Half of our capstone team completed UW's class LIS 505: Archival and Manuscript Services and the other half is taking it this quarter. One of the many useful things you learn in this class is that DACS (Describing Archives: a Content Standard, now in its second edition) is the American standard for describing the contents of archives.
This is an exciting time to put it into action and not just theoretical exercise.
As we develop the finding aids (and recommend their future development), these are the relevant DACS elements we're including:
Identity: Reference code, Name and location of Repository, Title, Date, Extent, Name of Creator(s) (if known)
Content and Structure: Scope and Content
Conditions of Access and Use: Conditions Governing Access
Acquisition and appraisal: (added value; not required) custodial history, immediate source of acquisition, appraisal, destruction, and scheduling info, accruals
Related Materials: (added value; not required) existence and location of copies, related archival materials, publication note
Note: information not accommodated by another element
Descriptive Control: Purpose is to document the creation and revision of archival descriptive records.
