• Archival Finding Aids
• Best Practices at LC

Related Resources

• The EAD Standard
• SAA EAD Help Pages
• LC EAD Finding Aids (XML)

3.1 EAD Header

3.1 SECTIONS: Unique File Identifier | File Description | Profile Description | Revision Description

Tag:

<eadheader>

Description:

The <eadheader> comprises a set of metadata about the finding aid that serves to identify each EAD instance, and is based on the TEI header.

LC Practice requires the inclusion of <eadheader> and its subelements; <eadheader> and two of its subelements, <eadid> and <filedesc>, are required by the EAD DTD. Consistent formulation of this information is essential.

See Also:

Section 3.2, Title Page and Prefatory Matter Go to Section

Other Attributes:

• relatedencoding="MARC21" Required
• langencoding="iso639-2b" Required
• scriptencoding="iso15924" Required
• repositoryencoding="iso15511" Required
• countryencoding="iso3611-1" Required
• dateencoding="iso8601" Required

See Tag Library for full list of attributes and their values.

Subelements:

Listed in order required by DTD. Required elements must be included to conform with LC Practice.

• <eadid> Required by DTD See 3.1.1, Unique File Identifier
• <filedesc> Required by DTD See 3.1.2, File Description
• <profiledesc> Required See 3.1.3, Profile Description
• <revisiondesc> Required if applicable See 3.1.4, Revision Description

Tagging Example 1:

Fully encoded <eadheader> element

Display Of Tagging Example 1:

If header used to generate display, header should not be set to audience="internal"

                    Charles and Ray Eames Papers
       A Register of the Collection in the Library of Congress

                   Prepared by Margaret H. McAleer 
         with the assistance of Thelma Follette, Lisa Madison,
                     and Robert A. Vietrogoski

              Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
                         Washington, D.C.

                        [LC seal graphic]

                               1995

Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services,
January 1999; encoding completed by Manuscript Division, November 1999

2000 April Linked to digital content
1999 November Revised to EAD version 1 

Note: display of series statement and language code suppressed

Comments:

• The predominant practice for finding aids at the Library of Congress has used data from the <eadheader> to generate a title-page display, although some divisions had previously encoded a separate <titlepage> element in <frontmatter> in order to present elements in an order not permitted by the DTD. LC HTML displays are generated from the <eadheader> rather than the <titlepage>. XSL stylesheets can reorder the display of elements and insert textual formatting that need not be included in <eadheader>; such as the finding aid URL (EADID handle). However, the LC seal is still provided through a link within the <publisher> element in <eadheader>.
• Set the RELATEDENCODING analog both at the <eadheader> and <archdesc> levels, since different encoding schemes may be used for the two major sections in future.

Repeatable: no
Order: first element within <ead>
Revision Date: 05/06/08

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3.1.1 Unique File Identifier

Tag:

<eadid>

Description:

The <eadid> is an element required by the DTD that includes a unique alphanumeric identifier for each separate EAD finding aid. The <eadid> for a finding aid remains constant no matter how many times the finding aid may be revised or expanded.

LC Practice requires the <eadid>, which should be formulated according to the scheme described below.

Encoding Analog: 856$u
Other Attributes:

• countrycode="us" Required
• mainagencycode="dlc" Required
• identifier=LC handle preceded by "hdl:" (do not include the LC handle server address "http://hdl.loc.gov") Required

Tagging Example 1:

<eadid> for the fourth Manuscript Division finding aid created in 2001

Display Of Tagging Example 1:

<eadid> for the fourth Manuscript Division finding aid created in 2001

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms001004 

Note: display of <eadid> is usually suppressed in HTML and XML versions

Comments:

Assumptions:

• The <eadid> identifies the "work" (i.e., the intellectual content), whether fixed or dynamic in nature. Finding aids are by nature dynamic works; they can reflect additions to collections they describe, increased granularity of descriptions (especially with digital collections), and for encoded finding aids, increased levels of tagging.
  • A new <eadid> is assigned only for a new work, not simply when the finding aid is updated.
  • The <eadid> is a published identifier; it is not functionally similar to a PIN.
  • Even if only part of a collection is initially processed and described, the EAD finding aid reflects the complete collection (in the header, scope and contents, etc.). The finding aid content should skeletally describe the complete collection and more completely describe the part of the collection being worked on. This should allow the finding aid to be expanded without requiring the <eadid> to change.
  • If a finding aid is subdivided into physical parts, a unique <eadid> will not be assigned to each separate physical part (this whole/part information will be incorporated into "structural metadata" associated with EADs stored in a repository)

