Archival description standards: Concepts, principles, and methodologies

Abstract

Members of the archival profession have demonstrated an increasing interest in standards-related issues, particularly in archival description standards. The author discusses the concepts, principles, and methodologies associated with archival description standards, first by defining the phrase archival description, and then by introducing similar standards in the library profession as a frame of reference. She summarizes existing archival description standards at three levels (data structure, data content, and data value), reviews reasons to develop and use standards along with obstacles blocking their emergence, and explores possible future developments.