Hurley's
COMMON PRACTICE RULES
for the
DOCUMENTATION
of
PROVENANCE
CORPORATIONS
NATURAL PERSONS
ACTIVITIES
ROLES

HCPR-DEP-2001:01

Chris Hurley

Hurley's
COMMON PRACTICE RULES
for the
DOCUMENTATION
of
PROVENANCE
CORPORATIONS
NATURAL PERSONS
ACTIVITIES
ROLES

HCPR-DEP-2001:01

version :

17 March, 2001 (01.01)

Documentation of Ambience should be read in conjunction with -

• HCPR-DEA-2001:01(Introduction)
• HCPR-DEP-2001:01 (Provenance of Records)
• HCPR-DER-2001:01 (Description of Records)
• HCPR-DET-2001:01 (Contents of Records)

DRAFT ONLY - NOT FINALLY SETTLED

HCPR is work in progress. This version does not represent a finished product.

These Common Practice Rules derive from the latest edition of the Australian Common Practice Manual produced under auspices of a project mandated by the Australian Society of Archivists. In 1997, the ASA decided to withdraw from the project. Under the Agreement subsisting between ASA and the author, rights in the Project reverted to ASA and rights in the Work (ACPM) reverted to the Author. Under that Agreement, the author's publication rights over The Work become absolute after ASA failed to take up its option to publish within a specified period after termination of the Agreement.

This version of The Work continues to build upon information given by archives programmes chosen to participate in the Project. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged and they are listed below. The Author has removed all reference to them from HCPR. Some of the examples are still based on material they supplied. They have, however, had identifying codes and references removed in HCPR, though their origin may still be recognisable. These examples should be regarded in the light of characters in a Hollywood film. No resemblance to real documentation programmes (living or dead) is intended.

Participants in the Australian Common Practice Manual Project

Australian Archives (subsequently National Archives of Australia)
National Library of Australia
Australian War Memorial
Northern Territory Archives Service
City of Sydney Archives
University of Sydney Archives
Queensland State Archives
City of Adelaide Archives
Public Record Office of Victoria
State Archives of Western Australia

Note 1 : The transition from ACPM to HCPR marks a shift from descriptive to prescriptive rules. It should be noted, however, that some of the rules in HCPR are alternatives and that not all rules need be applied. Specification of mandatory rules awaits a later version.

Note 2 : The next transmutation will be from HCPR to GEMMS (General-purpose Extensible Metadata Management Standard). The issues which must be decided before HCPR can be transformed into GEMMS include development of :
(a) version control and use history procedures, and
(b) relationship rules between two or more GEMMS compliant applications. These will be necessary to enable use within one GEMMS compliant application of entities created and maintained inside another.

Table of Contents - HCPR (Provenance)

P 1.0.0	INTRODUCTION
P 1.1.0	: Source Codes (External)
P 1.2.0	: Identity of Corporations................................................
P 1.3.0	: Identity of Natural Persons
P 1.4.0	: Functions and Activities
P 1.5.0	: Standardisation of Terminology
P 2.0.0	IDENTITY
P 2.1.0	: Reference Code(s)
P 2.2.0	: Title
P 2.3.0	: Dates
P 2.4.0	: Control Data
P 3.0.0	DESCRIPTION
P 3.1.0	: Related Legislation
P 3.2.0	: Abstract
P 3.3.0	: Address/Location
P 3.4.0	: History/Description
P 3.5.0	: Function/Competence
P 3.6.0	: Subject
P 3.7.0	: Associations
P 3.8.0	: Not Otherwise Classified
P 3.9.0	: Language
P 3.10.0	: Business Rules
P 4.0.0	RELATIONSHIPS
P 4.1.0	: Provenance to Ambience
P 4.2.0	: Provenance to Provenance
	EXAMPLES

SYNOPSIS

HCPR (PROVENANCE - EXAMPLES)

2001:01

Example

: Agency

 