EAD ID structure:

• The Library of Congress bases its <eadid> practice on the persistent identifier naming scheme used for LC handles. The <eadid> is used by LC divisions when they register handles for finding aids.
• An LC <eadid> consists of two parts: the naming authority and the finding aid item identifier.
  • The naming authority identifies the LC division maintaining the finding aid (which may or may not be the LC division which created the finding aid). Because an LC <eadid> is also a persistent identifier, the naming authority is assigned at the time the <eadid> is created -- and will not change if the maintaining division changes its name. The naming authority is unique within LC. (Example: loc.pnp/eadpnp or loc.mss)
  • The finding aid item identifier is a two-part name. The first part is a stable "aggregate" name beginning with "ead." Each LC division uses the same aggregate name for all finding aids it maintains. (Example: eadrbc or eadmbrs). The second part is an eight-character number assigned by the maintaining division. This number is structured as follows: the first two characters (lower case) identify the maintaining division, the next three digits identify an abbreviated date of creation for the finding aid, and the last three digits are a one-up ID number assigned to finding aids created within that year (Example: ms001004 is the fourth finding aid created by the Manuscript Division in 2001).

• The content of the <eadid> contains an LC handle resolved through LC's handle server (http://hdl.loc.gov). The actual LC handle is recorded in the <eadid> IDENTIFIER attribute.
  • Set the <eadid> IDENTIFIER attribute to the LC handle (Example: "hdl:loc.afc/eadafc.af999001"). RLG Best Practice Guidelines state that <eadid> should include at least one of the following attributes: PUBLICID, IDENTIFIER, or URL. URN has been added as an option in EAD 2002. LC has chosen to use IDENTIFIER as the attribute for handles. ("URI" is not a valid attribute in EAD 2002).
  • Set the content of the <eadid> to the URL for the LC handle resolved through LC's handle server. Examples of <eadid> content are:
    • AFC: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af999001
    • General Collections: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/eadgdc.gc006001
    • G&M: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/eadgmd.gm001001
    • MBRS/MI: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/eadmbrsmi.mi007001
    • MBRS/RS: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsrs/eadmbrs.rs000001
    • MSS: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms001028
    • MUSIC: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu998001
    • P&P: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/eadpnp.pp996001
    • RBC: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/eadrbc.rb998001
  • Other institutions and consortia assign <eadid> values using a variety of schemes. Many use the <eadid> PUBLICID attribute. EAD 2002 permits use of multiple types of identifiers; see Tag Library, <eadid>, for an example setting both PUBLICID and URL attributes.

Repeatable: no
Order: first element within <ead>
Revision Date: 05/01/08

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3.1.2 File Description

Tag:

<filedesc>

Description:

Bibliographic information about the intellectual content of the encoded finding aid is bundled in the required element <filedesc>, in which elements such as the finding aid's title, subtitle, author, and publisher are encoded in a series of subelements.

LC Practice requires the inclusion of <filedesc>, which is a mandatory element required by the EAD DTD.

Subelements:

Listed in recommended order. Encoding analogs listed below are required.

• <titlestmt> Required by DTD
  • <titleproper encodinganalog="245$a"> Required by DTD
  • <subtitle>
  • <author encodinganalog="245$c"> Recommended
• <editionstmt>
  • <edition>
• <publicationstmt> Required
  • <publisher encodinganalog="260$b"> Required
  • <extptr> Required
  • <address> Required
  • <date encodinganalog="260$c" normal="(ISO 8601 normalized date)"> Required
• <seriesstmt>
  • <titleproper>
  • <num>
• <notestmt>
  • <note>

Tagging Example 1:

File description including series statement

Display Of Tagging Example 1:

Title display generated from file (series statement display suppressed)

                   Charles and Ray Eames Papers
       A Register of the Collection in the Library of Congress

                 Prepared by Margaret H. McAleer 
        with the assistance of Thelma Follette, Lisa Madison,
                   and Robert A. Vietrogoski
 
                      [LC seal graphic]

            Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
                       Washington, D.C. 

