Manual of Archival Description

Margaret Procter has worked at Liverpool University, UK as both archivist and records manager since 1995. She has been involved with the University’s Archival Description Project since 1987, and has also held archival posts in business, local authority and specialist repositories. Among her other publications are guides to sources and professional training material. Michael Cook is Senior Research Fellow of LUCAS (Liverpool University Centre for Archive Studies) and was, for many years, University Archivist and international consultant in Archive Studies. He is a well-known author of articles and books on archival practice, including The Management of Information from Archives, also published by Gower. He is a Registered Member of the Society of Archivists and a member of the International Council on Archives and the Records Management Society.

• Contents: Introduction; Organization of the manual. The Nature of an Archival Description: What are archives?; Archival arrangement; The function of a finding aids system; Levels of archival description; The multi-level rule; Fitting levels together: headnotes, title pages and linked files; The two modes of archival description; Depth of description; Other aspects of archival description. The Data Structure of an Archival Description: The purpose of data structure in archival description; How the table of data elements is made up; Summary table of data elements; General rules for the table of data elements; Specific rules for the use of data elements. Models for Description: Models for description; Standard listing conventions. Typology of Archival Descriptions. Special Formats: Introduction to special formats; Title deeds; Letters and correspondence; Photographs; Cartographic archives; Architectural and other plans; Sound archives; Film and video archives; Electronic records. Appendixes: Dictionary of technical terms; Brief bibliography; General International Standard Archival Description ISAD(G), 1994; ISAD(G)/EAD/MAD3 mapping; Index.

'Like its predecessors, it continues to be an indispensable practical guide for archivists and other information professionals engaged in the arrangements and description of archives in all their varied media and formats' Journal of Documentation 'a comprehensive guide to one of the most important aspects of archival management ... I would recommend MAD3 as it is well organized and clearly written by two writers well respected in their field.' Copyright '... well-presented and practical manual.' The Indexer ’...a vital addition to collections in those institutions with responsibility for archival storage and retrieval.’ Australian Library journal