What Are We Talking About When We Say "Finding Aid"?
When archivists use the term "finding aid," they are referring to a detailed guide that provides both structural and contextual information about archival materials. According to the Society of American Archivists, a finding aid serves as a surrogate for the materials themselves, offering a way to navigate what can often be complex, expansive collections.
What Makes a Finding Aid Different?
You can think of a finding aid as something like a catalog record, but with much more depth. While catalog records for books rely on predictable formats and publication information, archival collections are unique, nonlinear, and often inconsistent. That means finding aids need to carry more contextual information to help researchers understand not just what the materials are, but where they came from, how they are arranged, and how they relate to each other.
Finding aids can describe anything from a single item to an entire collection or even subseries within that collection. Archivists often conduct deep research to identify, organize, and describe what’s in the collection—and the finding aid becomes the lasting record of that work.
A Brief History
After World War II, as collections grew rapidly, conversations among the newly-formed Society of American Archivists turned increasingly to finding aids as a necessary tool for managing information overload. The concept wasn’t new, but standardizing and formalizing how we describe materials became a greater priority. Early finding aids were often print documents. Later, archivists began publishing them as digital documents or formatted HTML pages.
It's important to note that having a finding aid online doesn’t mean it’s in EAD (Encoded Archival Description)—a specialized XML format. A web-based or PDF finding aid can still be incredibly useful without requiring complex encoding.
Representing Archives: DACS and EAD
In the United States, archivists use Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) as a framework for what information goes into a finding aid and how it should be formatted. DACS was first published in 2004 and is continuously updated. It builds upon international standards like ISAD(G) and ISAAR(CPF).
DACS outlines both required and optional descriptive elements, helping archivists prioritize what to include, especially in the face of large backlogs. DACS includes:
Identity elements (title, creator, dates)
Content and structure
Access and use
Acquisition and appraisal
Related materials
Notes
Descriptive control
So Then What Is EAD?
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) is the XML standard used to structure the human-readable content of a finding aid in a way that computers can parse. You might use software like Notepad++, Oxygen, or Dreamweaver to write EAD. Many archives databases can also export finding aids in EAD format.
EAD helps group and organize finding aid elements described by DACS into sections:
<eadheader>: administrative metadata<archdesc>: main description, including access and scope<did>: descriptive identification<c>: containers like series, files, or items
Though EAD underwent major updates starting in 2018, many institutions still use the older EAD2002 format due to system limitations or time constraints.
Online Representation and Access
Today, finding aids are increasingly linked to digital content, related materials, and online catalogs. Archivists are also participating in the creation of a National Finding Aid Network (NAFAN), which aims to make it easier for researchers to discover materials across institutions.
How Do Other Standards Fit In?
Dublin Core can be used to describe collections, but it is more effective for individual items.
RDA (Resource Description and Access) is primarily used in libraries and works in tandem with DACS.
Alternatives to Finding Aids
Not every collection needs a full, formal finding aid. In some cases, a box list, folder inventory, or well-organized digital file structure can serve the community more effectively. Communities may also value full-digitization over extensive contextual metadata. Archivists should feel empowered to choose the descriptive approach that best supports access and use.
Resources to Explore
Want to learn more? Here are some helpful tools and courses:
Finding aids are more than just technical tools. They reflect the research, interpretation, and decision-making that go into every archival project. Whether you are building an inventory or encoding full EAD, your work helps researchers make sense of the past and connect with materials in meaningful ways.
