Following the recent correspondence about catalogue marks and Calm 2000, I
would like to mention that SEAX does not use catalogue marks to organise its
internal structure. Descriptions at any level in the ISAD(G) hierarchy can
be entered with any reference you like (meaningful or otherwise) or even
with no reference at all. It means that cataloguers have to be careful, for
instance, not to give two items the same reference, but the advantages out
weigh any disadvantages. When, for instance, we wish to incorporate our
library into SEAX, we will need to cope with the fact that the same Dewey
reference will almost always cover several different publications.
I believe that if SEAX had been constructed in any other way, the
retrospective conversion of all our catalogues (which is progressing very
well) would have ben much more dificult.
Referring to the discussions about fonds, my personal view (which has, I
have to say, influenced the way SEAX has ben built) is that the only things
that really exist are the individal pieces of paper, books or maps etc.
Every other level of description is a fabrication based on a compromise
between (a) the fact that a sequence of some kind is needed in catalogues,
and it should be as logical and comprehensible as possible, (b) the fact
that documents were created in the real world, which doesn't actually work
like that, and (c) the fact that catalogues are not written to be read
solely by other archivists
The most important purposes of archival cataloguing and indexing are (1) to
lead the user to the particular individual items that will answer his or her
particular questions and (2) (which often seems to be forgotten, but is
probably the more important of the two) to allow the archivist to account
for every item to its owner should they ask for it back . Everything else
is subservient to these requirements. This is not to say that a logical,
hierarchical construction of catalogues is not important; and SEAX is fully
ISAD(G) compatible, if you wish to use it in this way.
Richard Harris
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