creator of, title, dates, extent, and contents, to facilitate the work's identification, management, and understanding.
  [ Archives - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., The process of capturing, collating, analyzing, controlling, exchanging, and providing access to information about 1) the origin, context, and provenance of different sets of records, 2) their filing structure, 3) their form and content, 4)their relationship with other records, and 5) the ways in which they can be found and used.
  [ Archives - Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts , Page: 7 ]
  Miller, Fredric. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990.
• n., The process of recording information about the nature and makeup of archives to achieve administrative and/or intellectual control.
  [ Archives - School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) Glossary ]
  School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. "Select List of Archival Terminology." School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. http://www.slais.ubc.ca/RESOURCES/students/Archival_Terminology.pdf.
• n., Traditionally it has been a function of archival description to authenticate the records and perpetuate their administrative and documentary relationships.
  [ Archives - Requirements for Assessing and Maintaining the Authenticity of Electronic Records , Page: 218 ]
  Authenticity Task Force. "Requirements for Assessing and Maintaining the Authenticity of Electronic Records." Appendix 2 in The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: Findings of the InterPARES Project. Edited by Luciana Duranti. San Miniato, Italy: Archilab, 2005. Also available online at http://interpares.org/book.