Presentation given at an Archives Association of Ontario Professional Development Committee workshop on February 7th, 2014. Explains how to create records describing archive creators and the archives themselves using Archeion, Ontario's archival network, which runs on the AtoM software from Artefactual Systems.

1. Getting your archives online with
Archeion
Image courtesy of Elgin County Archives, St. Thomas Times-Journal fonds, C8 Sh2 B1 F32 2
McBride's Christian Fellowship Church Quilting Bee, 1971

2. Today’s activities
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creating authority files for creators of archives
Creating connections between authority files
Creating RAD-compliant archival descriptions
Linking creators to descriptions
Adding more detailed descriptions
Adding or linking digital materials to
descriptions

3. Online options
• Your own website
– Hosted by you
– Or hosted externally
• Community sites such as Our Digital World
and Archeion
• Image-focused sites like Flickr, HistoryPin or
Pinterest
• …or a combination of all the above!

4. Archeion
• Ontario’s archive information network
• Established in 1999
• Holds over 9,000 fonds- and collection-level
descriptions from more than 90 institutions
across Ontario
• One of a network of provincial systems feeding in
to ArchivesCanada
• Major upgrade in 2011 with a move of all existing
information to ICA-AtoM software
• Moved to AtoM 2.0 this week!

5. Advantages of Archeion
• Free to use if your institution is a member of the Archives
Association of Ontario
• Visible to search engines such as Google
– People will hit Archeion records without knowing about
Archeion
– 67% of all Archeion users come straight to Archeion from search
engines
• Presents your records alongside those of archives all over
Ontario, helping users find connections between holdings
– And Canada, with the forthcoming re-launch of Archives Canada

6. ELEMENTS OF ARCHEION

7. Archeion’s structure
Archival institutions
Online display
Archival descriptions
Record creators

8. Old ARCHEION combined creator
information within fonds description
Archival
description
Information
about
creator(s)
Information
about
records

9. Institutional information was held
elsewhere
Information
about
creator(s)
Archival institutions
Information
about
records
Held in ARCHEION
Held on AAO site

10. Saves duplication
Record creator
Archival description
Archival description

11. Saves duplication
Archival description
Record creator B
Record creator A
Archival description
Archival description

13. Standards-based records
• ISDIAH – International
Standard for Describing
Institutions with Archival
Holdings
• RAD – Rules for Archival
Description
• ISAAR-CPF – International
Standard for Archival
Authority Records Corporate, Personal, Family
Archival institutions
Archival descriptions
Record creators

14. Easy to update
All these
records can
be edited by
Archeion
contributors
Archival institutions
Archival descriptions
Record creators

16. CREATING ARCHEION RECORDS

17. AUTHORITY FILES

18. Exercise 1
WALKTHROUGH OF CREATING AN
AUTHORITY RECORD

19. Exercise 1
• Complete the Identity and Description sections
for an authority record for a person, family or
organization in your finding aid
– Check that they aren’t already in Archeion first!
– Browse ‘People and organizations’ and then use the
search box on that page to search for your creator
• Your record will be publicly available once saved,
so be nice!

20. Creating new authority files
• Log in to Archeion
• Click the ‘add’ icon, then ‘Authority record’

21. Authority record editing screen

22. Identity Area

23. Mandatory fields in Identity area
(marked with red asterisk)
• Type of entity
– Corporate body, Family or Person
• Authorized form of name

24. Authorized form of personal name
• Names are formatted according to RAD
guidelines
– Surname, Forename for individuals
• Watson, Sheila
– Surname, Initials (Fornames in full)
• Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander)
– Do not put life dates in the name field
• There is a separate field for that

25. Authorized form of family name
• Names are formatted according to RAD guidelines
– Surname, (family)
• Aberneathy (family
• Wilson (family)
– RAD allows additional information to be added to
distinguish between families of the same name
• MacIntosh, Angus (family)
• MacIntosh (Elgin, Ont., family)
– This is unnecessary in Archeion, as this information can
be place elsewhere in the authority record: put it in the
appropriate section

26. Authorized form of organization name
• Names are formatted according to RAD
guidelines
– Use most recent/current name as main heading
– Names of organizations go in direct order
• Annan Women’s Institute
– Add place names if necessary for disambiguation
• Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.)
– Add earlier names under ‘Other names’
– Use ‘Parallel name’ for linguistic variants of the
same name (e.g. French vs. English versions)

27. More on organizational names
• Government names are simply the name of
the place covered by the jurisdiction
• Kitchener (Ont.)
• Names of organizations which are part of a
larger body
• St. Michael's College (Toronto, Ont.). President's
Office

28. Description Area

29. Dates of existence - formats
1924-
Living person
1837-1896
Both birth and death years known
1836 or 1837-1896
Year of birth uncertain; known to be one of two years
1837?-1896
Probable year of birth
ca. 1837-1896
Year of birth uncertain by several years
1837-ca. 1896
Approximate year of death
ca. 1837-ca. 1896
Both years approximate
b. 1825
Year of death unknown
d. 1859
Year of birth unknown
fl. 1893-1940
Years of birth and death unknown. Some years of activity known.

