Archiving the Avant Garde

ARCHIVING THE AVANT GARDE: DOCUMENTING AND PRESERVING VARIABLE MEDIA ART

Putting Together an EAD-Encoded Finding Aid for Museum or Archival Collections

EAD HEADER (information about the digital finding aid itself)
Since this information will change little, except the Title and encoder info, you could probably just create a template once with a text-editor and cut/paste it into future finding aids, or use an SGML author like SQ AUTHOR/EDITOR.

<!doctype ead public "-//Society of American Archivists//dtd ead.dtd (Encoded Archival Description (ead) Version 1.0)//en" "ead.dtd">
<ead id="bampfa-hofmann">
<eadheader>
<eadid></eadid>
<filedesc>
<titlestmt>
<titleproper>Hans Hofmann Collection at the UC Berkeley Art Museum</titleproper>
</titlestmt>
<publicationstmt>
<repository>University of California, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive</repository>
<lb>
2625 Durant Ave<lb>
Berkeley, CA 94720<lb>
(510) 642-0808<lb>
fax: (510) 642-4889<lb>
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/<lb>
© 1998 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.</publicationstmt>
</filedesc>
<profiledesc>
<creation>Encoded by Richard Rinehart, 1998</creation>
</profiledesc>
</eadheader>

FRONTMATTER or ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTION (essays, bios, collection overviews, etc)
Again, one could create a template here with a text-editor and just cut/paste in variable text such as the essays, scopecontent notes, and control access points inside the appropriate tags, or use an SGML author like SQ AUTHOR/EDITOR.

<archdesc level="collection"><did></did>
<controlaccess>
<subject source="ULAN" normal="Hans Hofmann"></subject>
<genreform source="AAT" normal="paintings, drawings"></genreform>
<corpname source="AAT" normal="abstract expressionist"></corpname>
</controlaccess>
<bioghist><head>Biography of Hans Hofmann</head>
Hans Hofmann created a distinctive primordial world
of color and light. He realized that in
painting, unlike in nature, cause and
effect are reversed: on canvas, color
creates light......</bioghist>
<scopecontent><head>Scope and Content of Collection</head>The Hofmann collection at Berkeley is the largest public collection of his works in the world. Including 50 paintings and numerous drawings and sketches both independent and related to the paintings....</scopecontent>

You could end the finding aid here, by just adding the closing </archdesc></ead> tags and you would have a short, collection-level finding aid. OR you could add the third section......

OBJECT or CONTAINER LIST (object records individually and in groupings)
Sample here shows one object record in a simple, non-heirarchical list. The markup starting with <co1> and ending with </co1> would be repeated for each object. You would probably want to generate this markup automatically, either directly when exporting from a database as text, or one could export from a database as tab-delimited text then create a macro or script in a word processsing program which would go down, line by line, and automatically insert the correct tags. The above portions would then be cut/pasted onto this list to complete the finding aid.

<dsc type="in-depth">
<co1 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
<did>
<daogrp>
<daoloc altrender="link" HREF="http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/images/1ref.jpg" role="reference"></daoloc>
<daoloc altrender="inline" HREF="http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/images/1thu.jpg" role="thumbnail"></daoloc>
</daogrp>
<origination><persname>Hans Hofmann</persname></origination>
<unittitle>Painting No. 12</unittitle>
<unitdate>1945</unitdate>
<physdesc>
<physfacet type="context-archaeological-excavationplace" source="CDWA">found during dig in Antilles</physfacet>
<physfacet type="materials-description" source="CDWA">oil on canvas</physfacet>
<physfacet type="materials-processes" source="CDWA">painted with mop</physfacet>
<dimensions>40 x 60 inches</dimensions>
</physdesc>
<repository>Berkeley Art Museum</repository>
<unitid>1909.4.45</unitid>
</did>
<admininfo><custodhist>Gift of Mr and Mrs. McGillicutty</custodhist></admininfo>
<odd><head>Transcription</head>"This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you, dear Snoopy"</odd>
<odd><head>Condition</head>Painting is in bad shape, having been painted with a mop, then for some reason, buried and dug up in Antilles</odd>
<controlaccess>
<head>Classification: </head>
<genreform source="AAT">paintings</genreform>
</controlaccess>
</co1>
</dsc>
</archdesc>
</ead>

These three parts, put together in this order, would form one complete, detailed finding aid.

Further examples of simple and heirarchical container lists

The simplest container list would be a series of repeated object records with no heirarchy, such the one below. This example assumes a list of individual items (museum-style) but you could use this same structure for lists of paper/archival materials by changing the level attribute "item" to "series" and describing different portions of the archive.

