Levels of Description in DACS

Levels of Description in DACS

Original Lecture Video

Levels of Description – when we are creating records (colleciton lelve records, finding aids, etc) we may find that we don't nee dot include EVERY DACS element; want to mathc diffferent levels of description to what our product will be

There are 25 elements in DACS and not every element is required (This is chapter 1 in DACS book)

Single-level description

• (can be used at ANY level, but can only describe ONE level)
• Maybe want to create a record for an individual item, contribute to a union catalog, etc
• Have minimum, optimum and added value approach
• Examples: accession record, MARC21 record (not linked to other records)

Multilevel descriptions

• Can be used at ANY level but MUST include at least one sublevel
• corresponds with a finding aid (start at collection level, describe series, files in the series, subseries, item level)
• Example: inventory/registry/finding aid, multiple linked MARC21 records (such as series records linked to one another)
• Have minimum, optimum and added value detail

Single-level: Minimum (SLM)

• Reference core – collection number
• Name and location of repository
• title
• Date or date span of collection
• Extent
• Name of creator(s)
• Scope and content
• Conditions governing access
• Languages and scripts of the materials

Most closely corresponds of an accession record; brief record with minimum level of documentation, usually made before collection is processed

Single-Level: Optimum (SLO)

• All elements in SLM
• Administrative/biographical history
• Scope and content (full)
• Access points

Created after a collection has been fully processed; after finding aid or MARC record is created

Single-Level: Added Value

• All elements in SLO
• Any relevant elements the repository would like to add

Multilevel: Minimum (MLM)

• All in SLO
• Identification of the whole-part relationship of the top level to the next subsequent level
• each subsequent level should include all the above elements unless the information is the same as that of a higher level
• could be a preliminary collection inventory, before processing

Multilevel: Optimum (MLO)

• All elements in MLM
• Administrative/biographical history
• full scope and content note
• Access points
• Each subsequent level should include all elements at higher levels and identification of the whole-part relationship to the next level

Multilevel: Added Value

• All elements in MLO
• Icing on the cake

Guiding Principles of DACS

Original Lecture Video

Start with Prefatory Material (11 – 15)

Principles underlying DACS

1.Archival records possess unique characteristics from PUBLISHED works; archival records are by definition unpublished and organically created, they continue to grow

2.Respect des fonds is the basis of archival arrangement and description; respect des fonds means we don't want to try to separate papers of individuals, families, corporate bodies, etc; respect des fonds means the respect for the original order (the order has meaning and is critical for contextual information)

3. Arrangement involves the identification of groupings within the material; often done when identifying series, subseries, and files; e.g. personnel department, then functions of the department, then personal letters

4. Description reflects arrangement; want people to understand how materials are arranged; hopefully will reflect the functions or major events

5. The rules of description apply to all archival materials regardless of form or medium; if have collection mostly of one medium then maybe try desc. Meant for that medium

6. The principles of archival description apply equally to records created by corporate bodies, individuals, or families

7. Archival Descriptions may be presented at varying levels of details to produce a variety of outputs; DACS lets you produce at different levels of detail; however the level of description provided should correspond to the level of arrangement!

7.1 Levels of description correspond to levels of arrangement

7.2 Relationships between levels of description must be clearly indicated

7.3 Information provided to each level of description must be appropriate to that level; shouldn't be very detailed information in a description at a higher level; e.g. collection level record shouldn't have a lot of information about individual items

8. The creators of archival materials, as well as the materials themselves, must be described; provenance!

Other things to remember!

• Data lements are mutually exclusive; shouldn't have an overlap (see the DACS book)
• there is no preferred order of elements (order is determined by the output of the system used); examples can be seen in the Roe book
• All data elements have a preferred source of information (see DACS book)
• Some rules are optional or alternative
• Taste and judgment, and institutional practice will determine the extent and form of some elements
• DACS does not specify outputs, including punctuation, layout, labels, etc; to be MARC compliant we might use ISBD punctuation
• Therefore! Examples in DACS are illustrative, not prescriptive

What DACS Doesn't Do

• DACS does not give guidance about creating subject access points; consult other resources such as LCSH, AAT (form and genre terms), Other thesauri
• DACS does not replace rules for special formats-consult them if you have significant material that is not text (and that may require item-level description)

Structure of DACS

• Part I: Describing Archival Materials - Identity elements, content and structure elements, conditions of access and use elements, acquisition and appraisal elements, related materials elements, note materials elements, description control elements
• Part II: Describing the Creators (creating the histories, or an administrative history) - How to identify the creators; administrative/biographical history; authority records
• Part III: Forms of names (from AACR2) - Persons and families, geographic names, corporate bodies

Data Element Rules

• There is a numbering system and a mnemonic similar to AACR2
• Purpose and Scope → Commentary → Exclusions → Sources of info → General rules → Examples in EAD and MARC21

Introduction to DACS and Brief History

Original Lecture Video

Intro to DACS

Data Content Standards

• Prescribe the way description is applied to a resource (AACR2, APPM, DACS); consistent way to record information such as dates, names, quantities of materials, sort of punctuation needed to use, things we MUST include and what is optional
• DACS emerged out of APPM
• APPM was the first archival content description thing out there for archives; based off AACR2

Data Structure Standards

• govern the way data is presented and communicated for machine readability; makes data more granular; helps break up larger pieces of data into the component parts
• Examples: MARC, EAD, METS

Data Value Standards

• Provide consistent access points for discovery
• Examples: LCNAF, LCSH, AAT

1980's: Archival community decided to piggyback on AACR2 and MARC; developed APPM
Archivist thought since their collections were unique so why need standard? Realized they needed to help the user of the archives

Before DACS....got special format rules for movies, oral histories etc

Benefits of APPM

• Provided standardized description at the collection level; not meant to replace a finding aid
• Played will with others ie AACR2 compliant bibliographic records
• Allowed archives to adopt MARC, the primary data structure standard of the time, and contribute descriptions to the local and union catalogs, and bibliographic utilities such as OCLC and RLIN

Limitations of APPM:

• Meant primarily on collection level records
• Little support for multilevel description; not created to standardized finding aids and inventories
• Bibliographic model borrowed from AACR2 marginalized crucial contextual information as “notes”
• Rules for choosing access points and creating name headings written to manage author names, not creator names; look at title page to determine the name of the author but that probably won't work in archives

CUSTARD – Canadian US Task Force on Archival Descriptions - 2001

• Harmonize US and Canadian descriptive practice (AAPM and Rules for Archival Description)
• Incorporate international standards: ISAD and ISAAR (CPF)
• Rules for all types of archival material
• Rules for all levels of description (from items all the way to collections/fonds)
• Output neutral (not tied to a particular data structure standard; can be used for EAD, MARC, or another database of the repository's choice)
• Canada revised this again and it diverged from US

DACS Genealogy

APPM V DACS

• APPM – supports single-level description only (catalog records); mimics ISBD areas of description someonf which are not applicable to archival materials
• DACS – Grounded in archival principles; supports both single level and multi-level description (can create both finding aids and catalog records from the same set of rules!); Give more guidance on content of the data element (ie Just what information should go in an administrative history)