INFO 284-11
Seminar in Archives and Records Management
Topic: EAD - Encoded Archival Description
Spring 2021 Syllabus
| Syllabus Links Textbooks CLOs Competencies Prerequisites |
Resources Canvas Login and Tutorials iSchool eBookstore |
Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 27th, 2021, unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.
You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.
Course Description
This class will cover Encoded Archival Description (EAD), version EAD3, and provide a brief overview of Encoded Archival Context (EAC), the international standards for the presentation of archival descriptive information on the World Wide Web. A primer on additional developments in the managing and publishing of archives information is also included.
Course Requirements
Class Meetings
This class meets at the following location, dates and times:
- Via Zoom web conferencing:
- Attendance-optional code review sessions on three Wednesday evenings: Mar 3, Apr 14, May 5 - 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST. These sessions will be recorded.
- Via Canvas:
- All other course activity will take place on Canvas. There will be weekly pre-recorded lectures for each week except those weeks we have live code reviews on Zoom. All presentation files used in the weekly pre-recorded lectures, including the weekly lectures themselves, will be available separately for download via Canvas. Some weeks may have light reading. Each week's lesson will have a discussion board on Canvas for you to post questions and share code. This is an ungraded/unmonitored discussion.
Assignments and Grading
With the exception of Week 1, the course is structured as a series of Monday-Sunday weeks. Most assignments are due on Sundays at 11:59 PM PST and submitted via the page created for each Assignment (Encoding Assignment or Exercise) on the Canvas site.
All due dates are noted below and will be posted on the Course Calendar on Canvas.
Grading will be based on a total accumulation of 100 possible points, distributed as follows:
| Four online exercises @ 10 points each | 40 points |
| Three short encoding assignments @20 points each | 60 points |
Due Dates
Please submit all assignments to their respective Assignment area on Canvas. Mandatory file naming conventions for assignments will be discussed at the introductory class meeting. If you are not sure how to use Canvas Assignments and submit assignments, please consult the Canvas online tutorials.
If there is a discrepancy between a posted date on this syllabus, and any date on a Canvas assignment or the Calendar tool on Canvas, the syllabus date shall prevail.
All assignments are due by 11:59 p.m. on their respective due date. Late submissions or failure to adhere to the established file naming convention will cause a loss of 10% of the grade for that assignment.
| Encoding Assignment 1 - This supports CLO#4, CLO#5, CLO#7 | Mar 7 |
| Encoding Assignment 2 - This supports CLO#3, CLO#4, CLO#5, CLO#7 | Apr 18 |
| Encoding Assignment 3 - This supports CLO#3, CLO#4, CLO#5, CLO#7 | May 9 |
| Exercise 1 - This supports CLO#1, CLO#2, CLO#6 |
Feb 14 |
| Exercise 2 - This supports CLO#4, CLO#5, CLO#6 | Feb 28 |
| Exercise 3 - This supports CLO#4 | Apr 11 |
| Exercise 4 - This supports CLO#3, CLO#6 | May 2 |
Readings
There is no regular reading schedule for this course. Each week you learn new elements of an element set. The EAD Tag Library is your reading for most weeks. There are a few readings/tutorials and other sites provided via Canvas. These readings are links to web resources or are documents available for download.
Course Schedule
This schedule is subject to change with fair notice.
- Week 1:(1/27) Introduction to the course, background on EAD
- Week 2:(2/1) EAD structure overview, elements: control and archdesc
- Week 3:(2/8) upper-level did; Exercise 1 due
- Week 4:(2/15) elements up to, but not including, the dsc - part 1
- Week 5:(2/22) code review week for Encoding Assignment 1 - NO lecture; Exercise 2 due
- Week 6:(3/1) archdesc elements up to, but not including, the dsc - part 2; Encoding Assignment 1 due
- Week 7:(3/8) dsc - week 1
- Week 8:(3/15) dsc - week 2
- Week 9:(3/22) providing subject access in EAD: controlaccess
- Spring Break is March 29 - April 2. There is no course activity this week.
- Week 10:(4/5) code review week for Encoding Assignment 2 - NO lecture; Exercise 3 due
- Week 11:(4/12) encoding analogs and crosswalking; Encoding Assignment 2 due
- Week 12:(4/19) linking in EAD, stylesheets in EAD
- Week 13:(4/26) EAC - Encoded Archival Context; Exercise 4 due
- Week 14:(5/3) code review week for Encoding Assignment 3 - NO lecture; Encoding Assignment 3 due
- Week 15:(5/10) developments in managing and publishing archival information; Updating EAD!
Course Workload Expectations
Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.
Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.
Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.
Course Prerequisites
INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204, other prerequisites may be added depending on content.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Explain the origins of SGML/XML, the concept of a Document Type Definition (DTD) and XML schema.
- Explain the concept of text markup and how it enables text to be viewed on the World Wide Web with the use of a browser, along with basic client-server concepts.
- Explain the history of EAD/EAC, their development, relationships to other archival descriptive standards such as ISAD(G), ISAAR-CPF, and DACS, and significance for the archival community.
- Identify the structure of the EAD DTD, its element composition and other aspects, and how those elements relate to the individual components of an archival collection guide.
- Identify tools developed to aid in the encoding process.
- Identify consortia and individual institutions that have utilized EAD/EAC to markup and post their collection guides and authority records online.
- Markup a simple finding aid for viewing on the World Wide Web.
Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)
INFO 284 supports the following core competencies:
- G Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information such as classification and controlled vocabulary systems, cataloging systems, metadata schemas or other systems for making information accessible to a particular clientele.
- H Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies.
Textbooks
Recommended Textbooks:
- Technical Subcommittee for Encoded Archival Description of the Society of American Archivists (2015). Encoded Archival Description Tag Library - Version EAD3. Society of American Archivists. Available through Amazon: 193166689X Also available as Free Download from SAA: http://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/TagLibrary-VersionEAD3.pdf
Grading Scale
The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:
| 97 to 100 | A |
| 94 to 96 | A minus |
| 91 to 93 | B plus |
| 88 to 90 | B |
| 85 to 87 | B minus |
| 82 to 84 | C plus |
| 79 to 81 | C |
| 76 to 78 | C minus |
| 73 to 75 | D plus |
| 70 to 72 | D |
| 67 to 69 | D minus |
| Below 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified. - A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).
University Policies
Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.
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