P 1.0.0 INTRODUCTION

P 1.0.1	Provenance shows the context of records by establishing relationships between records and an entity responsible for one or more defined recordkeeping or business activities documented within the records. These relationships establish the provenance of the records. Two kinds of provenance entity have been identified :- artificial persons (corporations) including - - corporate bodies (government and private) - sole corporations; - social, religious, cultural, commercial or political groups; and - bodies or offices not incorporated in law. natural persons (persons) : "an ordinary flesh-and-blood human being" Australian Encyclopaedia (1963) 7-70a. Persons hold offices to which they succeed and from which they depart. Such offices should be treated as corporations (sole corporations) even if there is only ever one occupant. Thus the office of Prime Minister is a corporation held by a succession of persons. The possibility exists of establishing context by relating records to :- other kinds of provenance (e.g. a business activity or occupation), an ambient entity (e.g. family, organisation, jurisdiction or function), but rules for this are not explored in this version. Within the HCPR framework, provenance may be shown in one of two ways. (a) Provenance data may be "associated" (i.e. integrated) with the records description (R 3.14.0 Associations). (b) Alternatively, provenance data may be separately documented and "related" to the records description (R 4.0.0 Relationships).
P 1.0.2	Descriptive ideas concerning provenance are not well developed and there is often conceptual confusion between the purpose of a provenance statement and the type of entity used to make it. Most commonly, provenance is shown in Australia (as elsewhere) by nominating a corporation or person as records-creator. It should be noted, however, that - provenance can be shown by relating records to entities other than corporations and natural persons (e.g. families, functions, etc.) records-creation is not the only recordkeeping activity relevant to establishing provenance (e.g. provenance can also be shown by documenting custody, control, possession, use, disposal, addition, deletion, rearrangement, migration, etc.), and corporations and natural persons can be used when documenting recordkeeping for purposes other than establishing provenance relationships (e.g. in descriptive data or as "ambient" entities) and, in some cases, may never be used to document recordkeeping (e.g. when documenting business, rather than recordkeeping, purposes).
P 1.0.3	In other words, provenance is not a defining characteristic of corporations and persons. Provenance is the characteristic of one kind of relationship which can subsist between any kind of contextual entity and records.
P 1.0.4	In this version, HCPR - DEP will be confined in scope to descriptive rules for the documentation of corporations and persons when used in establishing provenance relationships of a kind set out in HCPR for Records viz. - R 4.2.1a : records creation; R 4.2.1b : records control; R 4.2.1c : custody of records; R 4.2.1d : possession of records. Accordingly, these rules do not yet deal exhaustively with all aspects of provenance, nor do they deal exhaustively with all aspects of documenting corporations and persons.
International Standard Authority Records
P 1.0.5	The Commission on Descriptive Standards of the International Council of Archives has prepared an international standard for description of corporations, persons, and families called International Standard Archival Authority Record [for] Corporations, Persons, and Families - ISAAR(CPF). Conceptually, this standard is one of a series dealing with "authority records" for areas of description (e.g. geography, subject, form, function) within the framework of records description covered by ISAD(G).
P 1.0.6	There appears to be some international expectation that the Australiasan practice of separating data on provenance (represented by HCPR for Provenance) can be accommodated within the framework established by ISAAR(CPF). It should be noted that HCPR makes a clear distinction between authority records and descriptive records. HCPR deals with descriptive records (i.e. records which capture data identifying and describing entities and data establishing relationships between them). It recognises that any of the data elements used may themselves be "controlled" by a true authority record - Examples In HCPR for Records (R 3.2.0 Content/Abstract) we noted that it is possible to use controlled terms when summarising what's in the records. The associated thesauri or control records are what we call "authority records" in HCPR. Similarly, any other data element in an HCPR Record (dealing with either records or provenance) could be subject to authority control - cf. use of data controlled by an authority record at P 3.2.1a and at P 3.5.1a. The proposed system of repository controls (R 1.2.0 and P 1.1.2) will be system of authority control. HCPR does not regard these kinds of authority records as descriptive records. A descriptive record documenting provenance should not be confused with an authority record controlling the value and use of provenance data. The distinction is exactly analogous to a library cataloguing process in which the catalogue card includes a subject entry the data value of which is established using a thesaurus giving the preferred form of name. ISAAR(CPF) records go beyond the traditional library idea of "authority record" (controlling the use of terminology - e.g. names or subjects). They are "enhanced" so that they actually contain much of the data which, under the Australasian "series" system, is separated out for documentation as a distinct descriptive entity.
P 1.0.7	In a system in which provenance data is associated with the description of records (R 3.14.0), the associated data is part and parcel of the records description. This data (and much more besides - e.g. geographical, functional, subject descriptors) might be subject to authority control over the form (value) and/or use of the data. In a system in which provenance data is separated from, and then related to, a records description (R 4.2.0), the provenance record has a different purpose. The authority record and the provenance record are alike only to the extent that both are separate from the records description. In other respects they are different - To begin with, the data elements which make up a provenance record may themselves be controlled by a true "authority record". For example, the forms of names of persons or corporations which appear in the "title" field of a provenance record may be subject to separate authority control - as may functional, geographical, and subject terms (P 3.2.1a and P 3.5.1a). Secondly, the connection between a provenance record and a records description is not the same as authority control - i.e. the controlled use of an approved term. Instead, one or more relationships are established between two entities to produce specified views of a composite of selected data drawn from both entities. Finally, the true use of an authority record (e.g. a thesaurus) would be to control the use of a provenance term wherever it appears in the text of a records description - not just in those fields used to establish a relationship between the provenance record and the records description or with other provenance records. It will be seen that the distinction between a descriptive record and an authority record lies not in its composition but in the way it is used. While an ISAAR(CPF) record contains the same kind of data as a provenance record, the use of a "true" authority record and of a provenance record are quite different. Thus, it is necessary to recognise three distinct concepts - an authority record which controls the value and use of data in other records, a provenance record which documents families, persons, or corporations as entities within an archival documentation system; and an ISAAR(CPF) record which specifies a set of data elements which could be used when constructing either of the above. The distinction may be seen most clearly by imagining a descriptive system in which a provenance record (comprising some elements of an ISAAR(CPF) record) was controlled by an authority record (comprising other elements of an ISAAR(CPF) record).
P 1.0.8	The ICA Standard specifies the data elements which would make up an ISAAR(CPF) record but virtually nothing about how it would be used. By calling it an "authority record" a presumption is raised that it will be used in the ordinary way of authority records (i.e. to control the value and use of data in descriptive records). It appears however, that the international expectation may be that Australians and New Zealanders will perceive the ISAAR(CPF) record as a model for their own, quite different, use of separated descriptive records for provenance data. Since the uses of an ISAAR(CPF) record are not specified, there is, of course, no reason why the international standard specification of data elements it provides could not be applied to an Australian descriptive record at the provenance level - so long as it is understood that an Australian provenance record is not an "authority record" in the ordinary meaning of that term.
P 1.0.9	Accordingly, in this version of HCPR for Provenance, references are made to the corresponding parts of ISAAR(CPF), reflecting the possibility that an ISAAR(CPF) record could be used either as a descriptive record or for authority control as it is ordinarily understood.

