EAD3: the Basics

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to XML
• History of EAD
• Factors to consider when deciding to implement EAD at your institution
• Relationships between EAD, The General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G)), and the principles stated in the Canadian-US Task Force on Archival Description (CUSTARD) Project
• The structure of an EAD document

Participants will mark up a supplied finding aid in EAD and transform it using XSLT into an HTML document for displaying the finding aid online.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess whether EAD is appropriate for an institution
• Identify supporting archival standards for EAD
• Know structure of EAD
• Encode specific types of finding aid data into appropriate EAD elements
• Build a complete EAD instance using supplied finding aid data.
• Use supplied stylesheets to display EAD in HTML

Target Audience:
Archivists and special-collections librarians responsible for creating new finding aids or converting old ones into XML.

Prerequisites:
Basic knowledge of archival finding aids and their role in providing access to archival collections

Homework Expectations and Completion Requirements:

• Students will, through four homework assignments, build a complete, well-formed and valid EAD instance.
• It is designed for individual participation; each individual must register.

Technical Requirements:
Visit Adobe's detailed requirements page for an in-depth list or run a system and connection test on your computer now.

Session Duration:
This course consists of four 2-hour sessions.

Instructor:  Bill Walker - walker@amigos.org

Continuing Education Credit:
Contact Hours: 8