a project of icaa project of ica-sae about archival …...a project of icaa project of ica-sae about...

TerminologyTerminologyA Multilingual Archival Dictionary Database

A Project of ICA SAEA Project of ICA-SAE about archival terminology

by Karsten Uhde

Archival Terminology

Why is terminology so important?y s te o ogy so po ta t

“We all know what an archives or a record is!”

“a record is a record, is a record …”


An archives is:a c es s• the institution like the national archives or the cit archi es of Colognecity archives of Cologne

•the building in which the archives are gpreserved and used


An archives is also:a c es s a so•“The documents created or received and acc m lated b a person or organi ation inaccumulated by a person or organization in the course of the conduct of affairs, and preserved because of their continuing value” (DATIII; ARMA Glossary).( ; y)

• In Norway: the repositories in the administrationadministration.


Multilingual Archival Dictionary Database u t gua c a ct o a y atabase(ICA-SAE in cooperation with INTERPARES 3)300 t•300 terms

•12 languagesg g•translation and definitions in each language

(see the extract about „archives“ from the(see the extract about „archives from the database)


What are the difficulties?at a e t e d cu t es•Different words for the same things or concepts in one lang ageconcepts in one language

•One term can be used in different languages g gfor different things

•A term has no corresponding term in another•A term has no corresponding term in another language

•The term reflects different concepts


Why is this all interesting for ITS archives?y s t s a te est g o S a c es

If we compare the English and the German version of the website and the reading room grules we will find a variety of terms and translations:translations:


“Archives” is “Archiv”“Collection” is “Bestand”

“Document” is “Dokument”Document is Dokument

but:


Under “Digitisation”:g

“The documents in the archives of the ITS are ofThe documents in the archives of the ITS are of enormous historical significance. ... Therefore, the

records in the archives are being digitised ”records in the archives are being digitised.

B i ITS l D k t„Beim ITS lagern Dokumente von enormer historischer Bedeutung. Um die Informationen

langfristig zu sichern werden sämtlichelangfristig zu sichern …, werden sämtliche Dokumente im Archiv des ITS digitalisiert.“


Under “General Provisions for Access”:U de Ge e a o s o s o ccess

“The archives and documents preserved by the International Tracing Service are accessible to

public for research purposes”

Die vom Internationalen Suchdienst aufbewahrten Archive und Unterlagen sind der Öffentlichkeit fürArchive und Unterlagen sind der Öffentlichkeit für

Forschungszwecke zugänglich“.


Finally from the reading room rules:a y o e ead g oo u es

“Handing out copies of entire records groups or collections is not admissible”

“Die Herausgabe von Kopien ganzer AktenbeständeDie Herausgabe von Kopien ganzer Aktenbeständeoder Sammlungen ist nicht möglich.


English -> -> German German -> -> Englisharchives Archiv(e) Archiv archivesarchives Archiv(e) Archiv archives

Archive (= Bestände) Bestand units of archivesArchivgut archival record groupArchivalien record group

archival units Archivalieneinheiten holdingsrecord groups (Akten-) Bestände collectionrecord groups (Akten ) Bestände collectiondocuments Dokumente documentation

Archivalieneinheit (archives)Unterlagen Dokument document

records Dokumente recordArchivalien Archivalien archives

collection Bestand recordsSammlung Archivalieneinheit documents

h ldi B t d U t l d tholdings Bestand Unterlagen documents… … … …


“archives” ≠ “Archivalien”

• “Archivalien” is not specific enough. p g• It can be two, 25 or hundreds of millions. • Mostly used for a few files etc. y• For the whole we use “Bestände” or “Archiv” or a combination:

“Unser Archiv umfasst sieben Kilometer.”“Unsere Bestände umfassen sieben Kilometer.”“Die Archivalien unseres Archivs umfassen sieben Kilometer”.


“archives” = “Archivalien” = “records” = “Dok mente” “doc ments”“Dokumente” = “documents”

▼

“ hi ” “d t ”“archives” are “documents”


“Die Archivalien unseres Archivs umfassen e c a e u se es c s u assesieben Kilometer.”

“The records in o r archi es comprise“The records in our archives comprise seven kilometres.”

„The archives in our archives comprise seven kilometres “ ???kilometres. ???


” Why do we have this “Babel of terms?”y do e a e t s abe o te s• Result of the process of creating these texts• What is the original version?• The wish to write a well readable textThe wish to write a well readable text

Help is near: The Multilingual Archival Dictionary DatabaseThe Multilingual Archival Dictionary Database

a project of icaa project of ica-sae about archival …...a project of icaa project of ica-sae about...

Documents