P 1.1.0 SOURCE CODES (EXTERNAL)

P 1.1.1	The rules developed under ISAD(G) for description of records contemplate the use of country and "repository codes" for data exchange and other purposes. Some of the issues arising for the Australian and New Zealand communities (which they would have to face in any case) are discussed in R 1.2.0 and R 2.1.0.
P 1.1.2	The development and application of a system of repository codes requires co-operative action on the part of the recordkeeping community(ies).

P 1.2.0 IDENTITY OF CORPORATIONS

Types of Corporation

P 1.2.1	The following categories of corporation (the list is not exhaustive) have been considered in setting out the rules which follow :- (a) The Crown Examples include the Crown Imperial, the Crown in Right of Australia, and the Crown in right of each of the States. (b) Corporations Established by Royal Charter, etc. Examples include the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. (c) Corporations Established under the Constitution Acts Examples include the several Parliaments, the Executive Councils, the High Court and the Supreme Courts. (d) Executive Government Bodies Examples include government departments and offices. (e) Corporations Established by Statute Examples include statutory bodies, government enterprises, universities, local government authorities. (f) Corporations Established under Statute or Common Law Examples include partnerships, corporations set up under companies the laws, incorporated clubs and associations, and political parties. (g) Unincorporated Artificial Persons Examples include unincorporated clubs and associations.
Corporations : Establishment and Dissolution
P 1.2.2	The commencement and termination of a corporation establishes its identity in time. Corporations may exist discretely (without a predecessor or successor) or they may come into existence by breaking away from a pre-existing corporation or merging into another corporation (new or pre-existing at the time of merger). Private companies provide examples of both types.
P 1.2.3	Rules for establishing whether changes to a corporation involve a change in identity may be added in a later version. Issues to be considered include :- (a) change in legal basis for existence examples Colonial, State or federal bodies which pass from or to Commonwealth jurisdiction or the jurisdiction of another Colony or State. The Act establishing establishing a statutory body is repealed (or amended) and new legislation is passed. In what circumstances should a new corporation be identified? (b) formal announcement example tba (c) change in name example In the early 1970's, the Commonwealth Government directed that the word "Australia" or "Australian" replace the word "Commonwealth" in the names of government agencies wherever possible. Are the renamed agencies new corporations? (d) change in structure and organisation example A Branch or Division of a Department of State is treated as a serate corporation and passes intact to a successor Department. Is the Branch/Division abolished and re-created when its parent Department changes? (e) change in function or purpose example A well-established jam company diversifies into other industries. Is there a new corporation? (f) change in composition or personnel example A partnership is expanded to include the child of one of the senior partners. Is there a new corporation? (g) change in organisational relationships example tba (h) change in status example In 1983, the Australian Archives (created in 1960 by administrative fiat as the Commowealth Archives Office) was "established" by a new Act of Parliament. Is there a new corporation? (j) change in composition through devolution or merger example Two unions amalgamate. (k) exceptions There is practice in some archives of varying rules applying to most agencies to deal differently with occasional instances or types. Unless such variations are applied extensively, they are treated here as exceptions which do not compromise the integrity of the general rule(s) - e.g. P 2.0.4.
P 1.2.4	In exceptional cases, it is permissible to treat successive corporations as a single body, see rules under P 2.2.3 for - (a) Municipalities (b) Schools (c) Water Supply/ Irrigation Authorities (d) Psychiatric Hospitals
Corporations : Structural Identity
P 1.2.5	The independence or separateness of a corporation in relation to other corporations establishes its identity structurally. Corporations may exist discretely (wholly independent of superior, related or subordinate corporations) or they may be integrated in ways which raise the a question whether there is one corporation or more than one.
P 1.2.6	Rules for establishing whether entities which are related structurally comprise one or more corporations may be added in a later version. Issues to be considered include :- (a) legal basis for existence examples A statutory body established by an unrepealed Act is "merged" administraively with another body which is thereafter treated as a single government agency. Should the statutory body be treated as a separate corporation or part of the subsuming agency? (b) regional offices example tba (c) separate record-keeping systems example tba (d) different locations example tba (e) different function or purpose example tba (f) split jurisdiction example tba (g) exceptions There is practice in some archives of varying rules applying to most agencies to deal differently with occasional instances or types. Unless such variations are applied extensively, they are treated here as exceptions which do not compromise the integrity of the general rule(s) - e.g. P 2.0.7.
P 1.2.7	In exceptional cases, it is permissible to treat several co-terminous corporations as a single body, see rules under P 2.2.3 for - (a) Courts (b) Mining Districts (c) Water Supply and Irrigation Authorities (d) Tertiary Education Institutions and Hospitals

