Recommended Tools and Resources

This page contains links to tools and resources, such as EAD validators, free XML editing software, convertors, web applications, and others recommended by the EAS Section. EAS cannot provide support for the tools and resources that it does not host or maintain, which includes most of the content listed below. Please send your suggestions for other tools and resources to eas.section.saa@gmail.com and we will add them here.

Validation Tools

Archives Portal Europe's Data Preparation Tool (DPT) manual
While developed for local, off-line preparation of data for publication in the Archives Portal Europe, the Data Preparation Tool (DPT) also works as a general means to validate data against EAD 2002 (DTD and XSD), EAD3, EAC-CPF, and EAG 2012. It furthermore is possible to use the tool with your own stylesheets and schemas to convert and validate. The DPT is a Java-based tool with interface in Dutch, English, French, German, and Greek.

Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek Data Prepation Tool
The DDB Data Preparation Tool is an open source application for the preparation of data in EAD format for ingest in the German Digital Library and the Archives Portal Germany (Archivportal-D. The DDB DPT uses Python to validate archival XML files.

EAS Validator
The EAS Validator is a free online EAS validation tool maintained by the Technical Subcommittee on Encoded Archival Standards (TS-EAS). The validator works with EAD Version 2002, EAD3, and EAC-CPF (versions 1, 1.1, and draft 2).

Conversion Tools

AtoM
AtoM (Access to Memory) provides command line tools to import CSV metadata and export EAD. Even though AtoM is a complete Archival Information System, it can also be used just for converting data to EAD.

EAD to TSV transformer
The "ead-numbered-components_to_tsv" is an XSLT file for transforming an EAD file with numbered components into a TSV file listing all of the components of a collection's description. This transformation is useful for getting all of the Archival Object/component/container records from a collection's EAD file into a spreadsheet. Then the spreadsheet can be used for batch editing and cleanup of archival data.

MarcEdit
MarcEdit is a metadata editing software suite used primarily to create and manipulate MARC records. MarcEdit can be used to quickly convert between various encoding standards, including MARCXML to MARC, EAD to HTML, and EAD to MARC.

RiC-O converter 
A tool to convert EAC-CPF and EAD 2002 XML files to RDF datasets conforming to Records in Contexts Ontology (RiC-O). This repository includes the converter, some examples files and documentation. The converter is written mostly using XSLT stylesheets, wrapped in a Java command-line application.

Steady
Steady is a free web application for converting spreadsheets to EAD 2002.

XML Editors

Archives Hub EAD Editor
The EAD Editor is an online cataloguing tool for creating descriptions in EAD (collection-level and multi-level) to the Archives Hub standard. It does not require knowledge of EAD, but it creates interoperable descriptions that can be supplied to the Hub and used elsewhere.

EADitor
EADitor is an open source, XForms-based editing and publication tool for Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids.

Notepad++
Notepad++ is a free source code editor that is useful for editing and validating XML files. Download and install the XML Tools plugin for a set of useful tools for editing XML with Notepad++.

Oxygen XML Editor and JATSKit add-on
Oxygen XML Editor is a proprietary multi-platform XML editor, XSLT/XQuery debugger and profiler. Oxygen is not free to use. The JATSKit add-on is an Oxygen framework for JATS, BITS, and kindred XML formats. JATSKit is open source and supports the latest NISO JATS DTDs and models, including JATS 1.1 (Publishing and Article Authoring) and NLM BITS 2.0, while at the same time (due to their “family resemblances”) it is fully adaptable and potentially useful with any variant or flavor of an NLM or NLM-like DTD or schema.

Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a free text editor from Microsoft, available on multiple platforms. Visual Studio Code also has an XML plugin that is helpful for editing EAD.

Reference

EAD Bibliography
The EAD Bibliography attempts to be a comprehensive list of published works on Encoded Archival Description and its use. The bibliography is maintained as a public group bibliography using the open source Zotero citation management software. Please contact eas.section.saa@gmail.com to request any additions to the bibliography.

EADiva
EADiva, created and maintained by Ruth Kitchin Tillman, is a user-friendly site and tag library for people who are learning EAD or who simply need an easy-to-understand EAD reference.

Encoded Archival Standards: A Primer
The Encoded Archival Standards primer introduces new users to Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and Encoded Archival Contexts - Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF). Written by Kathy Wisser with the assistance of Betts Coup, Adrian Turner, and Caitlin Wells, the primer outlines the purposes, contexts, and histories of each standard, and gives introductions to each standard’s structure and content.

Local Best Practice Guides

Texas Archival Resources Online Best Practices Guidelines 2022
Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) is a freely accessible platform for searching finding aids from repositories across Texas, including museums, governments, universities, and historical societies to name a few. The Best Practices Guidelines (BPG) exists to help repositories get their content online and promote discovery by offering best practices, website requirements, and encoding guidelines.

Legacy EAS Resources

EAS has had limited roles in hosting and/or maintaining the resources listed in this section. Most of the legacy resources listed below have not been updated for some time or have had significant gaps between updates.

EAD Cookbook
This package, originally maintained by Michael Fox, provides encoding guidelines, stylesheets, and software tools to work with EAD. Versions of the cookbook for both EAD 1.0 and EAD 2002 are available. NOTE: The EAS Section cannot provide support for this package. The EAD Cookbook is available in a GitHub repository. Information on using Github can be found on the site's extensive help pages.

EAD Starter Kit, Example Files, and Stylesheets
The EAS Section maintains a GitHub repository containing an EAD starter kit, example EAD specimens and files that can be used for testing and pedagogical purposes, and various stylesheets for transforming or converting EAD. Information on using Github can be found on the site's extensive help pages.