Encoded Archival Standards
The Kalliope Union Catalog is committed to comply with standards (guidelines, file formats, authority files, ISO norms) of the library and archival community:- Encoded Archival Description (EAD): XML schema for encoding archival finding aids
- Encoded Archival Context - Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC): XML schema for encoding (archival) authority records
- Integrated Authority File of the German National Library: uniquely referenced vocabulary for entities such as persons, corporate bodies, places, and subject headings
- Guidelines for the Description of Personal Paper and Manuscript Collections (Regeln für die Erschließung von Nachlässen und Autographen, RNA)
- ISO 15511: International Standard Library Identifier and Related Organisations (ISIL): unique identifier code for scientific and cultural heritage organizations
- ISO 3166: Codes for Names of Countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest and their principal subdivisions: used for asigning persons and corporate bodies of the integrated authority file to main geographical area
- ISO 629-2: Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code: used to describe the language within a unit of description
The Guidelines for the Description of Personal Paper and Manuscript Collections are well established and applied by libraries, archives, museums, and similar organizations in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and are compatible with the principles of archival description outlined in the General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G).
In mid-2014 the Kalliope Union Catalog introduced a new search and service interface based on XML-encoded archival finding aids compliant with the standard Encoded Archival Description (EAD), and authority data on persons and corporate bodies, also XML-encoded, and compliant with the standard Encoded Archival Context - Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF).
The Integrated Authrotiy File is the most important commonly used cataloging resource for the Kalliope Union Catalog. The authority file is the result of the joint efforts of the German library networks, union catalogs – one of which is Kalliope – and many other partners. It is maintained by the German National Library and makes available standardized data about entities such as persons, corporate bodies, places, and subject headings. More importantly, it allocates a unique identifier to each entity that is widely used inside and outside of libraries and related institutions. This unique identifier allows for the unambiguous identification of entities in many digital environments. It also provides an easy mechanism to link records with many types of information resources such as Wikipedia.
The Kalliope Union Catalog also makes use of the International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL), based on the ISO 15511 standard . In Germany ISIL identifiers are allocated by the German ISIL- and Library Codes Agency, maintained by the Berlin State Library. The ISIL file provides up-to-date information about cultural heritage and related institutions, such as location, name forms, contact information, collection profiles, etc.