n.a narrative or chronology that provides context about the person or family that created recordsBrand 1955, 61The biographical note, which is ordinarily prepared in rough at the outset of an extensive processing task, will, if a chaotic group of papers is concerned, help the processor to find his way through the labyrinth by suggesting what he ought to look for and identifying material about which he would otherwise be uncertain.Stielow, Hankins, and Jones 1995, 474545—Biographical Note [optional, but highly recommended and may extend to the verso also] Build a short biographical statement chronicling the person, family, or institution. This should put stress on the time frames/events that are actually documented by the materials and feed to the Chronology of a Register.Ruth 1997, 323For example, the DTD permits encoders to identify a biographical note or agency history by any heading they choose (e.g., Biographical Summary, Biography, Jane Doe’s Key Dates) as long as the content is correctly tagged as <bioghist>.Miller 2013, 531To filter extensive search results, users might execute a search of the controlled subject headings at the collection level, or consult the biographical note and other collection-level information, which is easily overlooked when container lists are searchable.DACS 2019, 30The purpose of this element is to describe the required elements of a biographical or administrative history note about creators embedded in the description of materials. The administrative/biographical history provides relevant information about corporate bodies, persons, or families who are identified using the Name of Creator(s) Element and who therefore function as nominal access points. This element also describes the relationship of creators to archival materials by providing information about the context in which those materials were created.Roke and Tillman 2022, 175The context of archival records is fundamental to their description. Biographical notes provide information about the functional relationships between content creators and the records they create.
Notes
In archival description, an administrative history often provides contextual information about corporate bodies whereas a biographical note provides contextual information about persons or families.For individuals, the biographical note may include date and place of birth, full and variant forms of the name, occupations, significant accomplishments, places of residence and work, family members, and date and place of death.
