RAD2

Background

The Canadian Committee on Archival Description (CCAD) circulated a complete revision of the Rules for Archival Description (RAD) in 2004, which is commonly known as RAD2. Unlike the first edition of RAD (1990), which is modeled after bibliographic standards, RAD2 is based on the General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G)).

The CCAD received relatively few responses (only 24) and those that did respond had mixed critiques with little enthusiasm.¹ Thus, the archival community never officially adopted RAD2, and instead CCAD published a second edition of RAD with very minor revisions in 2008.

Significance

Although RAD2 is more than twenty years old (and older than the current version of RAD), it addresses many of the critiques that archivists have leveraged against RAD over past decades. Both the 2016 and 2024 conversations about revisions to the standard considered RAD2 to be a starting point rather RAD 2008.² It is my hope, therefore, that RAD2 might be what garners enthusiasm and commitment to revising and maintaining a Canadian descriptive standard —— something that would be truly fitting given its reception in 2004.

Availability

RAD2 is no longer accessible online, but, if there is interest, in may be added to Community RAD in the future. A backgrounder describing RAD2 and comparing it to RAD (the first edition up to 2003) is available on this website, as well as a forum dedicated to RAD2.

Structure

RAD2 is composed of the following sections:

1. Statement of Principles
2. Introduction
   Part I: Describing Archival Materials
3. Introduction
4. Identity Elements
   4.1 Reference Code
   4.2 Level of Description
   4.3 Title
   4.4 Date
   4.5 Extent and Material
   4.6 Name of Creator
   4.7 Administrative/Biographical History
5. Content and Structure Elements
   5.1 Scope and Content
   5.2 System of Arrangement
6. Conditions of Access and Use Elements
   6.1 Conditions Governing Access
   6.2 Physical Access
   6.3 Technical Access
   6.4 Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
   6.5 Language/Scripts of the Material
   6.6 Finding Aids
7. Acquisition and Appraisal Elements
   7.1 Custodial History
   7.2 Immediate Source of Acquisition
   7.3 Appraisal, Destruction and Scheduling Information
   7.4 Accruals
8. Related Materials Elements
   8.1 Existence and Location of Originals
   8.2 Existence and Location of Copies
   8.3 Related Archival Materials
   8.4 Publication Note
9. Specialized Elements
   9.1 Edition
   9.2 Publisher’s Series
   9.3 Mathematical Data
10. Notes
    10.1 Notes
11. Description Control
    11.1 Description Control
    Part II: Describing Creators
12. Introduction
13. Choice of Access Points
14. Administrative/Biographical History
15. Relationships
    15.1 Relationships between Entities (References)
    15.2 Relationships between Entities and Archival Materials
    15.3 Relationships between Entities and Materials Not Housed in an Archival Repository
16. Form of Access Points for Persons and Families
17. Form of Access Points for Geographic Names
18. Form of Access Points for Corporate Bodies
19. Authority Record Control
    Appendices
    A. Glossary
    B. Abbreviations
    C. Prescribed Sources of Information
    D. Punctuation
    E. Descriptive Standards for Published and Non-Textual Materials
    F. Relationship Between Descriptive Records and Authority Records
    G. Crosswalks
    H. Examples of Descriptive Records
    I. Examples of Authority Records