Encoded Archival Description at Duke Medical Center Archives
Since 1977, Duke University Medial Center Archives has created paper-based and electronic listings of the contents of collections. Most listings provided titles of folders within collections and were ordered by accession date. Few collections contained accession information, scope or content notes, biographical information, or series divisions of intellectual control.
In 2003, Medical Center Archives began to review collections, update listings, and write contextual narratives about collections in order to provide more complete information for researchers. Updated finding aids now include administrative information, scope and content notes, biographical or historical information, collection access terms, and series listings where applicable. Our finding aids are encoded (using XML) in Encoded Archival Description (EAD), a standard, non-proprietary system for descriptive markup of archival materials.
EAD allows for information within finding aids to be "tagged" so that it is searchable and navigable over the web. EAD uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) which allows for consistent markup and processing of the same types of document by different operators and systems. Many other archival repositories in North Carolina are also using EAD as a means to present online finding aids. The EAD standard itself and the EAD home page are maintained by the Library of Congress.
Our encoded findings aid can be searched using the specific fields of Personal Name, Corporate Name, Subject, or Geographic Location. All collections may be searched using the Free Text choice.
Please contact us about collections that are not yet represented.
Also note: Archival records of the Duke University are managed by University Archives. Medical Records are managed by Health Information Management.