P 1.3.0 IDENTITY OF NATURAL PERSONS

P 1.3.1

Rules for establishing the identity of natural persons may be added in a later version. While there may be difficulty in establishing an individual's identity, there is much less conceptual difficulty in differentiating one natural person from another. There is a considerable area of doubt, however, in distinguishing between records created by individuals acting as natural persons and records created by the same individuals acting as members of a corporation or in some role within a corporation. This distinction is particularly difficult to draw in two extreme types of cases :- senior executives in large, complex organisations who often intermix their "personal" and "official" records; and individuals who comprise or act as a corporation (e.g. the store-owner acting as postmaster in a remote community who intermingles private and official business indisriminately). In some of the rules which follow, a distinction is made between natural persons and corporations. These distinctions can be rendered meaningless if the difference between a natural person acting as records-creator and a person acting as a member of a records-creating corporation is unclear.

P 1.3.2

Identity issues relating to natural persons include :- (a) change of name/alternative form of name these are dealt with under P 2.2.2. (b) family relationships not dealt with yet.

P 1.4.0 FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

P 1.4.1	The possibility exists that functional ideas may be established as provenance entities. Although some work is known to have been undertaken on functions (P 3.5.0), there is next to nothing in available in published form apart from instructions to include such data in the prose "Note" (P 3.4.0).
P 1.4.2	Function refers to the formal, "official" or recognised responsibility or "competence" of a corporation or person. It will be in some way or another exclusive and be derived from or authorised by some legal, constitutional, or formal act. When dealing with the non-government sector, the notion of socially sanctioned or socially authorised behaviours may be a parallel (not necessarily socially approved - e.g. criminality could be socially "sanctioned" function). Functions in this sense discriminate between corporations and persons. The exercise of a function differentiates one corporation or person from another.
P 1.4.3	Activity refers to what a corporation or person does. It may be undertaken in furtherance of a function or responsibility but it is not itself a function except in that context. An activity may also be undertaken outside the area of functional responsibility. Activities may be regarded as non-distinctive or generic behaviour which does not distinguish one corporation (or person) from another.
P 1.4.4	The distinction between functions and activities may be illustrated thus Example - In most Australian States, the land survey function is vested exclusively in the Surveyor General, who is by law responsible for (and the authoritative source of) land survey data, verification of survey markers, and so on. Surveys are nevertheless undertaken by many others (both government and non-government). Within government, surveys are undertaken as part of the public works (bridges), transport (roads, railway lines, tramway lines), power (gas and electricity systems), water (pipes, drainage, sewerage, flood control), and municipal (streets) functions. The function (responsibility/competence) "survey" lies with the Surveyor-General. Other surveys are "activities" undertaken in furtherance of different functions. One way of expressing this difference is - bridgebuilding * : Public Works drainage * : Board of Works roads * : Transport streets * : Municipalities surveys * : Surveyor General surveys - bridgebuilding : Public Works surveys - drainage : Board of Works surveys - roads : Transport surveys - streets : Municipalities On this list the terms marked * are functions and the rest are activities. This distinction is by no means clear cut, however. There is an element of subjectivity in defining what is a function and what is an activity.
P 1.4.5	In this version of HCPR-DEP, the distinction has not yet been written into the rules. Functions and activities are treated as interchangeable and in one of three ways - (a) as an integral part of the descriptive text : where they are the basis for the "Note" (P 3.4.0). (b) as separately formatted descriptors : where they are used as "index" terms in the "Abstract" (P 3.2.0) or "Function" (P 3.5.0); or (c) as separately documented entities : where they are related (P 4.0.0) to the corporation or person (in this version as a provenance to ambience link) Where they are separately formatted or documented, the data is usually repeated or expanded upon in the descriptive text (P 3.4.0). The logic of separating out functions as descriptive entities in their own right would, however, be to avoid duplication.
P 1.4.5	Functions may also be sub-divided into ambient and business functions. In brief, the distinction between them that an ambient function describes the overall purpose whereas a business function describes a specific purpose. An ambient function describes an intention whereas a business function enables a prediction to be reasonably made about the outcome of applying that purpose to a particular instance. Examples - Public housing progrmmes represent an intention (ambient function) to provide housing for people on low-incomes. This may be done in a variety of ways (business functions) such as construction and maintenance of publicly-owned properties or by providing rent subsidies for those residing as tenants in privately-owned dwellings. We're going to look after Aboriginal welfare (ambient function) We're going to steal your children (business function)

