Presentation given by Kevin Long, Digital Data Curator on the Inspiring Ireland 1916 project at the Digital Repository of Ireland, in the Digital Humanities Active Learning Space, University College Cork, as part of a day-long DRI Training session on 'Preparing Digital Collections'. This seminar introduces attendees to the basics of arranging collections of heritage material to facilitate cataloguing and discovery. Although the Digital Repository of Ireland’s collection arrangement functionality will be discussed specifically, the themes explored in this seminar are applicable to both digital and non-digital collections.

1. Kevin Long
Digital Data Curator, Inspiring Ireland 1916 Project, Digital Repository of Ireland
Organising Your Collection

2. Digital Repository of Ireland
DRI is a trusted digital repository for Humanities and
Social Sciences Data in Ireland, launched June 2015
• Provides preservation and access to digital
collections
• Born digital and digitised collections including
maps, photographs, letters,
audio-visual, sound, books,
oral histories, paintings..
repository.dri.ie

3. Why do collections need to be organised?
Gain intellectual control over your
holdings
Facilitate access
Enhance access when collections
are properly organised
Anticipate accruals
Allow further processing for
example digitisation, disposal

4. Why organise collections in the DRI Repository
• Greater visibility for your organisation (one large
collection versus multiple collections)
• Direct researchers towards material of interest
(eg. faceting material by type, subjects)
• Allow researchers to find objects more easily
• Divide material according to theme, type, funder,
project
• Group together material with similar access
conditions
• Group together material with similar rights or
licences

5. Organising your collections
An archivist’s approach to arranging collections
How can collections be organised in the Digital Repository
of Ireland?

6. • The whole of the documents made
and received by a juridical or
physical person or organisation in
the conduct of affairs, and
preserved. (International Council
on Archives)
• Archives can be collected or
assembled by an organisation (or a
researcher)
What is an archive?

7. Core principles in archival arrangement and
description
Principle of provenance: The basic principle that
records/archives of the same provenance must not be
intermingled with those of any other provenance; frequently
referred to as "respect des fonds".
Principle of original order: The principle that archives of a single
provenance should retain the arrangement (including the
reference numbers) established by the creator in order to
preserve existing relationships and evidential significance and
the usefulness of finding aids of the creator.

8. Arranging Archives: assessing a new collection
• Undertake a review of general content and the condition of
records.
• Make note of a general overview of arrangement.
• Gather information from the donor on context of the collection’s
creation.
• Provenance: is all content from same person or organisation?
• Order of collection: identify major groupings and sub-groupings,
the filing order, missing areas and gaps. These will be based on
similar activities or function
• Physical extent and condition: how much, what types of
material?

9. Planning arrangement, imposing order
Arrangement helps the archivist to gain intellectual control over the
collection prior to description.
If the collection is well ordered, try to maintain original order where
possible. Group records into series and sub-series, maintain files, decide
whether to catalogue to item level.
If the collection has no order, survey the items and files, look for
relationships between items keeping the functions and activities of the
creator in mind.

10. • ISAD(G) – an international standard for describing
archives (but not the only one, eg. DACS, IGAD)
• Lists elements to be used, and how to fill them in – a
framework, not totally prescriptive
• 26 elements, 6 are mandatory (Reference code, Title, Name of
Creator, Dates of Creation, Extent of the Unit of Description, Level of
description)
• Describes collections which are arranged
hierarchically.
ISAD(G): International Standard for Archival
Description (General)

11. What are the levels of arrangement?
FONDS: The collection as a whole – all items associated with a single creator
SUB-FONDS: All records of an administrative sub-unit of the organisation
which created the fonds
SERIES: A group of records created or accumulated from the same function,
activity or subject
SUB-SERIES: records within a series that are readily identifiable as a
subordinate or dependent entity on the basis of classification or filing,
physical form or content.

