Element Name: Archival Description
EAD Tag: <
archdesc>
Occurrence:
Top level, Required
Component levels, N/A
Description: This element is the wrapper for all of the descriptive information about the archival materials being described. The <archdesc>
includes administrative information (e.g., provenance, accruals, etc.), useful information for researchers (e.g., controlled
access terms, preferred citation format, etc.), as well as information detailing all aspects of the materials' content, the
context in which the materials were created or assembled, and the extent of the materials.
DACS rule: 1.0
MARC field: 351
Comments: The <archdesc> is used to provide a descriptive overview of the collection. Enter detailed information about specific components
of the collection (e.g., folders, items, etc.) in the Description of Subordinate Components <dsc> element.
Controlled Vocabulary: N/A
Attributes
Default Attributes
@level@level identifies the type of archive group described. Values include "class," "collection," "fonds," "recordgrp," "series," "subfonds,"
"subgrp," "subseries," or "otherlevel." If the value of @level is "otherlevel," an @otherlevel is also required with an appropriate
value.
@type@type identifies the format of the finding aid; possible values include "inventory," "register," or other appropriate format.
User Supplied Attributes
N/A
Subelements
Required Subelements
accessrestrict
acqinfo
arrangement
did
prefercite
scopecontent
Optional Subelements
accruals
altformavail
appraisal
bioghist
bibliography
controlaccess
custodhist
dao
daogrp
dsc
index
note
originalsloc
otherfindaid
phystech
processinfo
relatedmaterial
separatedmaterial
userestrict
See EAD Tag Library for other possible subelements, which are primarily formatting and linking elements.
Examples
Top Level:
See encoded examples in Appendix A.
Component Level:
N/A