P 1.5.0 STANDARDISATION OF TERMINOLOGY

P 1.5.1

Standardisation is indivisible. HCPR is not separate from other standardisation initiatives within the archival community - as if documentation was somehow separate from or irrelevant to recordkeeping, appraisal, records/collection management, and so on.

1.5.2

In this version of HCPR-DEP, an effort is made to correlate sections of the Common Practice Rules with glossary definitions found elsewhere. In its original conception, HCPR was to have its own glossary. Since then the ACA Glossary (Discussion edition - 1993) has appeared. Drawing on this and other sources, a synoptic analysis has been attempted both for provenance generally (below) and, where appropriate, in the sections of HCPR-DEP. It should be noted that the terms in ACPM are either undefined or defined as set out in HCPR itself. Standardisation of terminology may follow from an examination of similarities and differences between HCPR and other sources.

Definitions
Other Sources	HCPR - DEP
Agency In broad terms an "agency" is a body engaged in administrative activities and producing records. A Commonwealth Agency ... has been described as "a recognizable and distinct administrative entity under the control of the Commonwealth or another Organisation, which produces records and maintains its own record-keeping system". It is difficult to arrive at a more exact definition of "agency". The description given above suggests that a Commonwealth agency is a body producing records ... maintaining independent control records ... having a stable core of functions, an identifiable head and administrative structure. In short, a Commonwealth agency is a body which creates records, and has its own record-keeping system. Size, age, function, position in the hierarchy or location do not determine whether a body is an agency. AAA CRS Manual (Vol. 2 - Agencies) 1990	corporation
Agency (1) A unit at any level in the administrative hierarchy which creates records and has its own recordkeeping system. (mod) (2) A body, business, organisation or institution that creates or manages its own records in the course of its business or activities. (3) An organisation or part of an organisation having recordkeeping autonomy and thus being the source of a discrete record group. (4) Administrative unit which by its function, structure and recordkeeping is archivally an entity. (5) An administrative unit which has or had responsibility for the provision of at least one aspect of government administration. Also referred to as department, originating unit. See also Agency Controlling, Agenmcy Finish Date, Agency Number, Agency Recording, Agency Register, Agency Registration, Agency Start Date, Agency title, Agency Transferring, Context Unit, Family (ed), Inventory of Agencies (ed), Previous Agency, Provenance, Subordinate Agency, Subsequent Agency, Superior Agency. ACA Glossary (Discusion Edition) 1993	corporation
Context Unit That person, office, organisation, section, branch which creates and maintains records. See also Agency. Family A record creator comprising more than one individual showing provenance. See also Agency (ed), Person (ed). Person (1) Significant individuals who have created personal records. (2) An individual who is a record creator showing provenance. See also Family (ed), Inventory of Persons (ed). ACA Glossary (Discussion Edition) 1993	corporation/person not used as yet person
Corporate body An organization or group of persons that is identified by a particular name and that acts, and may act, as an entity. ISAAR(CPF) Hague Draft 1994	corporation
Agency A body, business, organisation or institution that creates or manages its own records in the course of its business or activities. In the case of large organisations or institutions, subordinate parts such as departments, sections, units, regional or branch offices may be regarded as separate agencies. Keeping Archives 2	corporation
Agency An agency is an administrative unit which has or had responsibility for the provision of at least aspect of government administration. It is that functional/operational purpose which accounts for the existence of the agency. VSA Agency Manual 1989	corporation
Agency An agency is an organisation which creates and/or manages its own records. In the case of large organizations, subordinate parts such as departments or sections may be regarded as separate agencies when they deal directly with the State Archives regarding retention and disposal of their records. eg The Ministry of Education constitutes a separate agency. The Western Australian Post secondary Education Commission, which is subordinate to the Ministry but which deals directly with the State Archives, also constitutes a separate agency. WSA Manual - SRS (1991)	corporation

P 2.0.0 IDENTITY P 2.1.0 : Reference Code(s)	CATEGORY OF DATA Type of Data
Citations - SPIRT RKMS02; RKMS13; RKMS24 ISAAR(CPF) - Hague Draft : 1.1; 2.1.1; 2.2.1 The reference code uniquely identifies the provenance entity and distinguishes the corporation or person identified from all others.

