Authenticity in Describing Archives – Standardisation vs. Institutional Mandates?
Authenticity in Describing Archives – Standardisation vs. Institutional Mandates?

Summary/Abstract: The influence institutional mandates have on the activity and results of describing archives could be risky for the value of descriptive authenticity. Different understandings of archival terminology, descriptive processes, and context models certainly influence the concept of authenticity in regard to archival description within a collection holding institution. If one will ask for authenticity matters, a model of archival description will not be sufficient in order to give insights into the factors description and its results are influenced by. Therefore, the basis of this investigation shall be the draft of a conceptual model consisting of models regarding objects of description, subjects of describing, toolkit for describing and perception. As conference proceedings, this essay highlights certain points and parts. One question is the role of “Records in Contexts Conceptual Model” (RiC-CM) as a new standard which enables priorizations of relationships, and whether it can help to put standardization and authenticity efforts closer together.

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