12. What are the levels of arrangement?
FILE: documents kept together in a way that reflects particular activities,
subjects, etc. Files may also have sub-files (which should not be confused
with items). (NB: EAD does not allow you to attach digital assets to File level
descriptions)
ITEM: the smallest descriptive unit. Items are intellectual - not physical -
units and can include many separate things. A letter in a correspondence file
is an item, as is a ledger book, a photograph or an architectural drawing,
even though these items may have many separate pages.

13. Example: The Michael Healy collection
The collection comprises a portion of the 1916 diary of the stained glass
artist, painter and illustrator, Michael Healy (1873-1941); specifically it is the
period from 20th April to 17th May which encompasses the days before the
Rising, the event itself, and the aftermath.
The collection is supplemented with related material gathered and prepared
by art historian Dr. David Caron in the course of his Doctoral research on the
work of Michael Healy. This material includes typed transcripts of each diary
page, a watercolour image of a design for a stained glass window for
Clongowes College, and an illustration of the Túr Gloine studio made by the
artist Patrick Pollen.

14. Example: The Michael Healy collection
All images used with permission of NIVAL, NCAD

15. Example: The Michael Healy collection
Michael Healy Collection
(Fonds/Collection)
Michael Healy Diary Pages
(Series/sub-collection)
Research material relating
to Michael Healy
(Series/sub-collection)
Michael Healy stained glass
designs (Series/sub-
collection)
Diary page
Diary page Clongowes sketch
Clongowes photograph
David Caron transcripts
(Sub-series/sub-
collection)
Transcript Transcript
Transcript
Patrick Pollen Túr
Gloine drawing

16. Arranging archives
Are related items/files grouped together in a meaningful way?
Are series and files arranged to allow expansion if further accruals occur?
How does the arrangement relate to the original order of the documents?
How does the arrangement relate to the context of creation? Who created
or collected the records?
Does the arrangement reflect the original collection, or the digitised one?

17. https://repository.dri.ie/pages/about_lifecycle

19. Creating Your Collection
• Every object must be part of a Collection – it’s up to you how you divide
your objects. Collections can also be divided into sub-collections.
• Collections are required whether you use Dublin Core, MODS, EAD or
MARC.
• Collection metadata is similar to object metadata – Title, Date, Creator,
Description, Subjects etc.
• Collections require a cover image that represents the collection.
• Collections can be used to designate particular access permissions or
licences for objects.

24. Applying access permissions
All metadata in the Repository is publicly accessible to every user and
licensed as CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution Only)
Access options:
1. Anyone can see the metadata and assets, anyone can download your
master asset.
2. Anyone can see the metadata and assets, no one can download your
master (only the surrogate asset).
3. Anyone can see your metadata, but not the assets - unless they are
registered and logged in users.
4. Anyone can see your metadata, but not the assets, and they can contact
you via a request button in the Repository and ask you to give them access.

25. Applying access permissions

26. Applying a licence

27. Digital Object Identifiers
• Persistent identifier of a digital object on the web
• Allows easy citation of data, and for usage and impact to be tracked
• In the DRI, DOIs are in the form: http://dx.doi.org/10.7486/XXXXX
• Requires metadata for the DataCite metadata store:

28. Conclusions
• Plan arrangement before cataloguing and before deposit with DRI
• Anticipate future development of the collection
• Consider which users may wish to access your material – how can they find
what they’re looking for easily?
• How will your arrangment impact how your collections are displayed in DRI?
• There is no “right” way to organise your collections!

29. Further reading
International Standard for Archival Description (General):
http://www.icacds.org.uk/eng/ISAD(G).pdf
A Manual for Small Archives:
http://aabc.ca/media/6069/manualforsmallarchives.pdf
Archive Principles and Practice: an introduction to archives for
nonarchivists:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-
management/archive-principles-and-practice-an-introduction-to-
archives-for-non-archivists.pdf

30. @beck_grant
@dri_ireland
r.grant@ria.ie
www.repository.dri.ie
The content of this presentation is licensed as CC-BY. Please attribute to Rebecca Grant, Digital
Archivist, Digital Repository of Ireland, 2015.