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Presentation
The Revised DACS Principles in Action: Applying Modern Practice to Legacy Description
Conference of Intermountain Archivists
  • Ryan Lee, Brigham Young University
  • Rebecca A. Wiederhold, Brigham Young University
  • Becky Skeen, Utah State University
  • Paul Daybell, Utah State University
  • Heather Housley, Utah State University
  • Kelly Rovegno, Utah State University
Document Type
Presentation
Location
Logan, UT
Publication Date
5-10-2023
Abstract

Since SAA revised DACS's archival description principles from 8 concepts into 11 reworked value statements in 2019, archivists have wondered how to incorporate the revised principles into existing description practices. Archivists from BYU and USU libraries have undertaken large projects on legacy collections informed by these principles. We invite attendees to learn from our experiences in implementing current DACS principles while grappling with less-than-ideal records. BYU will describe a project to revise the description of a significant collection of Mesoamerican materials after discovering the finding aid had serious problems introduced by previous revisions by archivists. USU will describe an undertaking to create over 2,500 University Archives collection descriptions from a shelf list and revising based on the new DACS principles. This joint session will demonstrate straightforward ways that two academic libraries have incorporated the DACS principles into archivists' day-to-day work.

Citation Information
Lee, R., Wiederhold, B., Skeen, B., Daybell, P., Housley, H., & Rovegno, K. (2023). The Revised DACS Principles in Action: Applying Modern Practice to Legacy Description. Conference of Intermountain Archivists. Logan, UT. May 10-12