National Archives of Sweden

We develop an evaluation framework for the validation of conformance checkers for the long-term preservation. The framework assesses the correctness, usability, and usefulness of the tools for three media types: PDF/A (text), TIFF (image), and Matroska (audio/video). Finally, we report the results of the validation of these conformance checkers using the proposed framework. In general, the presented framework is a high-level tool that can be quite easily employed in other preservation-related tasks.

The primary aim of this report is to present the final version of the E-ARK Dissemination Information Package (DIP) formats. The secondary aim is to describe the access scenarios in which these DIP formats will be rendered for use.

The following article comprises an introduction to, and edition of, a sermon in honour of Katarina, the daughter of St Birgitta of Sweden, who had accompanied Birgitta to Rome and who later played a major part in the establishment of Vadstena abbey. The sermon is preserved in Stockholm. Riksarkivet, MS E 8913 (formerly Skokloster 15, 40). According to a note in the manuscript, the sermon was finished on 16 July 1521. Katarina died in 1381 and, although never formally canonized, her popularity continued throughout the fifteenth century. The present sermon, which may be attributed to Johannes Matthei (d. 1524) of Vadstena, emphasizes Katarina's hagiographical qualities and is thus evidence of the high regard in which she was held into the sixteenth century.

SUMMARY In the development of gateways to archives there are two different approaches, one focusing on the descriptions of the material and the other on the creators. Search and retrieval with precision and quality require controlled access points and name authority control. National registries of private archives have a long tradition in implementing the concept of archival authority records for corporate bodies, persons and families. With the development of the standards ISAAR (CPF) and EAC, a foundation is laid for developing this approach in the archival community, and for the provision of common access points to library and museum resources as well. The Linking and Exploring Authority Files (LEAF) project (2001–2004) was co-funded by the European Commission Information Society Technologies Programme and a consortium of fifteen partners, libraries, archives, documentation and research centers, in ten European countries. The major objective of the LEAF project was to provide shared access to authority information from various data providers, and thereby improve search and retrieval functionalities. LEAF adopted EAC as the format for both importing and storing authority records. The user interface allows for searching on names, dates, and free text. Registered users have also the right to add annotations to records, thereby helping cataloguers in improving their quality. In cases where data providers have open access catalogues, there are links to the original authority records and related resources. The LEAF project has provided a data model and technical solutions that can be implemented in both national and international gateways to archives.