Introduction to EAD

Metropolitan New York Library Council
1

Outline
I. The Basics
II. Finding Aid
III. Implementation
Break
IV. Exercises
2

What is EAD?
XML standard for encoding finding aids
I. Basics
5

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I. Basics - What is EAD?
XML (eXtensible Markup Language):
a set of rules for structuring data via markup

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Tag:
<unitdate era=“ce”>2011</unitdate>
Attribute:
Element:

Elements and attributes defined by a
Document Type Definition (DTD) or a
Schema
<bioghist> <bionote>
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<ead>
<eadheader>
<titleproper>Guide to the
Papers of Joseph Roth
</titleproper>
</eadheader>
</ead>
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Defined set of containers for descriptive data
EAD : DACS = MARC : AACR2
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A description of records that gives the
repository physical and intellectual control over
the materials and that assists users to gain
access to and understand the materials (SAA)
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
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What is EAD?
I. Basics
12

What is EAD?
EAD encoding is not a substitute for
sound archival description!
I. Basics
13

EAD Finding Aid Structure
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE ead SYSTEM "ead.dtd">
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="lbi2010.xsl"?>
II. Finding Aid
15

EAD Finding Aid Structure
<ead>
<eadheader>Information about repository and
finding aid</eadheader>
<archdesc>Description of archival
materials</archdesc>
</ead>
II. Finding Aid
16

Common Tags
• Structural and content tags
<eadheader>Many other tags</eadheader>
<date>July 4, 1776</date>
II. Finding Aid
17

Common Tags <eadheader>
• Finding aid author
<filedesc><titlestmt>
<author>Processed by Stanislav Pejša.</author>
</titlestmt></filedesc>
II. Finding Aid
18

Common Tags <archdesc>
• Biographical information
<bioghist>Joseph Roth was one of the most prominent
Austrian writers of the first half of the 20th
century.</bioghist>
• Controlled vocabulary
<controlaccess>
<geogname encodinganalog="651$a" source="lcsh"
authfilenumber="n 79040121">Austria</geogname>
</controlaccess>
II. Finding Aid
19

• Description of Subordinate Components
<dsc>
<c01 level="series">
<c02>Folder 1
<c03>Item 1</c03>
<c03>Item 2</c03>
</c02>
<c02>Folder 2</c02>
</c01>
II. Finding Aid
20

A Component <c> provides information about the content,
context, and extent of a subordinate body of materials.
Each <c> element identifies an intellectually logical section
of the described materials. The physical filing
separations between components do not always
coincide with the intellectual separations.
From EAD Tag library <http://www.loc.gov/ead/tglib/elements/c.html>
II. Finding Aid
21

<dsc>
<c01 level="series">
<did>
<unittitle id="serII">Series II: Addenda</unittitle>
<unitdate normal="1985/1996">1985-1996</unitdate>
</did>
<c02>Subordinate elements, such as folders</c02>
</c01>
II. Finding Aid
22

<c02>
<did>
<container type="box">2</container>
<container type="folder">1</container>
<unittitle>Articles</unittitle>
<unitdate>1985-1994</unitdate>
</did>
</c02>
II. Finding Aid
23

• Digital Archival Object (<dao>)
<c02>
<did> […]
<unittitle>Articles</unittitle>
</did>
<dao
href="http://www.archive.org/stream/josephroth_07_r
eel07#page/n218/mode/1up" actuate="onrequest"
linktype="simple" show="new"/>
</c02>
II. Finding Aid
24

Common Tags – Human Readable?
<dimensions>
II. Finding Aid
25

<dimensions>
A subelement of <physdesc> for information
about the size of the materials being
described; usually includes numerical data.
II. Finding Aid
26

<famname>
II. Finding Aid
27

<famname>
The proper noun designation for a group of
persons closely related by blood or persons
who form a household. Includes single
families and family groups, e.g., Patience
Parker Family and Parker Family.
II. Finding Aid
28

<revisiondesc>
II. Finding Aid
29

<revisiondesc>
An optional subelement of the <eadheader>
for information about changes or
alterations that have been made to the
encoded finding aid.
II. Finding Aid
30

EAD Finding Aid
II. Finding Aid
31

oXygen Setup
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II. Finding Aid
1. Start the oXygen XML editor program
2. Open “JosephRoth.xml” found in the EAD
folder on the desktop

oXygen Setup
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II. Finding Aid

III. Implementation:
Creating EAD
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III. Implementation: Creating EAD
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Archivists’ Toolkit Archon
ArchivesSpace

