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General International Standard Archival Description - ISAD (G)
This standard provides general guidance for the preparation of archival descriptions and the creation of standardized archival descriptions. This standard contains general rules for archival description that may be applied irrespective of the form or medium of the archival material. This set of general rules for archival description is part of a process that will:
- ensure the creation of consistent, appropriate, and self explanatory descriptions;
- facilitate the retrieval and exchange of information about archival material;
- enable the sharing of authority data; and
- make possible the integration of descriptions from different locations into a unified information system.
Archival description makes it possible to institute the intellectual controls necessary for reliable, authentic, meaningful and accessible descriptive records to be carried forward through time.As general rules, these are intended to be broadly applicable to descriptions of archives regardless of the nature or extent of the unit of description.Archival description in the widest sense of the term covers every element of information no matter at what stage of management it is identified or established. At every stage the information about the material remains dynamic and may be subject to amendment in the light of further knowledge of its content or the context of its creation.The descriptions can be developed in various levels of arrangement (fond, sub-fond, series, file, item), with differing degrees of detail, appropriate to each level of arrangement. There is a hierarchical model of the levels of arrangement for thefonds and its constituent parts.
The edition of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The Second Edition of the standard was presented at the International Council on Archives in Seville on September 2000. This edition is expanded and includes comprehensive examples for a better understanding of the theoretical text.All approved translations of the edition are available at ICA’s website.
Translation and the Greek edition
The Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.), within the framework of the work of the Terminology and Training Committees and the Standards Committee and the Editorial Committee, continuing the work commenced in 1995, has concluded the translation and the publication of the second edition of the General International Standard Archival Description - ISAD (G) in Greek.
The edition is released since 2002 both in printed and in electronic form.
Edition information:
Greek translation: Christina Varda, Amalia Pappa, Zisimos Ch. Synodinos
Editors: Christina Varda, Zisimos Ch. Synodinos
Reproduction and translation: Reproduction by translation or reprinting of the whole or of parts for non-commercial purposes is allowed on condition that due acknowledgement is made.
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.)
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Διεθνές Πρότυπο Αρχειακής Περιγραφής (Γενικό) – ΔΙΠΑΠ(Γ)
General International Standard Archival Description - ISAD (G)
International Standard Archival Authority Records for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR (CPF)
The International Standard Archival Authority Records for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR (CPF) presents a complementary standard of ISAD (G).This standard provides guidance for preparing archival authority records which provide descriptions of entities (corporate bodies, persons and families) associated with the creation and maintenance of archives. It is intended to support the sharing of archival authority records by promoting the preparation of consistent, appropriate and self-explanatory descriptions of corporate bodies, persons and families that create records. It is intended to be used in conjunction with existing national standards or as the basis for the development of national standards.
Authority files for creators
Description of records creators is an essential activity of archivists since it requires full documentation and continuous maintenance of the context of records creation and use, most importantly the provenance of archives and records.Separate capture and maintenance of this type of contextual information is a vital component of archival description. The practice enables the linking of descriptions of records creators and contextual information to descriptions of records from the same creator(s) that may be held by more than one repository and to descriptions of other resources such as library and museum materials that relate to the entity in question. Such links improve records management practices and facilitate research.The standardization of archival descriptions of records creators and the context of records creation enables:
- access to archives and records based on the provision of descriptions of the context of records creation that are linked to descriptions of the often diverse and physically dispersed records themselves,
- understanding by users of the context underlying the creation and use of archives and records so that they can better interpret their meaning and significance,
- precise identification of records creators incorporating descriptions of relationships between different entities, especially documentation of administrative change within corporate bodies or personal change of circumstances in individuals and families, and
- the exchange of these descriptions between institutions, systems and/or networks.
The Second Edition of the standard is an expanded version of the first edition (1996) of the standard. The second edition was presented and approved at the International Council on Archives in Vienna on August 2004.
All approved translations of the edition are available at ICA’s website.
Translation and the Greek edition
The Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.) has accepted the request from the General State Archives (G.S.A) in order to proceed with the joint publication of the translation of the standard.For this purpose, a working group was set up, the core of which consisted of members of the S.G.A, who had previously worked on the translation of ISAD (G) and the Guidelines for Archives, like Christina Varda (historian-archivist, Greek Literary and Historical Archive-Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece), Zisimos Synodinos (historian-archivist, Historic Archive-National Bank of Greece), Amalia Pappa. In the working group participated also Marietta Minotos (Director of the G.S.A) and George Charonitis (member of the S.G.A., G.S.A.).The edition was concluded in 2013.
