Abstract

The Findaid Class consists of EAD2002-encoded Finding Aids. You can learn more about the ead2002 DTD and ead2002 in general at the Library of Congress ead2002 site .

Description

Basic Characteristics

The Finding Aids Class is in many ways similar in behavior to Text Class . Access minimally includes full text searching across collections or within a particular collection of Finding Aids, viewing Finding Aids in a variety of display formats, and creation of personal collections ("bookbag") of Finding Aids.

General Characteristics

• Allows search and retrieval of ead2002-endcoded Finding Aids and portions thereof
• Allows searching across multiple collections of Finding Aids simultaneously
• Allows searching of each collection independently
• Allows bookmarking of individual Finding Aids
• Requires minimal administrative data
• Uses a single data model and shared middleware for all collections in the system
• Permits access restrictions at the collection level

At the University of Michigan, the Findaid Class access system is administered by the Digital Library Production Service. XML is received on a periodic basis from a variety of organizations on campus, and DLPS handles the process of putting the data online in a production-level environment.

The Finding Aids Class provides no functionality for creating and managing electronic texts in SGML.

Typical Sources of Data

The following sources of data have influenced the process defining the Findaid Class. Other sources are possible.

• Archival and Special Collections Libraries: finding aids converted to the ead2002 DTD, especially the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan which has well-established encoding practices

Typical Applications of the Class

• Campus access
• Public access

Behaviors of the Findaid Class

• Cross-collection searching in any combination of collections
• Selection of collections
• Collection-specific searching
• Simple and Boolean searching
• Searching within a user-selected Finding Aid
• Ability to review and revise previous searches
• Viewing of sections of a Finding Aid or the full text in HTML, and display in context of search terms found
• Ability to select particular Finding Aids for saving in a session-based personal collection, or bookbag, and to download or email these

Formal Data Definition

The Findaid Class relies on a single XML Document Type Definition (DTD) to deliver all collections in the class which is essentially ead2002 DTD (see the Library of Congress ead2002 site), with one extra wrapping element. The XML is then indexed with XPAT and made searchable on the Web by the Findaid Class middleware.

Representative Resource(s)

Bentley Historical Library Finding Aids

University of Michigan Special Collections Finding Aids