Definitions
Other Sources	HCPR - DEP
Agency Number Unique identifying number assigned to each agency registered. See also Agency. ACA Glossary (Discussion Edition) 1993	reference code

P 2.1.1 ELEMENTS OF A REFERENCE CODE

AREA

A unique identifying number or code is given to distinguish a corporation or person identified from -

• all others within the archival documentation programme, and
• those in other archival documentation programmes here and overseas.

To achieve this, in conformity with procedures for developing reference codes for records (R 2.1.0), the reference code is made up of three components.

• The first of these is a local repository specific reference code, control number, or other unique identifier which distinguishes an entity documented in one archival documentation programme from other entities documented in the same programme.
• Additionally, provision should be made for a country code and a repository code which distinguish an entity described in one archival documentation programme from descriptions of corporations and persons documented in other programmes.

To ensure unique and unambiguous identification, reference codes may be cancelled but should not be re-used. A note should be kept of cancelled numbers to enable records to be relocated from superseded citations.

Assign a discrete number to each corporation

Assign a discrete number to each person

The local repository code identifies corporations and persons within a documentation programme and distinguishes them from other corporations and persons described within that programme. Identity codes which distinguish corporations and persons from those in other documentation programmes are dealt with under data exchange (P 2.1.3).

These rules conform to the data structure imposed by HCPR for Records (R 2.1.3).

Assign a country code in accordance with ISO 3166

This conforms to the data structure imposed by ISAD(G) on records (R 2.1.3). A similar convention has been included for ISAAR(CPF) records.

Assign a source code in accordance with P 1.1.0

This is a statement about the identity of the archival documentation programme which is the source of information about the corporation (person) being described not about the location of records with that provenance.

Cite legal number(s) assigned by public authorities

This accommodates rules 2.1.1 aand 2.2.1 in ISAAR(CPF). Australian company registration numbers would be an example.

Use a title which uniquely distinguishes a corporation

Use a name which uniquely identifies a person

A title/name identifies and describes the provenance. It should stand meaningfully alone to give some indication (in conjunction with knowledge of date range and context) of the function and kind of records likely to have been produced. This is the "authority entry" under ISAAR(CPF).

Distinguish between corporations with the same title

Distinguish between persons with the same name

The use of reference codes (P 2.1.0) may provide sufficient differentiation. Other methods include adding a distinctive number or letter -

e.g. Department of External Affairs I
Department of External Affairs II

In the case of natural persons, library cataloguing practices (cf. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules) may be used to add descriptive phrases or life-spans to distinguish persons of the same name -

e.g. Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, plumber

Prefer the "official", "legal", "authoritative" or formal title to possible alternatives

An authoritative name for a corporation, derived from establishing legislation or other primary sources (e.g. annual reports, directories), is used in preference to -

• commonplace, colloquial, shortened, or better known forms of name;
• an acronym or abbreviation.

Prefer a person's birth-name to alternative, variant, or better known forms of name

An authoritative name for a person, derived from a birth certificate, is used in preference to -

• subsequent name-changes by deed poll;
• name-changes consequent upon marriage or divorce;
• name-changes consequent upon ennoblement or degradation;
• nicknames, aliases, psuedenoms, or better known forms of name.

Prefer the most recent to earlier forms of titles of corporations

Successive titles should only be used when confusion would result without them.

Alternative forms of name may be included in title

Where two or more titles which have been used in succession are given, the chronology should be indicated in the title.

Example

• Commonwealth Supply Office, Darwin / (from 1927) Commonwealth Supply Directorate, Darwin

Alternative forms of name not included in title should be documented elsewhere

Make provision for alternative forms of title (not incorporated into the preferred title) in a separate field. Otherwise, alternatives should be referred to in the "Note" - see P 3.4.8a(i).

Note : In systems which search on title and alternative title fields but not on text in the "Note", there will be no retrieval of alternative and variant titles which appear only in the "Note".

ISAAR(CPF) provides for "parallel entry" (1.3), "non-preferred terms" (1.4) and "variant names" (2.1.2 and 2.2.2) - cf. prenominals and postnominals ( P 2.2.8).

