Archival metadata standards such as EAD, EAC-CPF, AAPM, RAD, ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), and DACS as well as related tools like Archivists' Toolkit, Aeon, XSLT, XQuery, and Google Refine can make the work of archivists and researchers more efficient. Standards help create consistent descriptions that allow for findability. Tools help streamline processes like arrangement, description, and access. The article also discusses how applying cybernetics concepts from systems control and communication can further aid archivists and researchers through continuous feedback loops that support efficient operation.

1. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
By Mark Custer, 2012-08-01

2. Archival Metadata Standards
 EAD, EAC-CPF
 AAPM, RAD, ISAD(G), ISAAR (CPF), DACS
 ISO 639-2, ISO-8601, EDTF 1.0

3. RelatedTools
 Archivists’Toolkit, Aeon
 XSLT, XQuery
 Google Refine

4. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
By Mark Custer, 2012/08/01

5. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
By Mark Custer, 2012/08/01

6. Three or Four Archival Odysseys,
Cybernetics, and the Root Cause of
System Failure
From the French Revolution to Mars (Planet)

7. Series 1: Standards, 1792-1999
Arrangement note: Chronological

8. Series 2: Archival Odysseys, 1967-1995
Arrangement note: Cyclical

9. Series 3: The Question, 2012 August 1
Arrangement note: Arrangement reflects existing order

10. SERIES 1

11. SERIES 1

12. “In his dramatic account of the origins of the meter in late
eighteenth-century France, KenAlder details the change
from a confounding diversity of weights and measures
under the French Monarchy—up to 250,000 different units
of weights and measures across the provinces and towns
of France—to the creation, after the French Revolution, of a
more rational system.”
SERIES 1

13. “Where the old system inhibited efficient state
administration and interregional commerce, the new
system was touted as a way to erase the arbitrary nature of
local rule.”
SERIES 1

14. SERIES 1

15. Cybernetics:
“Cybernetics is the science of effective organization, of
control and communication in animals and machines. It
is the art of steersmanship, of regulation and stability.”
SERIES 1

16. Cybernetics:
“At sea, the long ships battled with rain, wind and tides --
matters in no way predictable. However, if the man
operating the rudder kept his eye on a distant lighthouse,
he could manipulate the tiller, adjusting continuously in
real-time towards the light. This is the function of
steersmanship. ”
SERIES 1

17. Cybernetics:
“The art of securing efficient operation.”
SERIES 1

18. EADTimeline

19. 1973
19851977

20. 1993-10
1998-08

24. SERIES 2.1

25. SERIES 2.2

26. SERIES 2.3

27. SERIES 2.4

29. James B. Rhoads (5th Archivist of the U.S.)
1. Inventory System / Database
2. Analyze Research Methods / Use of Materials
3. Cybernetic Extension of the Researcher

30. James B. Rhoads (5th Archivist of the U.S.)
1. Inventory System / Database (researchers)
2. Analyze Research Methods / Use of Materials (archivists)
3. Cybernetic Extension of the Researcher (researchers & archivists)

31. SERIES 3

32. SERIES 3

33. SERIES 3

34. SERIES 3

35. 70.51%
15.99%
7.28%
4.12% 2.10%
71.50%
16.11%
7.26%
3.58% 1.54%
76.45%
13.49%
6.15% 2.94% 0.96%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Distribution of UPVs at ECU
(collections divided into quintiles of relative size*)

36. 0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
UPVS
HOURS PER YEAR
FY2010

37. SERIES 3

38. SERIES 3

39. SERIES 3

40. SERIES 3

41. SERIES 3

51. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
By Mark Custer, 2012/08/01

52. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
By Mark Custer, 2012/08/01

53. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?

54. How can archival metadata
standards and related tools make the
work of both archivists and
researchers more efficient?
questions?
“Search, for some thoughts, thy own suggesting mind;
And others, dictated by heavenly power,
Shall rise spontaneous in the needful hour.”