Archiveintrag

Archiveintrag refers to a descriptive unit within an archival finding aid that documents a single archival item or a logically connected group of materials, such as a file, dossier, photograph batch, or series. It serves to identify, contextualize, and manage the material, recording its provenance, date span, and administrative attributes.

A typical Archiveintrag includes descriptive metadata: title or designation, date or date span, creator or provenance, form or genre, extent and physical characteristics, languages, and repository control numbers. It also records the arrangement, scope and contents notes, archival history, and relationships to related records (for example, within a larger fonds or series). Further fields may cover access restrictions, copyright or user rights, custody information, and location or repository shelf marks.

Archiveinträge are produced according to archival descriptive standards such as ISAD(G) and encoded or structured for machine readability in formats like EAD. In digital repositories, an Archiveintrag is linked to digital objects and may include digital identifiers and metadata for retrieval.

The entry supports discovery and retrieval, guides access and preservation planning, and provides researchers with essential context. It is typically maintained and updated by archival staff and integrated into higher-level descriptions such as inventories or fonds descriptions.