I have recently been appointed for the next four years as the UK
representative on the ICA's Committee on Descriptive Standards
I would like to establish an informal group to feed through to the
Committee the ideas and opinions of the profession in the UK. If you
are interested in participating in any of this work please email me.
There is no rush as I will shortly be going away on holiday until early
January.
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The Committee has included the following in its workplan:
Revise the International Standard for Archival Authority Records
(Corporate, Personal and Family).
Purpose: To produce a second edition of ISAAR (CPF) in keeping with a
five year review cycle for ICA-CDS standards.
Plan of work: Revision process must be a more open process than ISAD
revision process; library associations (e.g. IFLA) as well as other
interested professional bodies will be invited to send comments and
propose amendments.
Time schedule: Letter asking for comments and amendments will be sent
out before the end of 2000; deadline for response by the end of July
2001; the Committee will start the discussion in the first meeting
planned for Brussels in October 2001. The new edition will be finalized
and recommended for publication by ICA-CPM by 2002.
Study the relationship of ISAD (G) and ISAAR (CPF) with Encoded
Archival Description.
Purpose: To prepare an analysis of how the EAD standard could be made
fully compliant with international archival descriptive standards and
to make proposals to accomplish this objective. An American working
group to develop a Document Type Definition (DTD) for contextual
information for archival creators is being planned and ICA-CDS should
monitor its activity.
Plan of work: At the next full meeting of the Committee the means by
which this work item can be completed will be discussed. One option
would be to appoint a sub-committee to prepare a report for the full
Committee to review and approve.
Time schedule: October 2000 for starting the discussion; a report will
be prepared before the end of 2001.
Draft recommendations for ICA Executive Committee regarding education
and training in the use of ISAD(G) and ISAAR (CPF).
Purpose: To promote the comprehension of the importance of descriptive
standards in the professional culture and practices of national
archival communities internationally, particularly in underdeveloped
countries.
Plan of work: Recommendations will be drafted and submitted to ICA
Executive Committee.
Time schedule: the Committee will start the discussion on the topic in
the third plenary meeting in 2001; the draft report will be completed
in 2003.
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Dick Sargent
Director of the National Register of Archives
Historical Manuscripts Commission
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