Use the title to indicate where successive corporations have been treated as a single body

In exceptional cases, where the rules would otherwise require that separate corporations be identified and an exception has been made to treat them as one (P 2.0.4), the successive phases may be reflected in the title by adding qualifying dates and phrases.

Example -

• In 1914, the municipality of Camberwell was raised from town to city Camberwell (Town 1906-1914; City 1914- )

However, if a change in the primary appelation occurs, separate registrations (and hence separate titles) are to be preferred in all cases.

Example

• Boorandara (Road District 1854-1871; Shire 1871-1902)
• Camberwell & Boorandara (Shire 1902-1905; Borough 1905-1906)
• Camberwell (Town 1906-1914; City 1914- )

Use the title to indicate where several co-terminous corporations have been treated as a single body

In exceptional cases, where the rules would otherwise require that separate corporations be identified and an exception has been made to treat them as one (P 2.0.7), the plurality of the jurisdiction may be reflected in the title.

Example -

The Warrnambool courthouse was home to courts sitting in several jurisdictions. For convenience they are treated as one

• Warrnambool Courts
  All jurisdictions handled by the court, including the County and Supreme Court circuits, should be explained in the note using relevant dates,
  eg "covers court of Petty Sessions, Magistrates Court and Insolvency Court".

Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, shortened, and colloquial forms of title/name

Examples -

• Committee for the Co-Ordination of Studies in the Gippsland Lakes Catchment Area not Gippsland Lakes Committee
• New South Wales Supreme Court, Port Phillip District not N.S.W. Supreme Court, P.P.D.
• Advisory Council on Tertiary Education not T.E.A.C.
• The House of Representatives Select Committee on the Grievances of the Yirrikala Aborigines, Arnhem Land Reserve not Yirrikala Committee
• 4 Advanced Ammunition Depot, Australian Military Forces not 4 AAD, AMF

Exception : Use abbreviations/acronyms in specified cases Example -

• HMAS Albatross not Her Majesty's Australian Ship Albatross

Include location details in the title of a corporation when needed to aid identification

Examples -

• Department of Home Affairs (III), State Office, Western Australia
• Lighthouse, Swan Island [Tasmania]
• Office of the Agent-Gebneral [London]
• Whittlesea Courts

ISAAR(CPF) identifies geographic data as a "subelement" of a corporate name (1.2).

Include a reference to a superior Department of State in the title of a Branch/Division

Examples -

• Fisheries and Wildlife Division (Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands; previously Ministry of Conservation ...)
• Special Service Branch
  (a) Department of Customs & Excise (to Mar. 1975)
  (b) Department of Police & Customs (to Dec. 1975)
  (c) Department of Business & Consumer Affairs

Exception : Exclude a reference to a superior Department of State if the title stands alone

Example -

• Antarctic Division

ISAAR(CPF) identifies the name of a subordinate body as a possible "subelement" of a corporate name (1.2).

Dates may be included in a title to clarify the meaning of qualifying terms and phrases

Examples -

• Commonwealth Supply Office, Darwin/(from 1927) Commonwealth Supply Directorate, Darwin
• Camberwell (Town 1906-1914; City 1914-ct)

ISAAR(CPF) identifies date(s) as a possible "subelement" of a corporate or personal name (1.2).

This issue is left to a later version of HCPR.

ISAAR(CPF) identifies the following as "subelements" of a personal name -

• forename (or given name); patronymic; family name (or surname) including prefixes and compounds; sobriquet; dynastic name; other names;

and the following as "additions" to a name -

• title of nobility, honour, address, etc.; other additions (1.2).

Prenominals and postnominals are also allowed for as "variant names" (2.1.2) in ISAAR(CPF).

A parallel entry is made when the name/title is represented in another form to the one given in P 2.1.0. This is not an alternative name or variant (e.g. New Holland instead of Australia) - cf. P 2.2.2. A parallel name is a second preferred name or alternative rendering of the preferred name. A common instance of parallel name is in programmes employing two or more official languages - e.g. English and Maori.

Give the parallel name of an agency

Example -

• Te Puni Kõkiri Parallel Name : Ministry of Maori Development

Give the parallel name of a person

Example -

• Michael Collins Parallel Name : Micael O'Coileain

Give the parallel name of an activity

State the language used for the parallel entry

Example -

• Te Puni Kõkiri Parallel Name : Ministry of Maori Development (English)

While it is common to give life span as the date range for persons, there is no such consistency with corporations. The choices include :

• dates of existence (analogous to life span)
• dates of activity (usually less than existence dates)
• dates of records (created, surviving, or held).

Cases of corporations which have been brought into existence "legally" or formally but remain inactive (or which are inactive long before they are legally abolished) are common. Less usual, but not unknown, are cases where activity precedes formal or legal establishment (e.g. secretariates of Royal Commissions which commence before Letters Patent are issued).

