Call for Comments: Revision of Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

In February 2010, the SAA Council charged a new subcommittee of the Standards Committee, the Technical Subcommittee on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (TS-DACS). TS-DACS was given the specific responsibility of reviewing Resource Description and Access, the replacement for AACR2, and comparing it to Describing Archives: A Content Standard. TS-DACS was also charged to undertake a revision of DACS within a period of five years. To ensure the widest possible input from users of DACS, the subcommittee is calling for proposed changes to Describing Archives: A Content Standard. The deadline for comments and change recommendations is May 6, 2011 (deadline extended from April 30).

The current timetable for the revision process is:
January 2011:           Call for comments
May 6, 2011:          Deadline for comments
August 2011:            Discussion forum at SAA annual meeting in Chicago
Spring 2012:             Working meeting of TS-DACS (subject to funding)
November 2012:        Release of proposed changes to Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Call for comments on proposed changes
December 31, 2012:   Deadline for comments on proposed revisions
August 2013:             Publish revised version  

To propose changes, please complete the form at http://www.archivists.org/standards/dacs/. Please complete a separate form for each change suggested. Each suggested change should include a brief description of the change and rationale for the change. Be sure to indicate the rule the proposed change applies to.  

A particular area that the subcommittee will be looking at are the examples in Describing Archives: A Content Standard. We strongly encourage community members to submit appropriate examples to be considered for addition to the updated standard.  

To ensure that the revision process is as transparent as possible, all comments must be attributable to named individuals and affiliated organizations (where appropriate). Anonymous responses will not be considered. All change proposals will be made publicly available, with attribution, in a forum to be determined. Contact information is requested (preferably email addresses) so that we may contact respondents for clarification; contact information will not be share.  

We look forward to the community’s participation in the revision of Describing Archives: A Content Standard.  

Gordon Daines (Brigham Young University)
Chair, TS-DACS