ICA-AtoM
37

oXygen
38

39
NoteTab Dreamweaver
EADitor Note Pad

EAD Tag Library
40

SAA Standards Portal
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III. Implementation:
Using EAD
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Now What?
III. Implementation: Using EAD
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XSLT
44

XSLT
45

EAD to HTML
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EAD to HTML with DC
47

EAD to PDF
48

EAD to MARC
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Other Uses
• Integration with other standards (e.g. EAC-CPF)
• Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata
Harvesting (OAI-PMH)
• EAD consortia
• Metadata for digitized collections
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Other Uses
• Flexible search and display
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The Future of EAD
(pre) Alpha release of EAD revision, August 2012
• Reduce semantic overload
• Simplify links
• Reduce mixed content
• Add, deprecate, and delete elements
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The Future of EAD
53
• Revision is schema-based -- goodbye, DTD
• LC stylesheet: dtd2schema.xsl
• “Attribute validation errors indicate that the
attribute value does not conform to the ruling
ISO standard”

The Future of EAD
• Beta release of schema, documentation, and
migration tools, January 15, 2013
• New version of EAD released with tag library and
migration tools, July 1, 2013
slideshare.net/mikerush/ead-revision-progress-report-20120808
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Relax!
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Exercise Setup
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IV. Exercises
1. Start the oXygen XML Editor program
2. Open “JosephRoth.xml” found in the EAD
folder on the desktop

Exercise How To
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IV. Exercises

Exercise How To
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IV. Exercises

Exercise How To
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IV. Exercises

Exercise How To
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IV. Exercises

How does this work? XSLT!
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IV. Exercises

Exercise How To
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IV. Exercises
1. Make the change in the XML
2. Hit the red arrow to transform the XML to
HTML
3. Examine the HTML in the browser

IV. Exercises
Exercise How To - Tips
1. Be very careful with quotation marks and
angle brackets
<unitdate era="ce">2011</unitdate>
2. Copy and paste carefully - know where the
cursor is
3. O/o are not the same as 0
4. Look up while typing

IV. Exercises
Exercise How To - Tips
Check for
error
messages

Processing the
Joseph Roth Addendum
You are a processing
archivist at the Leo Baeck
Institute. You have been
asked to process an
addendum to the Joseph
Roth Collection, and to
update the EAD finding
aid accordingly.
IV. Exercises
66
Austrian writer Joseph Roth (1894-1939)

Exercise 1: Housekeeping
Update the information in the <eadheader>
section to reflect your contribution.
IV. Exercises
67

Exercise 1: Housekeeping
<ead><eadheader><filedesc><titlestmt>
<author>Processed by Stanislav Pejša.
Addendum processed by [your name].</author>
IV. Exercises
68

The head archivist tells you that there is an error in
the biographical information. Roth’s mother’s
first name is Maria, not Mario.
Fix this typo.
IV. Exercises
69
Exercise 2:
Biographical Information

<ead><archdesc>
<bioghist>
Find “Mario” and replace with “Maria”
</bioghist>
IV. Exercises
70
Exercise 2:
Biographical Information

Looking at the existing controlled access points,
you realize that the subject term for Roth’s
birthplace, “Brody, Galicia” is incorrect. The
proper LC term is “Brody (Ukraine)”.
Correct the term.
IV. Exercises
71
Exercise 3a:
Geographic Information

<ead><archdesc><controlaccess>
<geogname>
Find “Brody, Galicia” and replace with “Brody
(Ukraine)”
</geogname>
IV. Exercises
72
Exercise 3a:

Add the LC authority file number for “Brody
(Ukraine)”.
IV. Exercises
73
Exercise 3b:

Go to LC authorities: http://id.loc.gov
Search for Brody (Ukraine)
<ead><archdesc><controlaccess>
<geogname encodinganalog="651bb0$a"
role="subject" source="lcsh"
authfilenumber="n88212572">Brody
(Ukraine)</geogname>
IV. Exercises
74
Exercise 3b:

IV. Exercises
75
Exercise 3b:

The addendum you are given is one folder,
consisting of material in Polish from a 2002
conference about Roth.
Add this folder to Series II: Addenda, and update
the rest of the finding aid accordingly.
IV. Exercises
76
Exercise 4:
Adding a New Folder

The addendum you are given is one folder,
consisting of material in Polish from a 2002
conference about Roth.
Add this folder to Series II: Addenda, and update
the rest of the finding aid accordingly.
IV. Exercises
77
Exercise 4:
Adding a New Folder
"