Edition information:
Greek translation: Christina Varda, Marietta Minotos, Nestor Bamidis, Amalia Pappa, Zisimos Ch. Synodinos, George Charonitis
Editor: Nestor Bamidis
ISBN: 978-960-85327-7-9 978-960-7236-16-6
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.)
Related Links
Διεθνές Πρότυπο Καθιερωμένων Αρχειακών Εγγραφών για Νομικά Πρόσωπα, Φυσικά Πρόσωπα και Οικογένειες - ΔΠΚΑΕ ( ΝΦΠΟ)
International Standard Archival Authority Records for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR (CPF)
International Standard for Describing Functions - ISDF
ISDF provides guidance for preparing descriptions of functions of corporate bodies associated with the creation and maintenance of archives. The standard may be used to describe a function or any of its subdivisions (sub function, business process, activity, task, transaction or other term in international, national or local usage).Description of functions
Description of functions plays a vital role in explaining the provenance of records.They can help place records more securely in the context of their creation and use. Analysis of the functions of corporate bodies is important as the basis for many recordkeeping activities. Functions are recognised as generally being more stable than administrative structures, which are often amalgamated or devolved when restructuring takes place. They can help explain how and why records were created and subsequently used. Descriptions of functions may be used:
- to describe functions as units within an archival descriptive system,
- to control the creation and use of access points in archival descriptions,
- to document relationships between different functions and between those functions and the corporate bodies which performed them and the records to which they gave rise.
The first edition of the standard was developed by the Committee on Best Practices and Standards of ICA (Dresden, May 2007).In carrying out the development of this standard, the group drew upon models of functional description and analysis currently being applied in archives and records management in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as international work that has been done by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), such as ISO 15489 International Standard on Records Management (2001) and ISO 23081 International Standard on Records management processes -- Metadata for records (2006-2007).
All approved translations of the edition are available at ICA’s website.
Translation and the Greek edition
ISDF is the third standard that is made available to the Greek Archival Community, following ISAD (G) (1995,2002) and ISAAR (CPF) (2013).
The translation of the standard was completed, within the framework of the work of the Terminology and Training Committees and the Standards Committee and the Editorial Committee of the S.G.A., and was published on March 2014.
Edition information:
Greek translation and editing: Nestor Bamidis
ISBN: 978-618-81234-0-3
Reproduction and translation: Reproduction by translation or reprinting of the whole or of parts for non-commercial purposes is allowed on condition that due acknowledgement is made.
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.)
Related Links
Διεθνές Πρότυπο Περιγραφής Λειτουργιών – ΔΙΠΠΕΛ
International Standard for Describing Functions – ISDF
International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings - ISDIAH
ISDIAH provides general rules for the standardisation of descriptions of institutions with archival holdings. The main purpose of the standard is to facilitate the description of institutions whose primary function is to keep archives and to make them available to the general public. But other entities such as cultural institutions (libraries, museums), businesses, families or individuals may hold archives. This standard, or an appropriate subset of its elements, can be applied to all entities which provide access to the records they hold.Description of Institutions with archival holdings
Information about the institution which holds archival materials, as mentioned or referred to in traditional finding aids, is essential for users to access archival holdings.The standardisation of descriptions of Institutions with archival holdings, enables:
- the provision of practical guidance on identifying and contacting institutions with archival holdings, and accessing holdings and available services,
- the generation of directories of institutions with archival holdings and/or authority lists,
- the establishment of connections with authority lists of libraries and museums and/or developing common directories of cultural heritage institutions at a regional, national and international level and,
- the production of statistics on institutions with archival holdings, at a regional, national or international level.
The edition of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The first edition of the standard was presented by the Committee on Best Practices and Standards of the International Council on Archives (ICA/CBPS) to the ICA Congress in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
All approved translations of the edition are available at ICA’s website.
Translation and the Greek edition
ISDIAH is the fourth standard that is made available to the Greek Archival Community, following ISAD (G) (1995, 2002) and ISAAR (CPF) (2013) and ISDF (2014).
The translation of the standard was completed, within the framework of the work of the Terminology and Training Committees and the Standards Committee and the Editorial Committee of the S.G.A., and was published on March 2014.
Edition information:
Greek translation and editing: Nestor Bamidis
ISBN: 978-618-81234-1-0
Reproduction and translation: Reproduction by translation or reprinting of the whole or of parts for non-commercial purposes is allowed on condition that due acknowledgement is made.
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Society of Greek Archivists (S.G.A.)
Related Links
Διεθνές Πρότυπο Περιγραφής Φορέων Διατήρησης Αρχείων - ΔΙΠΠΕΦΔΑ
International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings – ISDIAH