Basics of Archival Description Workshops
Workshop 1: Archival Description Standards
Please note: this workshop has already been held. It took place on Monday, February 22, at Hayden Library on the Arizona State University campus.
This workshop focused on providing museum professionals with the tools and resources necessary for applying acceptable archival descriptive practices to their archival collections. It provided participants with an overview of the accepted techniques and best practices of descriptive standards for archival collections and teaches them the basics of the hands-on work done by archivists.
Participants were provided with basic information on current archival descriptive standards including DACS (Describing Archives Content Standard) and the theory behind standards for minimal processing.
The workshop was led by Michael Lotstein and Catalina Oyler, archivists in the Department of Archives and Special Collections at Arizona State University's Hayden Library.
Workshop 2: Publishing Archival Finding Aids Using EAD
This workshop teaches participants how to catalog a finding aid using Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and publish the finding aid online through Arizona Archives Online, a statewide consortium for archival finding aids.
This workshop introduces participants to encoding finding aids or other collection descriptions into Encoded Archival Description (EAD). Workshop participants will learn what EAD is, why it is an important tool for archives, and the basics of coding EAD, and they will receive hands-on support in encoding a finding aid of their own. After the workshop, participants will have the option of submitting any finding aids they encoded to Arizona Archives Online, which provides free web hosting to archives. Arizona Archives Online contains archival finding aids from institutions throughout the state and provides an easy portal for researchers to locate archival collections in Arizona.
Participants should bring a finding aid or other collection description (in electronic form) that they wish to publish. Those who just want to learn EAD will be provided with finding aids.
The workshop will be led by Catalina Oyler and Michael Lotstein, archivists in the Department of Archives and Special Collections at Arizona State University's Hayden Library.
[PDF version of workshop announcement]
Time and Location
Monday, March 15
10 a.m. — 4 p.m., Computer Lab C-41, Lower Concourse (main floor; see map), Hayden Library, Arizona State University, Tempe
Parking validation at ASU is included with registration. For information on where to park on campus, click here.
Registration
The deadline for registration is March 8. Registration fees are $12 for students, $25 for FAzA or Museum Association of Arizona (MAA) members, and $35 for non-members. Registration is online through PayPal (below) or by mail.