Glossary
Circa: from Latin meaning ‘around’. Specifically used if an exact date is not known.
Collection Level: The whole of the collection, organically created and / or accumulated and used by a particular person, family or corporate body in the course of that creator’s activities and functions. The fond level provides on overview and a summary of the contents of each archive collection e.g. Papers Ivor Wynne Jones, Journalist and Author
Creator: See Provenance
Date: The actual dates in which the archival material in a series or at item level were created.
Description: This gives an accurate representation of a collection, series or item.
Extent: This field provides information about the quantity of material which is being described e.g. 4 boxes, 10 items, 4 volumes
Fonds: The whole of the documents, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator’s activities and functions.
Form/Format: The type or kind of material comprising a unit of description e.g. letters, volume, CD, photograph.
Item Level: The smallest intellectually indivisible archival unit within the series e.g. a letter, a file.
N.B.: ‘nota bene’, from Latin meaning ‘note well’.
n.d.: no date.
Provenance: The organization or individual that created, accumulated and/or maintained and used documents in the conduct of personal or corporate activity.
Level: This is the archival term for where the record can be found in the catalogue structure. The levels most currently used in the catalogues are collection, series and item.
Ref No / Reference Number: This is the reference of the document and allows the archivists to locate the document in their holdings. If you wish to view or order a copy of a document you must note the item level reference number.
Record: An item in any form.
Series: A group of records within the collection e.g. The ‘ Records of Capel Garmon Parish’ collection is split into eight groups, ‘Registers of baptism, marriage and burial and related marriage material’, ‘Records relating to the incumbent’, ‘Records relating to church buildings and finances’, ‘Vestry Records’, ‘Records of the Overseer of the Poor’, ‘Records of Bryn Morfydd, Dame Gwynne’s charity’, ‘Tithe Records’ and ‘Miscellanea’.
Title: A word, phrase, character, or group of characters that names a collection, series or item.
Volume: A collection of pages bound together e.g. book, notebook, scrapbook, ledger etc.
© the International Council on Archives, ISAD (G): International Standard Archival Description (1994) and The Society of American Archivists, A Glossary of Archival Records and Terminology (2005) form the basis of this glossary.