An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the organization serves upwards of 6,200 individual and member institutions.
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is an international professional association for library and information professionals working in business, government, law, finance, non-profit, and academic organizations and institutions.
Trudy Huskamp Peterson is the first woman to hold the position of Archivist of the United States. She was the Acting Archivist of the United States from March 25, 1993 to May 29, 1995.
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) is a standard for encoding descriptive information regarding archival records.
Archival science, or archival studies, is the study and theory of building and curating archives, which are collections of documents, recordings, photographs and various other materials in physical or digital formats.
A finding aid, in the context of archival science and archival research, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed, indexed, and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist of a documentary inventory and description of the materials, their source, and their structure. The finding aid for a fonds is usually compiled by the collection's entity of origin, provenance, or by an archivist during archival processing, and may be considered the archival science equivalent of a library catalog or a museum collection catalog. The finding aid serves the purpose of locating specific information within the collection. The finding aid can also help the archival repository manage their materials and resources.
Archival processing is the act of surveying, arranging, describing, and performing basic preservation activities on the recorded material of an individual, family, or organization after they are permanently transferred to an archive. A person engaging in this activity is known as an archival processor, archival technician, or archivist.
Waldo Gifford Leland was an American historian and archivist whose work for the Carnegie Institution and the Library of Congress was instrumental in the founding of the National Archives. He also served in leadership roles in a variety of historical and archival societies, including the American Council of Learned Societies, Society of American Archivists, National Park Service, and the FDR Library.
James Berton "Bert" Rhoads served as fifth Archivist of the United States. He was born in Sioux City, Iowa. Rhoads received his B.A., in 1950, and M.A., in 1952, from the University of California at Berkeley. He earned his Ph.D. in History from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1965.
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) is a standard used for describing materials in archives. First adopted by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in March 2004, DACS was updated with a Second Edition in 2013. DACS is broken down into a set of rules used in crafting archival descriptions, and guidelines for creating authority records in archives.
ISAD(G) (General International Standard Archival Description) defines the elements that should be included in an archival finding aid. It was approved by the International Council on Archives (ICA/CIA) as an international framework standard to register archival documents produced by corporations, persons and families.
Shelley Sweeney is a Canadian archivist. She was university archivist at the University of Regina from 1983 to 1998, and the Head of the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections from 1998 to 2020. She helped found two regional archival organizations, the Saskatchewan Council of Archives and the Saskatchewan Archivists Society, and the University and Research Institutions section of the International Council on Archives. Sweeney is a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists and, with colleagues, wrote the first code of ethics for the Canadian archival profession.
Archival research is a type of research which involves seeking out and extracting evidence from archival records. These records may be held either in collecting institutions, such as libraries and museums, or in the custody of the organization that originally generated or accumulated them, or in that of a successor body. Archival research can be contrasted with (1) secondary research, which involves identifying and consulting secondary sources relating to the topic of enquiry; and (2) with other types of primary research and empirical investigation such as fieldwork and experiment.
The Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), established in 1975, is a national not-for-profit organization representing over 600 archivists in Canada. With headquarters in Ottawa, the ACA's mandate is to provide leadership to the archival profession and to increase an understanding and appreciation of Canada's archival heritage.
David Christopher Sutton is a British archival researcher, cataloguer, indexer, librarian, literary scholar, copyright researcher, food historian, fairtrade campaigner, bus company director, urban regeneration specialist and local politician.
Records in Contexts, or RiC, is a conceptual model and ontology for the archival description of records, designed by the Expert Group on Archival Description (EGAD) established by the International Council on Archives (ICA). The EGAD initially began work on the standard between 2012 and 2016, with a conceptual model (RiC-CM) and an ontology (RiC-O) released for comment during 2016. Version 0.2 was released in 2021, now featuring an independent introduction to archival description (RiC-IAD) and updates to the original RiC-CM and RiC-O. A fourth part of the standard covering Application Guidelines (RiC-AG) is also expected, prior to a completed RiC version 1.0 being released as an official ICA recommendation.
Adrian Cunnningham is an Australian archivist who worked for many years at the National Archives of Australia. He is known for his contributions to the practice of digital records management, including development of international standards in this field.
Nolda Cira Römer-Kenepa is a Dutch historian and archivist. She served as acting governor of Curaçao from 2013 to 2019.
Ricardo L. Punzalan is a Filipino American archivist who is an Associate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information. He has shaped the fields of archival science, virtual reunification, repatriation, reparative description, and has studied the nature of collections in both museums and archives. He holds undergraduate and Masters degrees from the University of the Philippines and a doctorate in information science from the University of Michigan.