                            1995 

Comments:

• Remember that the finding aid title may be different from the name of the collection.
• Each division should follow its own guidelines for the formulation of titles and in deciding whether series titles are to be used (for instance, the Manuscript Division has discontinued use of series titles). Finding aid titles may be formulated without subtitles, as is done by Music Division and American Folklife Division.
• Date normalization will follow ISO standard 8601. Follow this normalization standard also for <unitdate> elements normalized in the <did> and component levels.

Repeatable: no
Order: first element within <ead> following <eadid>
Revision Date: 05/01/08

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3.1.3 Profile Description

Tag:

<profiledesc>

Description:

The <profiledesc> element bundles information about the creation of the encoded finding aid.

LC Practices requires the inclusion of <profiledesc>, as it establishes initial version control for the finding aid.

Subelements:

• <creation> Required
  • <date> (set normal attribute) Required
• <langusage encodinganalog="546"> Required
  • <language langcode="eng" encodinganalog="041"> Required

Set the SCRIPTCODE attribute for <language> using ISO 15924 only if nonroman script needs to be noted.

Tagging Example 1:

Creation description explicitly naming encoder/s; multiple languages in finding aid

Display Of Tagging Example 1:

Title display generated from creation description (language statement display suppressed)

  Finding Aid encoded by Morgan Cundiff and Paul Fraunfelter, 2001 

Tagging Example 2:

Finding aid initially encoded by vendor

Display Of Tagging Example 2:

Finding aid initially encoded by vendor (language statement display suppressed)

Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services,
January 1999; encoding completed by Manuscript Division, 1999 

Comments:

• Each division should follow its own guidelines on giving names of encoders. It will be useful to record conversions performed in whole or part by outside agencies.
• Use natural language for a statement of the language or languages in which the finding aid is written; use the LANGCODE attribute with value taken from ISO 639-2 for the language code in <language>, which will normally be "eng".
• Use the ENCODINGANALOG attribute "546" for <langusage> and "041" for <language>; the latter maps most precisely to the LANGCODE attribute on <language>. Note that this differs from the current version of RLG Best Practice Guidelines for Encoded Archival Description, which sets "546" as ENCODINGANALOG for <langusage>.

Repeatable: no
Order: follows <filedesc> and precedes <revisiondesc>
Revision Date: 05/01/08

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3.1.4 Revision Description

Tag:

<revisiondesc>

Description:

The <revisiondesc> element contains information about substantial changes that have been made to the encoded finding aid.

LC Practice requires the inclusion of <revisiondesc> when applicable.

Subelements:

• <change encodinganalog="583">
  • <date> (set normal attribute)
  • <item>

Tagging Example 1:

Finding aid revised and expanded (first revision of encoded finding aid)

Display Of Tagging Example 1:

Finding aid revised and expanded (first revision of encoded finding aid)

Latest revision: 1999-07

Tagging Example 2:

Only date of last revision displayed

Display Of Tagging Example 2:

Only date of last revision displayed

Latest revision: 2004-05-18

Comments:

• Remember that revisions to finding aids that take place before first conversion to EAD are listed in <author> in <filedesc> and <processinfo> rather than in the <eadheader>.
• There is no need to record minor changes or corrections in <revisiondesc>. File dates (in the short term) and repository management software (in the long run) will be used to track such changes.
• Provide sufficient information about each major change to identify the nature of the change. Name or identify the parties responsible for changes to the electronic finding aid if different from those already recorded under <creation>. See Example 1.
• Give year and month, or year, month, and date for each change; list the date before the change. List changes in reverse chronological order. See Example 2.
• When finding aids are converted from version 1.0 to EAD 2002, the <change> element will automatically be added to an existing <revisiondesc> (see Example 2) or as a new <revisiondesc> for a finding aid which has not previously been revised.

Repeatable: yes
Order: follows <profiledesc>
Revision Date: 5/24/04

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