Summary

The Records in Context - Conceptual Model (RiC-CM) is a model for archival
description that integrates and reconciles the four existing ICA descriptive standards (ISAD, ISAAR, ISDF and ISDIAF). In 2012, the International Council for Archives (ICA) appointed the Experts Group on Archival Description (EGAD) to develop this archival conceptual model. It is currently in draft format.

Details

The new archival conceptual model will address the limitations of the existing four ICA standards for archival description, giving a new framework for archival description with clearly defined entities and all significant relationships between them. The model will also facilitate more economic processing and effective description, and will improve the discovery and enhance the understanding of records for users. Furthermore, the model will provide a solid foundation for collaboration within the archival community for providing convenient, integrated access to archival records, and for collaboration with allied professionals in providing integrated access to cultural heritage resources (EGAD, 2014).

The overarching aims of the Records in Context - Conceptual Model are to:
"-Identify and define the essential components of archival description and their interrelations;
-Promote a shared understanding of archival description;
-Position the archival community to take full advantage of opportunities presented by current and emerging communication technologies;
-Facilitate working cooperatively within the archival community as well as with allied cultural heritage communities and academic and non-academic users, in a shared quest to provide enhanced access to and understanding of the human record; and
-Respect traditional principles of archival description as well as pave the way for new understandings" (EGAD, 2014, p.1).

For more information on the structure of the model see Conceptual Model Groups: What are they? at https://web.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/ICAD/biogs/E000418b.htm

Related entries

Published resources

Reports

• ICA Experts Group on Archival Description, Records in Context: A Conceptual Model for Archival Description, Consultation Draft v0.1 September 2016, International Council on Archives, Paris, September 2016, 116 pp. Also available at https://www.ica.org/en/egad-ric-conceptual-model. Details