30. History
• ISAAR-CPF field 5.2.2 & RAD field Administrative
Remember
History/Biographical Sketch
world-wide
context…
• Include the name, birth and death dates, major
occupation, and geographical area of the
creator(s) in the biographical sketch/
administrative history.
– Adam Lindsay Webb (b. 1879) was a physician who
practised in Brighton, Ontario.

31. Important facts for History field
Corporate body
Individuals
Dates of founding and/or dissolution
Place and dates of birth and death
Mandate/sphere of responsibility
Place(s) of residence
Predecessor and successor bodies
Occupation, education and activities
Administrative structure
Names of family members

32. Other important fields
• Other forms of name
– E.g. pseudonyms, previous names
• Source
– Record any printed or online sources used in
creating the authority record

33. Save your record for now

34. Relationships Area

35. Relationships
• Separate authority files can be linked to more
than one archival description, saving
duplication of information
• Links can also be made between authority
files, e.g. predecessor/successor businesses,
associations between colleagues, family
members, places of work…

36. Allows establishment of relationships
between creators
Person
Organization
Member of
Predecessor of
Family
Organization

37. Categories of relationship
• Hierarchical
– Superior/subordinate, owner of/owned by
• Temporal
– Over time, e.g. predecessor/successor
• Family
• Associative
– Any other sort of relationship between entities

38. Links between authority files
• A link between two authority records can be
made in either record
• Once established, the link will automatically
appear in the other file

39. Exercise 2
CREATE A LINK
BETWEEN TWO
AUTHORITY RECORDS

40. Exercise 2
• Either
– Create a new authority file and establish a link to
it from your first record
• Or
– Establish a relationship between your first record
and an existing Archeion authority file
• Check to see that the link appears in both
records

41. Final tips for authority files
• If the person/family/organization is already in
the system, link to that description, editing it if
you have useful additional information
• The authority files are a community resource
– Don’t belong to single institutions
• Trying to avoid Wikipedia-style editing wars

42. ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTIONS

43. Archival descriptions
• Form is designed to reflect the fields in the
Rules for Archival Description
• ‘Archeion for Archivists’ manual acts as a RADrefresher for the fields required by Archeion
• It is easier to create authority files for creators
of archives before you start on the archival
description

44. Mandatory fields
• Title proper
• Physical description
• Level of description
• Scope and content
• Repository
• Language (of materials)
• Name of creator
• Restrictions on access
• Date
• Finding aids

45. RAD: THE
IMPORTANT BITS

46. RAD areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Title
Edition
Class of material specific details
Dates of creation
Physical description
Series area
Archival description
Notes
Standard number

47. Important RAD areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Title
Edition
Class of material specific details
Dates of creation
Physical description
Series area
Archival description
Notes
Standard number

50. Exercise 3
WALKTHROUGH
OF CREATING A
RAD-COMPLIANT
ARCHIVAL
DESCRIPTION

51. Title Area
• 1.1B3 Title proper [Required]
• Enter the name of the person, family, or
corporate body responsible for the creation of
the records, followed by the word fonds. If the
unit being described is an artificially
accumulated collection, use the word
collection instead of fonds

52. Examples
• Anthony Adamson and Marion MacRae fonds
• Frederick Hagan fonds
• Kingston General Hospital photograph
collection
• Proctor family fonds

53. Title Area
• 1.0A4 Level of Description
• For a top-level description, choose either
Fonds or Collection.

54. Title Area
• Repository (not in RAD) [Required]
• Start typing the name of your repository and
click on it to associate the repository with the
description
• N.B. If you don’t, you won’t be able to edit
your record once you’ve saved it!

55. Title Area
• Identifier (not in RAD)
• If you have a reference number for the
material, enter it here

56. Dates of creation area
• This is where you link the authority record to
the archival description
– It’s the act of creation which forms the connection
between the two types of file

61. Dates of creation area
• 1.4B Date
• Give the date(s) of creation of the unit being
described either as a single date, or range of
dates (for inclusive dates and/or predominant
dates). Always give the inclusive dates. When
providing predominant dates, specify them as
such, preceded by the word predominant.
• If there is no date, provide an estimated date in
square brackets. Do not use ‘n.d.’ or ‘undated’

62. Examples
•
•
•
•
1890
1934-1955
[ca. 1875]-1954
1812-1903, predominant 1845-1867

63. Uncertain/probable dates
[1867?]
[ca. 1867]
[before 1867]
[after 5 Jan. 1867]
[1892 or 1893]
[between 1915 and
1918]
[197-]
[186-?]
[17–]
[17–?]
probable date
approximate date
terminal date
terminal date
one year or the other
use only for dates fewer
than 20 years apart
decade certain
probable decade
century certain
probable century

64. Machine-readable dates
• Automatically
created fields
• To allow for
date searching,
ensure that the
‘start’ and ‘end’
dates make
sense

