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Florence Clavaud, an expert from the International Council on Archives (ICA), gave a presentation to the May Plenary meeting of TC46 SC11 WG1 Metadata in Paris. The focus was on introducing the Records in Contexts (RiC) Conceptual Model. This innovative archival descriptive standard aims to provide a comprehensive framework for describing records in a more holistic and meaningful manner. By replacing existing ICA standards like ISAD-G and ISAAR:CPF, RiC seeks to revolutionize how we understand and document the archival world.
The Records in Contexts Conceptual Model (RiC-CM) is a high-level framework that focuses on identifying and describing records, the individuals associated with them, and the activities they document. It provides a broad conceptual structure but does not cover all aspects of records management or the specific details needed in every context of its application.
Unlike previous standards that primarily focused on descriptive rules, the RiC Conceptual Model aims to delve deeper into the domain of archival description itself. In other words, it goes beyond simply dictating how to describe records and instead focuses on what we are describing. This shift in perspective enables a better understanding of the objects of interest within the archival realm and their interconnectedness.
Since archives are essentially records, there is a natural overlap between the RiC Conceptual Model and the domain of records management. It is important to recognize that RiC primarily serves as a descriptive metadata standard, rather than a tool for records management. However, the interconnected nature of records and their management means that there should be a symbiotic relationship between the two domains.
RiC-CM incorporates the essential elements from four existing International Council on Archives (ICA) description standards: ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), ISDF, and ISDIAH. It replaces these standards with a single overarching standard, including the core descriptive entities, their attributes, and the relationships between them.
One significant difference between RiC-CM and the existing ICA standards is that the latter model a finding aid, while RiC-CM models the entities themselves without assuming any specific end product.
RiC-CM places emphasis on the intellectual description of records and their contexts. Although it also addresses the description of physical instances of records due to their varied physical forms, it does not cover all attributes and relationships necessary for physically managing record instances. To accommodate additional physical management aspects, RiC-CM is designed to be extensible, either through the ICA standards development process or by utilizing existing standards for physical management and preservation.
It's important to note that RiC-CM is not a set of rules for composing descriptive content, an implementation specification for records management systems, a model for physically managing records, or a data communication or exchange standard. However, it can inform the development of each of these aspects.
In summary, RiC-CM provides a high-level conceptual framework for the intellectual description of records and their contexts. While it doesn't cover all aspects of records management, it serves as a foundational guide and can be extended to include physical management attributes.