Indiana University Digital Library Program

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EAD at the DLP

About | Preparing to Encode Finding Aids in EAD
Checking Finding Aid Encoding | Submitting & Retrieving EAD files | Local EAD Events

About Encoded Archival Description (EAD)

EAD, or Encoded Archival Description, is the standard for encoding archival finding aids using Extensible Markup Language (XML). The standard is maintained in the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress (LC) in partnership with the Society of American Archivists. General information about the standard and the current schema and tag libraries are available at the EAD Version 2002 Official Site.

About the Documentation

The documentation below includes information about the methods by which repositories at Indiana University-Bloomington (IUB) create and deliver EAD finding aids. The information is available for all to read but some links have restricted access. Additional internal documentation for DLP partners is available on the DLP Wiki. (Note to partners: When you go to the Wiki home page, you will see the areas of the Wiki home page that have been made public. Click the "log in" link in the upper right to log in to see the private EAD Working Group space.)

Preparing to Encode Finding Aids in EAD

There are several steps involved in preparing to encode a finding aid:

Checking Finding Aid Encoding

As you encode a finding aid in Oxygen, there may be times at which you would like to see if your encoding matches the guidelines defined by the IU EAD Working Group, or see how a particular encoding will be rendered by the XTF delivery software. The DLP has built plugins for Oxygen that will assist you with these tasks.

  • Checking conformance to encoding guidelines: The EAD Working Group has agreed upon a set of encoding guidelines, with both "required" and "optional" features, for each repository submitting finding aids for delivery by the DLP. These guidelines are largely based on the RLG Best Practice Guidelines for Encoded Archival Description. You can compare a finding aid to these guidelines at any point in the encoding process as long as the EAD file validates.

    To use the "report card" plugin for Oxygen, you first need to download and install it. (Internal link that requires login.)

    Once the plugin is installed, open the EAD file to check, right-click, choose Plugins, then XTF Validator, then the name of your repository. An HTML report will open showing how well your file conformed to the repository guidelines. Fuller directions for using the plugin are available on the Wiki.

  • Previewing the display of a finding aid: During the encoding process, you may occasionally need to choose between two alternate encodings or otherwise see how a particular encoding will be rendered by the XTF delivery system used by the DLP. You can preview the display of a finding aid at any point in the encoding process as long as the EAD file validates.

    To use the "preview" plugin for Oxygen, you first need to download and install it. (Internal link that requires login.)

    Once the plugin is installed, open the EAD file to preview, right-click, choose Plugins, then XTF Preview, then the name of your repository. A window will appear showing how the currently-encoded finding aid will appear in the DLP's delivery system. Fuller directions for using the plugin are available on the Wiki.

    If the delivery system needs to be modified to support an encoding currently not rendering in an acceptable way, contact the DLP at diglib@indiana.edu.

Submitting & Retrieving EAD Files

The Digital Library Program provides an online system, Xubmit (pronounced "submit") to assist you with encoding your EAD files and sending them to the DLP for online delivery. Xubmit is located at http://algernon.dlib.indiana.edu:8080/xubmit/ (This is an internal link that requires login). When you first try to use any of Xubmit's features within a single session, you'll be asked to choose your repository. After you do that, you'll be asked to log in to IU's Central Authentication Service (CAS). If you find you do not have access, please contact the DLP at diglib@indiana.edu.

  • Submitting finding aids to the DLP: To submit a finding aid that is ready for public display, or to submit a newly-revised version of a finding aid already publicly available, follow these steps in Xubmit:

    1. Log in.
    2. Select the correct repository.
    3. Click "Open Collection."
    4. Click "Submit File".
    5. Click the "Browse" button, and locate the EAD XML file on your workstation or local network.
    6. Click the "Upload" button.
    7. If you did not validate the file before submitting it, you may choose to do this now. Click "Use Schematron to Validate." The XML file will be validated against the EAD2002 XML Schema. The results of the validation will appear on the next screen, separated into "errors" and "warnings." You can still submit files if you have errors, but be careful about doing this as markup not conforming to expectations may display strangely.
    8. If you did not preview the file before submitting it, you may choose to do this now. Click the "Preview" button to see how your file will look in the Finding Aids delivery System.
    9. The Add Log Message and Set Record Status screen allows you to enter comments about the file. These comments will appear in the retrieval interface. Comments in the "Log" box and "Status" are required.
    10. Click "Submit" to submit the file, or "Cancel" to cancel your submission.
    11. If everything went smoothly, you should see a screen confirming the submission was made.

    The finding aid you've submitted will appear in Archives Online at Indiana University the next day.

  • Retrieving EAD files from the DLP: When you need to make changes to a finding aid that has already being delivered to end-users, always get the most up-to-date version of the EAD file from Xubmit before you start editing. The system is here to save you from having to maintain up-to-date versions yourself. Follow these steps to get a file from Xubmit:

    1. Log in.
    2. Select the correct repository.
    3. Click "Open Collection."
    4. You will see a list of the files from your repository that have been submitted to the DLP. You can re-sort this list by clicking any of the column headings.
    5. Click the file you wish to retrieve. Its row should turn blue.
    6. Click the "Download" button at the top left of the screen.
    7. Save the file using the normal method for your Web browser, to whatever location you wish.

    You can also use Xubmit to delete files that are in the repository. Use this option very carefully, and only after discussing the issue with the DLP. Deleting a file from Xubmit will NOT automatically remove it from the public interface.

Local EAD Events