1. EAD and beyond: The Representation of Archival Descriptive Results and Archival Content-Management Dr. Nils Bruebach, Marburg Archives School

2. A necessary preface: Description in German Archives: A survey Parallel national standards (1950-1970) developed both in the former GDR and West-Germany Rules for Arrangement and Description published 1964 for mandatory use in all archives of the former East- Germany Context-standard with strong content-related elements Five descriptive levels: Archives, fonds, structure, file, item with assigned descriptive elements and implementation-rules Very thorough - created as an instrument for untrained and trained archivists

3. This presentation: The development of archival description and standardization EAD: Its benefits and deficits Existing solutions and futue tasks

4. …Description in German Archives: The mangerial benefits of descriptive standards as: –Cooperative work –Coherence of results –Planning –Controlled workflow –Transparency –Improved access..... played a central role Both: Bottom-up approach Ammended by material-oriented and fonds-type oriented standards

5. …Description in German Archives Descriptive practice: Both standards became extensively adopted both in East and West -> any standard proofs ist value by its usability Implementation tools were developed improvements of the original texts They became used as teaching-tools They were fully implemented when IT- Technology became used for archival description ISAD/ISAAR - compliance

6. …Description in German Archives Database-systems in Archives Designed on purpose from the beginning since the 1980ties Based on the existing standards Two approaches: centralized systems using mainframe-computers and PC-based systems The finding-aid and the repository-guide as traditional results of archival description and access remained

7. The current situation: Database- Systems Examples for their impact... The State-Archives in Hesse (3):...1 Mio descriptive units on file level since 1987 The State-Archives in Baden-Wuerttemberg (5)... 1,2 Mio descriptive units since 1995 using MIDOSA-Online The State-Archives in Lower-Saxony (6):...more than 1,3 Mio descriptive units... All done using the existing standards... And: thousands of older analogue finding-aids

8. Descriptive results Inventory/finding-aid (Findbuch) Repository guide (Bestaendeuebersicht).....as a system and linked together

9. Contact with EAD Research Project with the aim to develop online finding- aids conducted by Archives School in 1996/97 Aim: Put the archives on the web Assessment of EAD Solution: HTML-Representation of descriptive results created, maintained and stored in a rational databank Destinction between input-module, storage module, out and representation module Software-Tool MIDOSA-Online

10. Positive Sides of EAD Flexibility Hierarchical structure Capacities as an interchange-format It is highly accepted and broadly used

11. But... Problems with EAD SGML-based when assessed firstly Describing meant tagging language Library tradition vs. authonomous archival tradition of description Tags in DTD Structure physical vs. Logical Set of elements and attributes vs. Elements in national and international standards

12. Solutions XML/XSL – based German DTDs for inventory and repository-guide Adoption of given EAD-Structure and tailoring to our approach EAD as an interchange-format for representation of descriptive results

13. frontmatter Single fonds The DTD for repository guide:

14. Unit of description The DTD for finding aids:

15. Solutions Ammending of MIDOSA-ONLINE to XML/XSL Automatic conversion to EAD (no technical knowledge required) vie the Control- center Offering both solutions for finding-aids and repository guides

16. The Midosa-Control-Center with its options for conversion Modes of Conver- sion

17. Arrangement header representing the structure the reference number 502 Title on file-level with supplementary sublevel A MIDOSA created conversion to an EAD-finding Aid:

18. Ongoing initiatives and future tasks Development of combined management- and presentation systems, e.g. VERA Archival internet portals – not only descriptive information but institutional; in addition cooperative portals together with libraries and museums (->BAM) System of hierarchy of function oriented access-points Presentation of digitized/digital records Retro-conversion of analogue finding-aids: not via offshore-re-keying but using intelligent software-tools Archival content-management systems

19. Example: V.E.R.A. V.E.R.A. Verwaltungs-, Erschließungs- und Recherchesystem für Archive The Concepthttp:/www.archive.nrw.de/dok/vera Participants - Ministerium für Städtebau und Wohnen, Kultur und Sport - Hauptstaatsarchiv Düsseldorf - Staatsarchiv Münster (Coordination) - Staatsarchiv Detmold - Personenstandsarchiv Brühl - Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung (Technical Support) Realisition:Startext GmbH, Bonn (u.a. HiDA, Midosa-Online)

20. E.R.A. Anforderungen an eine archivische Fachanwendung C: Frank M. Bischoff, Description, Representation Access and retrieval Archives Management Repository management Functional interface

21. E.R.A. Exchange-formats supported by VERA: CSV SGML XML EAD Representation-formats of decriptive results RTF HTML

22. Retro-conversion of analogue Finding-aids Development of intelligent computerized tool of type-written and word-processed finding-aids Based on a partially automized lay-out-analysis Generating a XML/XSL based structured file, ready to become imported into online-finding-aids or archival data bases Funded by the German scientific national fund.

23. Workfow: (Cf. M. Meusch, INSAR) ------------------------------------

24. Archival Content-managment- Systems: Components Multi-level descriptions Users applications Portal

25. Archival Content-managment- Systems: Benefits Not focussed on the production-side only Capable of combined management of multi- dimensional archival information form different sources and different media on-the-fly-approach Not: See what you get (Search-engine- attitude) but: Get what you see Combination of different research-strategies

26. Thanks for your audience –bruebach@mailer.uni-marburg.de -bruebach@mailer.uni-marburg.de