EAC and the Development of National and European Gateways to Archives

Abstract

SUMMARY In the development of gateways to archives there are two different approaches, one focusing on the descriptions of the material and the other on the creators. Search and retrieval with precision and quality require controlled access points and name authority control. National registries of private archives have a long tradition in implementing the concept of archival authority records for corporate bodies, persons and families. With the development of the standards ISAAR (CPF) and EAC, a foundation is laid for developing this approach in the archival community, and for the provision of common access points to library and museum resources as well. The Linking and Exploring Authority Files (LEAF) project (2001–2004) was co-funded by the European Commission Information Society Technologies Programme and a consortium of fifteen partners, libraries, archives, documentation and research centers, in ten European countries. The major objective of the LEAF project was to provide shared access to authority information from various data providers, and thereby improve search and retrieval functionalities. LEAF adopted EAC as the format for both importing and storing authority records. The user interface allows for searching on names, dates, and free text. Registered users have also the right to add annotations to records, thereby helping cataloguers in improving their quality. In cases where data providers have open access catalogues, there are links to the original authority records and related resources. The LEAF project has provided a data model and technical solutions that can be implemented in both national and international gateways to archives.