Appendix A - Society of American Archivists

ecords that are linked to the archival descriptions rather than being embedded withinthem. This approach reflects the model created by the International Council on Archiveswhere the General International Standard for Archival Description (ISAD(G)) providesrules on description and the International Standard Archival Authority Record forCorporate Bodies, Persons and Families (ISAAR(CPF)) governs the creation ofinformation about creators. Chapters 9 through 14 provide guidance on the constructionof archival authority records based on the structure of ISAAR(CPF).Separating the capture and maintenance of contextual information has a number ofadvantages. The ability to link a description of a creating entity to several descriptions ofrecords from the same creator held within the same repository eliminates the need toduplicate the administrative/biographical history in each description. Furthermore, thepractice enables the linking of descriptions of creating entities to descriptions of recordsfrom the same creator(s) held by more than one repository, as well as to descriptions ofrelated library and museum materials, Web sites, etc. Relationships between creatingentities also can be documented in authority records. Finally, certain functions can beefficiently performed in authority records, such as maintaining a record of variant andrelated terms, which cannot be done well (or at all) within descriptions.Where several repositories hold records of the same provenance, they can share orexchange contextual information about the creator more easily if it has been maintainedin a standardized manner. Archival authority records do not merely record contextualinformation, they also provide a means of standardizing access points and the contextualinformation. They are similar to library authority records in that both support thecreation of standardized access points in descriptions. Such standardization has twoaspects: consistency and uniqueness. Consistency requires that the name of a creator beidentical each time it is used as an access point in the descriptive system. This isachieved by implementing rules that establish an authorized form of the name wheredifferent forms exist. Uniqueness requires that each person, family, or corporate bodyhave a heading that applies to it alone. This is achieved by making additions to otherwiseidentical names in order to distinguish between them. Whenever possible, repositoriesshould use the form of personal and corporate names found in the Library of CongressAuthorities (formerly Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF)) or use rulesfor formulating standardized names such as those found in AACR2, ISAAR (CPF), orRDA.While archival authority records and the bibliographic authority records used in librarysystems are similar, they differ in significant ways. A bibliographic authority recordconsists of an authorized heading that standardizes the form of the name, as well as otherinformation elements that describe the named entity or point to other authority records.Archival authority records contain the following elements similar to bibliographicauthority records:the authority entry (i.e., a standardized access point established by an archivalagency uniquely identifying the corporate body, person, or family associated withthe creation of the archival materials);