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An ISAAR authority record describes the creator of records — a person, family or corporate body — as a standalone, reusable entity, separately from the records they made. You create one once, give it an authorised form of name and a few key facts (entity type, dates, history), and then link many archival descriptions to it. The point is consistency and context: describe the Thornbury Engineering Co. once, and every fonds, series and photograph it created can point to that single, authoritative record.
Why describe creators separately at all?
In older practice the creator's biography was retyped inside every collection description. That is wasteful and drifts out of sync. ISAAR(CPF) — the International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families — solves this by treating the creator as a first-class thing you describe once and reuse. Benefits:
- No duplication of biographical/administrative history.
- Consistent context across all that creator's records.
- Relationships between creators (predecessor/successor, parent/subsidiary) become explicit.
- Disambiguation — two people named "John Smith" each get a distinct record.
What goes into an ISAAR record?
ISAAR groups information into four areas. The essentials a beginner needs:
| Area | Key elements |
|---|---|
| Identity | Type of entity; authorised form of name; parallel/other forms; identifiers |
| Description | Dates of existence; history; places; functions |
| Relationships | Links to related corporate bodies, persons, families |
| Control | Authority record identifier; rules used; status; dates |
Mandatory minimum: entity type, authorised form of name, dates of existence, and the record identifier. Start there; add the rest as time allows.
How do I choose the authorised form of name?
This is the single most important decision, because it is the heading everything links to. Rules of thumb:
- Use the fullest, most common official form for the relevant period.
- Record name changes and variants as parallel or other forms, not as separate records — unless the body legally became a new entity.
- Follow a naming rule set (e.g. national cataloguing rules) and note which you used in the Control area.
- Add external identifiers (VIAF, ISNI, Wikidata) so the name resolves beyond your catalogue.
Can you show a small worked example?
Here is a minimal authority record in EAC-CPF, the XML encoding for ISAAR:
xml
<eac-cpf>
<control>
<recordId>GB-0001-thornbury-eng</recordId>
<maintenanceStatus>new</maintenanceStatus>
</control>
<cpfDescription>
<identity>
<entityType>corporateBody</entityType>
<nameEntry>
<part>Thornbury Engineering Co.</part>
<authorizedForm>rules:NCA</authorizedForm>
</nameEntry>
</identity>
<description>
<existDates>
<dateRange>
<fromDate standardDate="1886">1886</fromDate>
<toDate standardDate="1974">1974</toDate>
</dateRange>
</existDates>
<biogHist>
<p>Civil-engineering firm based near Bristol, specialising in
bridges and water-supply schemes; absorbed by Avon Works in 1974.</p>
</biogHist>
</description>
</cpfDescription>
</eac-cpf>Note the standardDate attributes — machine-readable dates that let systems sort and match the record.
How do authority records connect to descriptions?
Your archival description (in EAD) references the authority record's creator name; your catalogue software resolves the link. In AtoM, for example, you create an authority record, then select it as the creator when describing a fonds. One creator record can be the access point for dozens of descriptions, and changing it once updates the context everywhere.
What mistakes do beginners make?
- Making a new record for every name variant instead of recording variants under one heading.
- Skipping the identifier, which makes records impossible to link reliably.
- Writing essay-length histories at the start; a tight paragraph beats an unfinished page.
- Ignoring external IDs, missing easy disambiguation and linked-data wins.
- Not recording which naming rules were used, so successors cannot replicate your choices.
Key Takeaways
- ISAAR(CPF) describes record creators (persons, families, corporate bodies) once, for reuse.
- The mandatory minimum is entity type, authorised form of name, dates of existence, and identifier.
- The authorised form of name is the linking heading — choose it carefully and record variants under it.
- EAC-CPF is the XML encoding for ISAAR, the authority-record counterpart to EAD.
- Add external IDs (VIAF, ISNI, Wikidata) for disambiguation and linked-data connectivity.
- Link many descriptions to one authority record to keep creator context consistent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does ISAAR(CPF) stand for?
International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families. It is the ICA standard for describing the creators of records separately from the records themselves.
Why separate authority records from descriptions?
So you describe each creator once and link many record descriptions to it. This avoids re-typing biographical history in every fonds, keeps context consistent, and lets you show how creators relate to each other.
What is the authorised form of name?
It is the single, standardised version of a creator's name you choose as the heading, with other variants recorded as parallel or other forms. It ensures one creator resolves to one record despite name changes or spellings.
How does ISAAR relate to EAC-CPF?
EAC-CPF (Encoded Archival Context) is the XML encoding for ISAAR-style authority records, just as EAD encodes ISAD(G) descriptions. ISAAR defines the content; EAC-CPF carries it in machine-readable form.
What are the mandatory ISAAR elements?
At minimum: the type of entity (person, family, corporate body), the authorised form of name, dates of existence, and the authority record identifier. Everything else is recommended or optional.
Can ISAAR records link to VIAF or Wikidata?
Yes. Recording an external identifier such as a VIAF, ISNI or Wikidata ID in the authority record connects your local creator to the wider linked-data web and aids disambiguation.