Guidelines & Standards for Information Management
The International Council on Archives (ICA) has published standards for the description of archival material, the context of its production, taking into account the producers and the processes through which it was created, as well as for the description of the entities that preserve archival material.
The Hellenic Archival Society (E.A.E.), within the framework of the work of the Terminology and Training Committees, the Standards Implementation Committee, and the Editorial Committee, has completed the translation and publication of the above standards into Greek. The official Greek translations are available free of charge from the H.A.E., as, according to its website, providing basic practical tools to its members and to all Greeks working in archival institutions is one of its main objectives.
The International Standard for Archival Description (General) – ISAD provides guidelines for the description of archival material and the creation of standardized records. The standard includes general rules for archival description regardless of the type and substrate of the archival material. The use of DIPAP (G) for the description of archival material:a. ensures the creation of comprehensive, appropriate, and explanatory descriptions,
b. facilitates the retrieval and exchange of information about archival material,
c. enables the use of common and established databases, and
d. enables the integration of descriptions from different storage locations into a unified information system.
Archival description
Archival description enables intellectual control of archival material, which is necessary to ensure the reliability, authenticity, significance, and accessibility of the described records.
Archival descriptions, as proposed by DIPAP (C), cover any information relating to the material regardless of the stage of management at which it is identified or ascertained. The information remains dynamic and can be improved at any stage of management. It is recommended that descriptions be developed at different levels (record, sub-record, series, sub-series, file, document), which are linked to each other.
The publication of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The second edition of the standard was presented at the International Council on Archives in Seville in September 2000. It is expanded and includes comprehensive examples for a better understanding of the theoretical text. All approved translations of the edition are available on the ICA website.
The translation and the Greek edition
The Hellenic Archival Society (H.A.S.), within the framework of the Training Committee and the Terminology Committee, following its first effort in 1995, proceeded with the translation of the second edition of the General International Standard Archival Description.
The edition has been available since 2002 in both print and electronic form.
Publication details: Greek translation: Christina Varda, Amalia Pappa, Zisimos Ch. Synodinos Editorial supervision: Christina Varda, Zisimos Ch. Synodinos Reproduction and translation: Reproduction in translation or print of all or part for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that appropriate attribution is made.
The International Standard for Established Archival Records for Legal Entities, Natural Persons, and Families – ISAER (LEP) is a complementary standard to the general ISAP. It provides basic guidelines for the description and establishment of producers of archival material. It was drafted to support the dissemination of established archival records by encouraging the drafting of compatible, appropriate, and explanatory descriptions relating to legal entities, natural persons, and families, producers of records. It is intended to be used in conjunction with existing national standards or as a reference point for the development of national standards.
Standardized producer descriptions
The description of file producers is an important task for archivists, as it requires complete documentation and continuous updating of the context of production and use of the documents, with an emphasis on their origin.
Independent management of information on the production context allows descriptions relating to record producers and information on the production context of records to be linked to descriptions of archival material from the same producer, which is stored in different archives, and with descriptions of other sources, such as museum or book material related to the entity in question. Such links improve the management of archives and facilitate research.
The standardisation of descriptions of producers and, by extension, of the production context allows:
a. access to archives based on the description of their production context, which is linked to other descriptions of the same archives, which are often fragmented,
b. users to understand the production and use context of archival records, allowing them to better interpret their content and significance,
c. the identification of each record producer, incorporating the description of the relationships between different entities,
d. the exchange of these descriptions between agencies, systems, and networks.
The publication of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The translation and the Greek edition
The Hellenic Archival Society (E.A.E.) accepted a request from the General State Archives (G.S.A.) for the joint publication of the translation of the standard.
To this end, a working group was set up, whose core members included members of the GAA who had previously been involved in the translation of the DIPAP (C) and the Archival Science manual, such as Christina Varda (historian-archivist, ELIA-MIET), Zissimos Synodinos (historian-archivist, IA-ETE), and Amalia Pappa. The team also included Marietta Minotou (Director of the Central Service of the GSA) and George Charontis (member of the EAE, GSA).
The publication was completed in 2013.
Publication details:
Greek translation: Christina Varda, Marietta Minotou, Nestor Bamidis, Amalia Pappa, Zissimos H. Synodinos, George Charontis
Edited by: Nestor Bamidis
ISBN: 978-960-85327-7-9 978-960-7236-16-6
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Hellenic Archival Society (E.A.E.) – General State Archives (G.S.A.)
Description of functions
The description of functions plays an important role in interpreting the context in which records are produced. In general, functions are considered more stable than administrative structures, which are merged or transferred in the event of administrative reorganization. Function descriptions help to place records more confidently in their production and use context and can be used:
a. to represent functions as descriptive units in an archival description system,
b. to control the creation and use of access points in archival descriptions,
c. to document the relationships between different functions, between these functions and the organizations that perform them, and between the functions and the records produced as a result of them.
The publication of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The first version of the standard (Dresden, May 2007) was developed by the Committee on Best Practices and Standards of the International Council on Archives (ICA/CBPS).
In developing this standard, the team used functional description and analysis models applied to the management of historical, active, and semi-active records in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also drew on international work carried out by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), such as ISO 15489 International Standard on Records Management (2001) and ISO 23081 International Standard on Records management processes – Metadata for records (2006-2007).
All approved translations of the publication are available on the DSA website.
The translation and the Greek edition
DIPEL is the third standard made available to the Greek archival community, after DIPAP (1995, 2002) and DIPKAE (NFPO) (2013).
The translation of the standard is part of the work of the EAE Standards Implementation Committee (EAE/EEP) and was published in March 2014.
Publication details:
Greek translation and editing: Nestor Bamidis.
ISBN: 978-618-81234-0-3
Reproduction and translation: Reproduction in translation or print of the whole or part for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that the appropriate reference is made.
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Hellenic Archival Society (E.A.E.)
Related links
Description of archival institutions
The description of record-keeping bodies facilitates communication between them, but also makes them more accessible to the research community.
The standardization of descriptions, as proposed by DIPEFDA, allows for:
a. the provision of practical guidelines for identification and communication, access to the collections of institutions and the services they offer,
b. the creation of catalogs and/or established indexes of archival institutions
International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings – ISDIAH,
c. the creation of links to established indexes of libraries and museums or the development of common catalogs of cultural heritage institutions at the regional, national, and international levels. Also, the compilation of statistics on archival institutions at regional, national, or international level.
The publication of the International Council on Archives (ICA)
The first edition of the standard was presented by the International Council on Archives (ICA/CBPS) Committee on Best Practices and Standards at the ICA World Congress in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
All approved translations of the version are available on the ICA website.
The translation and the Greek edition
DIPEFDA is the fourth standard made available to the Greek archival community, following DIPAP (1995, 2002), DIPKAE (NFPO) (2013), and DIPEL (2014).
The translation of the standard is part of the work of the EAE Standards Implementation Committee (EAE/EEP) and was published in March 2014.
Publication details:
Greek translation and editing: Nestor Bamidis.
ISBN: 978-618-81234-1-0
Reproduction and translation: Reproduction in translation or print of the whole or part for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that the appropriate reference is made.
Copyright for the Greek edition: © Hellenic Archival Society (E.A.E.)
Archives Management Guidelines
The following presentation aims to familiarize the public with the range of archival tasks as well as the conservation work required for the acquisition and preparation of archival material in order to make it accessible.
