EAG2012

Describing archival institutions using Encoded Archival Guide (EAG)

The Archives Portal Europe provides comprehensive information about institutions with archivals holdings in the "Directory". Often the self-description of an institution is the first step to become visible in the European archival landscape, even without having archival descriptions online. The description of an archival institution is encoded in EAG/XML. The Archives Portal Europe enables content providers to create EAG/XML files within the provided tools: the Dashboard and the Data Preparation Tool.

This page provides an overview of the XML standard Encoded Archival Guide (EAG) in its version of 2012, which has been developed within the APEx project in the context of expanding and enhancing the Archives Portal Europe. EAG2012, forthwith referred to as EAG, is the result of reviewing the existing version EAG 0.2, created initially in the context of the Censo-Guía de los Archivos de España e Iberoamérica, and relating this to the International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings (ISDIAH) as published by the International Council on Archives (ICA).

EAG documentation

• The page on "Describing institutions" defines the information recommended to be given and provides constituent examples according to the elements of ISDIAH.
• The "Tag library" shows how such information is to be encoded in EAG.
• The EAG schema in formats XSD, RNC and RNG and xslt stylesheet to convert EAG 0.2 to EAG2012 can be downloaded over here:
  • EAG2012 XSD schema (XSD schema file for EAG2012 as used for creation and validation in the Archives Portal Europe)
  • EAG2012 rnc and rng (RNC and RNG files for EAG2012 (not official launched yet)
  • EAG2012 stylesheet (XSLT stylesheet to convert EAG 0.2 to EAG2012)