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Unit: LTS Special Materials
Date last reviewed: June 2021 November 2022
Date of next review: August 20212023
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Note:
DACS rules are intended to apply to finding aids as well as catalog records. Fields whose names are in boldface below are required in all DACS records.
Name of creator (if known)
Title
Date(s); Extent; Administrative/biographical history
Scope and Content; Agents
Conditions governing access
Technical access element (required if applicable)
Conditions governing use (required if applicable)
Languages and scripts of the material; Subjects
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Name of creator (if known): If the creator's name is not already established in ArchivesSpace, search in OCLC for an authority record for it. If there isn't an authority record, and it's not clear how best to formulate the name, look it up in reference sources to see how the person/organization is known. If the name isn't there, use the form of name given in the manuscript or collection itself. If it doesn't appear in the material, search in OCLC's WorldCat to see how it appears there. If it's not in any of those places, use your best judgment to formulate the name.
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Administrative/ biographical history : (optimal, if applicable. ): Briefly describe enough of the creator's life history, or enough of the administrative history of the organization that created the collection, to help convey the nature and significance of the collection.
Scope and content: Describe the predominant forms of material in the collection, the nature and subject matter of the material, and the creator(s) if known, major correspondents, or other agents who created helped create the material. Note: If the collection is incomplete for reasons other than appraisal decisions, describe the gaps here (DACS 3.1.5).Anchor C C
Organization/arrangement: Describe the aggregations within the collection and their relationships, if applicable (DACS 3.2.2).
Example:
Organized into 3 series: Manuscripts, correspondence, and photographs. Arrangement: Manuscripts, photographs, and outgoing correspondence are in chronological order. Incoming correspondence is in alphabetical order by correspondent.
Agents
Record the name of the collection's creator and the name of the source (donor, seller, etc.) as agents. Give the names in the form of access points (generally last name first, unless the person has a single word or a phrase for a name, such as Cher or Grandmaster Caz). Look up names in OCLC to find the authorized form, and use that form, if there is one. Additional agents may include other people associated with the collection, such as a correspondent, co-author, translator, editor, collector, etc.
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Conditions governing access: RMC uses this field only when access is restricted.Anchor D D
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Some letters are illegible due to water damage.
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Technical access element (required if applicable)Anchor E E
Examples:
Correspondence from 1980 onward is on floppy disks, double sided, double density.
System requirements: Windows 95/NT; sound card; color monitor.
BetaMax.
Numerical data is recorded in an Access database.
Conditions governing use (required if applicable), e.g. restrictions on reproduction due to copyright (DACS 4.4.6, 4.4.8-9)Anchor F F
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Language(s) and script(s) of the material Now that it has implemented (in local practice, sometimes required): In ArchivesSpace, RMC requires a note on the language of the material only if the collection material is in more than one language; otherwise it treats mention of the language as optional, although it's always useful to note the language if it is not English. You may also note the alphabet or script used (such as Cyrillic, Fraktur, etc.), if noteworthy. "Script" refers to a specific script or hand (such as Gothic script, or Secretary hand), not the quality or general characteristics of the handwriting such as the use of cursive vs. block letters or the like.Anchor G G
Examples:
Letters in German; Sutterlin Suetterlin script.
Early (16th-century) documents are in Secretary hand.
Other fields we routinely use: Subjects Add subject headings and/or form/genre terms to the resource record in ArchivesSpace as appropriate. Use authorized Library of Congress Subject Headings. RMC generally uses the Art and Architecture Thesaurus as the source of its form/genre terms.
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