Problems and Solutions in Our “New World of Archives”

SUMMARY

This article introduces the volume by making a distinction between authority control and the broader notion of context control. After exploring the differences between the two, and offering a tentative definition of context control, the article describes the organization of the volume, and summarizes the articles from the perspective of context control. The article then discusses the main themes that emerge from the articles, including criteria for identifying ‘new’ records-creating entities when some aspect of the current one changes, the role of standards, and the resources required to fully document contextual information. The article concludes by noting that this is a complex and evolving area in need of more study and reporting.     

Moving Beyond the Name: Defining Corporate Entities to Support Provenance-Based Access

SUMMARY

The second edition of the International Standard Archival Authority Records for Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (ISAAR(CPF)2) focuses on describing entities as they exist in reality, rather than on establishing authorized terms. This change allows authority records to include multiple authorized terms representing an entity as it changed over time. Traditionally, an authority record has been created for a corporate body each time its name changed. This practice results in an artificial, fragmented view of the entity, concentrating on heading control rather than on providing contextual information necessary to assist with the provenance-method of retrieval and the interpretation of the records. In order to describe entities as ISAAR(CPF)2 allows and better reflect records-creating environments, the author proposes that an authority record describe a definable unit that performs a distinct function without major temporal interruption.