<dsc>
<co1 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co1>
<co1 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co1>
<co1 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co1>
</dsc>

A slightly heirarchical list would allow you to group items together based on several principles. For instance, you could have a finding aid describing the entire collection of a single artist. Each subgrouping in the larger container list could group together all the materials that were part of one work - i.e. all the documentation, photographs, artists writings, related to one work.

<dsc>
<co1 level="series" id="bampfa-hofmann"><did></did>
<scopecontent>
This group includes several items related to the performace of Exilee in 1997....
</scopecontent>
<co2 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co2>
<co2 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co2>
</co1>
<co1 level="series" id="bampfa-hofmann"><did></did>
...........

Or a finding aid might describe a larger collection including several artists. Each subgrouping could then list the works by that artist, with possible subsubgroupings brining together individual works. For instance

<dsc>
<co1 level="series" id="bampfa-hofmann"><did></did>
<scopecontent>
This group includes works by artist X....
</scopecontent>
<co2 level="subseries" id="bampfa-hofmann">
<scopecontent>
This group includes several items related work Y by artist X....
</scopecontent>
<co3 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co3>
<co3 level="item" id="bampfa-hofmann">
[other elements]
</co3>
</co2>
</co1>
<co1 level="series" id="bampfa-hofmann"><did></did>
...........

DC Element Variable Media Art Works Variable Media
Technology Encoded Archival Description CDWA MARC

title title
Letters Through Time name
Flash or
Macintosh G4 unittitle title title (245)

creator artist
Jay
Fish creator
Macromedia Inc. or
Apple Computer Inc. origination creation-creator title (100)

subject genre
net art subject subject matter-index terms subject (6xx)

description keywords
email, memory
biography
born in...
statement
I remember...
original url
http://coyoteyip
link to variable media questionnaire
elements of appearance, function, and behavior description
interface-controller
network role
server-side
or
client-side scopecontent descriptive note note (520)

date date created
01/23/99 date released
09/22/98 unitdate creation - date publish (260)

type Type
interactive Type
Browser or Plugin or Server or robotics genreform object type (007)

identifier Unique ID
09933
current url
http://rhizom unitid repository no. note (024)

contributor Contributors-agents
Commissioner: New Langton Arts co-creators-partners
Torchmate Inc. origination creation-commission anywhere (700)

format Links to software & hardware
(See at right) format
application or
os or hardware or installation physdesc materials - techniques (007)

language Human language English base code
C++ lang inscriptions

publisher current presenter
coyoteyip current owner -distributor Macromedia repository current locate-repository name reproduction
Note (533n)

rights rights and parameters
owners & restrictions rights and permissions owners & restrictions admininfo copyright - restrictions rights (540a)

coverage version
1.0
storage size
15mb
storage location CD no. 15 version
4.0 or
PPC 604 chip
storage size
45mb
storage location CD no. 16 geogname measurements publish (651)

DC Element	Variable Media Art Works	Variable Media Technology	Encoded Archival Description	CDWA	MARC
title	title Letters Through Time	name Flash or Macintosh G4	unittitle	title	title (245)
creator	artist Jay Fish	creator Macromedia Inc. or Apple Computer Inc.	origination	creation-creator	title (100)
subject	genre net art		subject	subject matter-index terms	subject (6xx)
description	keywords email, memory biography born in... statement I remember... original url http://coyoteyip link to variable media questionnaire elements of appearance, function, and behavior	description interface-controller network role server-side or client-side	scopecontent	descriptive note	note (520)
date	date created 01/23/99	date released 09/22/98	unitdate	creation - date	publish (260)
type	Type interactive	Type Browser or Plugin or Server or robotics	genreform	object type	(007)
identifier	Unique ID 09933 current url http://rhizom		unitid	repository no.	note (024)
contributor	Contributors-agents Commissioner: New Langton Arts	co-creators-partners Torchmate Inc.	origination	creation-commission	anywhere (700)
format	Links to software & hardware (See at right)	format application or os or hardware or installation	physdesc	materials - techniques	(007)
language	Human language English	base code C++	lang	inscriptions
publisher	current presenter coyoteyip	current owner -distributor Macromedia	repository	current locate-repository name	reproduction Note (533n)
rights	rights and parameters owners & restrictions	rights and permissions owners & restrictions	admininfo	copyright - restrictions	rights (540a)
coverage	version 1.0 storage size 15mb storage location CD no. 15	version 4.0 or PPC 604 chip storage size 45mb storage location CD no. 16	geogname	measurements	publish (651)