What needs to be added?
Where in the finding aid?
IV. Exercises
78
Exercise 4a:
Adding the Folder

<ead><archdesc><dsc><c01 level="series">
<c02>
<did>
<container type="box">2</container>
<container type="folder">3</container>
<unittitle>Polish conference</unittitle>
<unitdate>2002</unitdate>
</did>
</c02>
IV. Exercises
79
Exercise 4a:
Adding the Folder

Does the date information need to be updated?
IV. Exercises
80
Exercise 4b:
Updating the Dates

Series-level date:
<ead><archdesc><dsc><c01 level="series"><did>
<unitdate normal="1985/2002"
type="inclusive">1985-2002</unitdate>
NB: Also at the collection level (high-level did), in
the arrangement note, and in the title.
IV. Exercises
81
Exercise 4b:
Updating the Dates

Collection-level date:
<ead><archdesc><did>
Arrangement note date:
<ead><archdesc><arrangement>
Title date:
<ead><eadheader><filedesc><titlestmt>
IV. Exercises
82
Exercise 4b:
Updating the Dates

Find the existing language information, and see if
you can understand the format. Add Polish to
the list of languages, at both the series and the
collection levels.
IV. Exercises
83
Exercise 4c:
Updating the Language

<language langcode="pol">Polish</language>
ISO639-2 code
(id.loc.gov)
IV. Exercises
84
Exercise 4c:

<ead><archdesc><did> and
<ead><archdesc><dsc><c01 level="series"><did>
<langmaterial>This series is in <language
langcode="ger">German</language>,
<language langcode="eng">English</language>, and
<language
langcode="pol">Polish</language>.</langmaterial>
IV. Exercises
85
Exercise 4c:

Add one sentence to the Series II scope note
reflecting the additional folder.
IV. Exercises
86
Exercise 4d:
Updating the Series II Scope Note

<ead><archdesc><dsc><c01
level="series"><scopecontent>This series
consists of material that was added to the
collection after the inventory was drafted and
the bulk of the collection organized. […] Also
included are materials from a 2002 conference in
Poland.</scopecontent>
IV. Exercises
87
Exercise 4d:
Updating the Series II Scope Note

Link to the digitized version of the material in the
additional folder using this link:
http://bit.ly/x7944b
IV. Exercises
88
Exercise 5:
Adding a link to the digital object

<ead><archdesc><dsc><c01 level="series">
<c02>
<did>[…]</did>
<dao href="http://bit.ly/x7944b"
actuate="onrequest" show="new"/>
</c02>
IV. Exercises
89
Exercise 5:
Adding a link to the digital object

The head archivist has asked you to print out
copies of your EAD finding aid for the reading
room. Create a print-friendly HTML file.
IV. Exercises
90
Exercise 6:
Creating a Print-Friendly File

Find a stylesheet and save it in your EAD folder.
(We’ve done this for you – thanks Syracuse!)
Change the stylesheet declaration:
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="eadprint-su.xsl"?>
IV. Exercises
91
Exercise 6:

IV. Exercises
92
Exercise 6:

The head librarian has asked you to supply a MARC
record for your archival collection. Generate a
MARCXML record from this EAD.
IV. Exercises
93
Exercise 7:
Generating a MARC Record

Find an appropriate stylesheet.
(We’ve done this for you)
Set up a new transformation scenario.
IV. Exercises
94
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
95
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
96
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
97
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
98
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
99
Exercise 7:

IV. Exercises
100
Exercise 7:

The first step in migrating existing finding aids to
EAD 3.0 is to convert from DTD-based to schema-
based files. Convert a DTD-based finding aid to a
schema-based finding aid.
IV. Exercises
101
Exercise 8:
Converting from DTD to Schema

Find an appropriate stylesheet.
(dtd2schema_metro.xsl)
Set up and run a new transformation scenario.
(Follow the directions in exercise 7)
IV. Exercises
102
Exercise 8a:

IV. Exercises
103
Exercise 8b:
There is improperly coded data in the “normal”
attribute of the <date> tag (see the error
message). Fix this.

IV. Exercises
104
Exercise 8b:
Dates are encoded in the format YYYY-MM:

IV. Exercises
105
Exercise 8b:
Note also that attributes governing link behavior
have been converted to comply with Xlink:

Tinker!
• Gentle Introduction to XML
• EAD Cookbook
• A free XML editor
• Library of Congress EAD files
Resources
109

Download via Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/archivistkevin/introduction-to-ead
Twitter @archivistkevin
Thank you!
110

Introduction to EAD

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