SAA’s new Dictionary of Archives Terminology has superseded this Glossary as of 4/29/2020.

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I.5 This set of general rules for archival description is part of a process that willa. ensure the creation of consistent, appropriate, and self explanatory descriptions;b. facilitate the retrieval and exchange of information about archival material;c. en

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p. 7
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I.5 This set of general rules for archival description is part of a process that will
a. ensure the creation of consistent, appropriate, and self explanatory descriptions;
b. facilitate the retrieval and exchange of information about archival material;
c. enable the sharing of authority data; and
d. make possible the integration of descriptions from different locations into a unified information system.

¶ I.6 The rules accomplish these purposes by identifying and defining twenty-six (26) elements that may be combined to constitute the description of an archival entity. The structure and content of the information in each of these elements should be formulated in accordance with applicable national rules. As general rules, these are intended to be broadly applicable to descriptions of archives regardless of the nature or extent of the unit of description. However, the standard does not define output formats, or the ways in which these elements are presented, for example, in inventories, catalogues, lists, etc.

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