Abstract
This case study outlines the process of creating a set of standards to guide description of born-digital archival collections materials in an archival context across the University of California (UC) system. The authors outline the need for such a standard, including the research methodology that helped establish this need, and the procedures by which these new guidelines were created, refined, and accepted across the UC. The paper goes into detail about the processes, considerations, and discussions that went into drafting rules for each descriptive element included in the standards. The authors argue that much of the specific guidance for describing born-digital materials that is present in these new standards does not exist elsewhere, and that existing archival description standards could benefit from consideration or incorporation of these new descriptive rules. This is identified as an area for future work.
Author Biography
Annalise Berdini is the Digital Archivist for University Archives at Princeton University, where she manages an evolving digital preservation program and web archives. Previously, she served as Digital Archivist for Special Collections and Archives at the University of California, San Diego. Charles Macquarie is the Digital Archivist at the University of California, San Francisco, Library, where he is in charge of planning and implementing the born-digital processing and preservation program for the Archives & Special Collections. In addition he is a library research fellow at the Prelinger Library in San Francisco, where he investigates the power of the library as a platform for building creative communities. Shira Peltzman is the Digital Archivist for University of California, Los Angeles Library Special Collections where she leads the development of a digital preservation program for born-digital archival material. Shira has worked at a number of cultural heritage organizations worldwide and was a member of the inaugural cohort of the National Digital Stewardship Residency in New York (NDSR-NY). Kate Tasker is the Industry Documents Library Archivist at the University of California, San Francisco, where she focuses on digital library management and collection development. She was previously the Digital Archivist at The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Recommended Citation
Berdini, Annalise; Macquarie, Charles; Peltzman, Shira; and Tasker, Kate
(2018)
"Describing Digital: The Design and Creation of a Born-Digital Archival Description Standard at the University of California Libraries,"
Journal of Western Archives: Vol. 9:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26077/e90b-2e7b
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives/vol9/iss1/10
