Slides for a paper I was unable to deliver in person at the 2011 Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting due to Hurricane Irene. Covers recent history of descriptive standards within SAA and archival field in general, then offers some tenets for future standards development.

1. You Don’t Get to Describe Records Without Making a Few Standards The Archival Network Michael Rush, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Session 706 – Thirty Years On: SAA and Descriptive Standards Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, August 27, 2011

2. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, mmwm, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmwm/4129052805/

3. After the flood… 3 Momentum shift toward ICA standards ISAAR (CPF), 2nd ed. (2004) ISDF (2007) ISDIAH (2008) Reactionary mindset Unclear expectations Confusing reporting lines

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5. Standards Committee Changes 5 Expanded Standards Committee to 9 members Technical Subcommittees for each adopted standard Development and Review Teams 5 year review cycles Standards vs. Best Practices Adoption vs. Endorsement Support for a more ‘active’ Standards Committee Infrastructure for a Standards Portal

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9. http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/brbldl_getrec.asp?fld=img&id=1048412

10. Under Construction 10 Standards Portal EAC-CPF Implementation EAD Revision DACS Revision

11. CC BY 2.0, veggiefrog, http://www.flickr.com/photos/veggiefrog/2145862702

12. Blockbuster Summer 2013 12 EAD DACS ArchivesSpace* * a de facto standard?

13. CC BY 2.0, falardeau, http://www.flickr.com/photos/49889874@N05/5270987711/

14. ICA Descriptive Standards 14 ISAD (G) International Standard for Archival Description (General) ISAAR (CPF) International Standard for Archival Authority Records (Corporate bodies, Persons, and Families) ISDF International Standard for Describing Functions ISDIAH International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings

15. National Descriptive Standards 15 DACS Describing Archives: A Content Standard (US) RAD Rules for Archival Description (Canada)

16. Encoding/Transmission Standards 16 Encoded Archival Description Encoded Archival Context – Corporate bodies, Persons, and Families

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19. What’s Missing? 19 Encoded Archival Context – Functions? Encoded Archival Context – Institutions with Archival Holdings? Additional or expanded national content standards?

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21. Tenets for Future Standards 21

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27. CC BY 2.0, Yandle, http://www.flickr.com/photos/yandle/4337747398/

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37. Tenets for Future Standards 37 Machine Usability Human Usability Avoid ambiguity (data first) Links, links, links Focus on tools, not tags Standardize non-archival tasks Internationalization

38. What else is missing? 38 Best Practices for… Display Search and Discovery Capturing User-Generated Content

39. Best Practices for Display Best Practices for Search and Discovery Best Practices for Capturing User-Generated Content

40. What is SAA’s role? 40 Maintenance of national standards Maintenance of adopted international standards Development of best practices International engagement and collaboration Dissemination and education