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DACS
Date added 11 August 2009
Last edited 4 November 2009
Full Title
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Description
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) is a combined US profile of both the international standards ISAD(G) (General International Standard Archival Description) and ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families. It provides rules for describing archives, personal papers, and manuscript collections, and is intended to replace Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts (APPM). Implementation neutral, DACS extends the basic rules for describing manuscripts given in chapter 4 of AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd Edition). It explains implementations and provides crosswalks for EAD (Encoded Archival Description) and MARC 21 (Machine Readable Cataloging) amongst other standards. A hierarchical description standard it describes effective multi-level description, guidance for creating authority records, and methods for constructing names.
Standards Developing Organisation
- SAA
- Society of American Archivists
Rights
No information
Lifecycle Actions
- Access, Use and Reuse
- Description and Representation Information
Standard Framework
- Digital Archive Standards
Standard Type
- Metadata Description Standard
Current Version
- 2007 - Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
- This publication is widely available from booksellers and relevant professional bodies. The 2007 publication includes an index.
Further Information
- Wikipedia entry for DACS [external]
Alternative Current Versions
None.
Previous Versions
- 1989 - Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts (APPM), A Cataloging Manual for Archival Repositories Historical Societies and Manuscript Libraries, 2nd edition, Steve Hensen
- Superseded. This publication is now out of print but may be available from some booksellers.
- 2004 - Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
- The 2004 edition is now out of print but can still be obtained from some booksellers. It lacks an index, which can be downloaded from the catalogue page for the book in: <a href= \\\"www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=1279&\\\"> The Society of American Archivists Publications and Products Catalog</a>.
Referenced Standards
- AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd Edition)
- EAD (Encoded Archival Description)
- ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families
- ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description
- MARC 21 (Machine Readable Cataloging)