65. Physical description area [Required]
• 1.5B
• At all levels of description, record the extent of
the unit being described by giving the number of
physical units and their nature
• Record all the different types of materials found,
starting each on a new line
• Use metric measurements

66. Examples
•
•
•
•
ca. 200 photographs
50 maps
21cm of textual records
102 posters : silkscreen ; 60 x 90 cm, 40 x 60
cm and smaller

67. Archival description area
• 1.7
• This area contains the core of your archival
description, including information on the
creator(s) of the material and the nature of
the material itself

68. Custodial history
• 1.7C
• Use this field to record the changes of
ownership of the archival materials, if
known, since their creation
• If the records were received directly from their
creator, record this information under
‘Immediate source of acquisition’ (1.8B12)

69. Scope and content [Required]
• 1.7D
• Give information about the functions and/or kinds of
activities generating the records, the period of time, the
subject matter, and the geographical area to which they
relate
• Give a succinct overview in the first sentence, e.g.:
– Fonds consists of records created and received by A.L. Webb,
primarily relating to his medical practice.
• Summarize the arrangement and structure of the records
and the form that they take

70. Examples
• Fonds consists of Anthony Richmond's records pertaining
to his career as a scholar and includes his research files,
professional files, manuscripts, as well as his personal
files.
• The collection consists of records of various private
businesses which operated in Hastings County, Ontario,
which were gathered as a unit by the Hastings County
Historical Society. Various kinds of activities and
occupations are represented: collection of duties; public
utilities; loan; general merchants; grocery; temperance;
insurance; engineering; surveying; railway…

71. Notes area
• In RAD, a bit of a rag-bag of fields.
• In Archeion, only three of these are
mandatory
• We’ll look briefly at some of the more useful
fields

72. Physical condition
• 1.8B9a
• Note anything about the physical condition of the
material being described that affects the clarity
or legibility of the records
• Also consider noting if the material has suffered
mould damage, even if it does not affect the
legibility of the records, as a warning to potential
users

73. Language [Required]
• 1.8B14
• Start typing the name of the language of the
archival materials and select it from the dropdown list. You can add as many languages as
you need. Enter the predominant language(s)
first.

74. Immediate source of acquisition
• 1.8B12
• Enter information about the donor from
whom you obtained the records
• Only information about the holder of the
record immediately prior to their transfer to
the archives should be recorded in this field

75. Restrictions on access [Required]
• 1.8B16a
• Enter information about any applicable
restrictions on researchers' ability to view the
material

76. Examples
• Open
• Access restrictions apply to Series
5, Restricted Originals.
• Several files and photographs within the
collection have restricted access due to the
information they contain. Access to brittle
documents may be restricted.

77. Finding aids [Required]
• 1.8B17
• Enter here information on any finding aids
available for this fonds or collection, including
lists, catalogues, and inventories. If a finding
aid is online, you can put a hyperlink to it
here.
• If there are no finding aids, write 'None'.

78. Rights
• 1.8B16b
• Indicate the copyright status, literary rights,
patents or any other rights pertaining to the
unit being described

80. Access points
• Archeion has a place-name gazetteer and a list
of (very general) subject headings
• Start typing a place name or subject and
choose it from the drop-down list to add it to
your description

81. PUBLISHING YOUR DESCRIPTION

82. Publishing descriptions
• Possible rights in relation to archival descriptions:
–
–
–
–
Create
Edit
Delete
Publish
• Archivists generally only have the right to
edit, create, delete and publish their own
institution’s descriptions
• Rights are customizable for each user of Archeion

83. Tips
• Descriptions do not have to be completed in one sitting
• Work can be saved at any time by clicking the 'Create' button at the
bottom of the editing window (it then becomes a ‘Save’ button)
• Save frequently to avoid being logged out and losing work
• An archival description is not visible to the public (or to search
engines) until its status is changed from ‘draft’ to ‘published’ in the
Administration area
• Descriptions can be edited at any time, before or after publication,
to correct them or add new information

84. More tips
• Be concise
• Put key information at the start of longer text
fields, particularly:
– History of person/family/corporate body
– Scope and content
• Remember you are writing for a global
audience
– The reader is (probably) not in your building

85. MORE COOL THINGS YOU CAN DO
WITH ARCHEION

86. Exercise 4
WALKTHROUGH OF ADDING
LOWER LEVELS OF DESCRIPTION

87. Adding lower levels of description

88. Display of lower levels

89. Adding digital objects
• Digital materials can be added to archival
descriptions at any level
– You might want an image at fonds- or collection-level
to represent the whole group of records
– Or you could associate a digital object from a
description of an item
• You can either upload objects to Archeion (cost
implication) or link to objects hosted elsewhere
(free)

90. Adding digital objects

92. Exercise 5
WALKTHROUGH
OF ADDING
DIGITAL
OBJECTS

93. Adding digital objects

95. Archeion: a community resource

96. Any questions/concerns?
• @AAOArcheion
• archeion@aao-archivists.ca