Some archives think it is convenient to vary the strict application of rules for dating existence to show dates of activities or records in exceptional cases. When faced with a choice of dates, the common (but not universal) practice is to prefer the earlier and later dates. Thus, there is no uniformity in dating for commenceemnt and cessation of corporations. In most cases, the dates will be existence dates.

Give the date (or range of dates) for birth and death of a person

Approximate dates where they cannot be ascertained

See P 2.3.6d on how to express approximate dates.

The date(s) for commencement and cessation of a corporation must fall within the date(s) of existence of the controlling organisation(s) (C 2.3.1a)

The date(s) for commencement and cessation of a corporation must fall within the date(s) of existence of the group(s) to which it belongs (C 2.3.1b)

A corporation is established when it is brought into existence by legal or administrative action

See P 1.2.3 for examples of legal or administrative action affecting the existence of corporations.

A government corporation established by statute commences when the relevant statutory provisions come into effect

The date of commencement of the provisions establishing a statutory corporation (which may be fixed by a commencement provision in the Act, royal assent, or proclamation) is normally the commencement date for the corporation.

A corporation established by executive action commences when the decision takes effect

The following conventions have been employed -

Commonwealth Departments of State are created, renamed and abolished by Federal Executive Council Minutes which have effect from the date of the Executive Council meeting (CRS); and unless the record-keeping system commences earlier -

• Royal Commissions start from the date of issue of the Letters Patent which establish them;
• Judicial Inquiries start on the date of appointment of the first member or members;
• Parliamentary Committees start on the date of the resolution of Parliament establishing them or the resolution nominating members - whichever is later;
• Naval units start when they are commissioned;
• Military and airforce units start when they are raised;
• Boards and Committees start when the first members are appointed;
• other corporations start when staff are first appointed.
• Branches or regional offices are sometimes established after the parent corporation begins.

Corporations are not necessarily abolished and recreated when they are reconstituted

Examples

• Some Parliamentary Committees which continue through successive sessions of Parliament are reconstituted by resolution at the commencement of each session. These may be treated as a single corporation.
• Until 1958, Victorian Acts (with amendments) were periodically re-enacted as consolidations (1866, 1874, 1884, 1890, 1915, 1929, 1958).Such re-enactments do not constitute abolition and re-commencement of the statutory corporations concerned.

See also P 2.3.4d.

Give the date of birth of a person

The commencement date for a corporation may pre-date its formal establishment if there is evidence of prior activity

Inquiries and Royal Commissions (which are formally established by Letters Patent) provide examples of records-creation by skeleton staff who begin to create an independent record-keeping system before the date of establishmnet of the corporation. In such cases, the corporation commences with the record-keeping system not its formal establishmnet unless the pre-esrtablishment records are regarded as the creation of another corporation providing the secretariat for the Inquiry or Commission.

Example -
A secretariat is formed within the Department of Administrative Affairs and begins creating records in anticipation of the appointment of a Royal Commission -

• Royal Commission on Administrative Waste, 5 Apr 1968 - 8 Dec 1968 Note : Established by Letters Patent on 9 May 1968 instead of -
• Royal Commission on Administrative Waste, 9 May 1968 - 8 Dec 1968 succeeded to Department of Administrative Affairs, 1950-ct

Where legislation merely confirms or formalises a corporation's existence, its commencement date will be earlier.

Example
In 1960, the Commonwealth Archives Office was separated by administrative decision from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library. It operated as a separate corporation with its own record-keeping system from that date. In 1973, it was renamed as the Australian Archives, which was given a statutory basis in 1983. This can be treated as :-

• Australian Archives (formerly Commonwealth Archives Office), 1960-
  succeeded to Commonwealth Parliamentary Library

instead of :-

• Australian Archives I (formerly Commonwealth Archives Office), 1960-1983
  succeeded to Commonwealth Parliamentary Library
  succeeded by Australian Archives II, 1983-

The commencement date for a corporation may post-date its formal establishment if evidence of activity is lacking

Where there is a significant interlude between establishment and commencement of operations, the latter date should be given as commencement. Similarly, a statutory corporation may post-date proclamation of an establishing Act if evidence of activity is lacking.

Example -
The Victorian Agent-General in London was established by legislation commencing in 1963 but did not begin operation until 1968. This can be described as :-

• Agent General, 1968-ct
  Note : Established by statute in 1963 ...

instead of :-

• Agent General, 1963-ct

Give date of commencement of activity separately from date of commencement of existence

Give date of commencement of records-creation separately from date of commencement of existence

Give date of earliest survival of records separately from date of commencement of existence

A corporation is abolished when it is terminated by legal or administrative action

See P 1.2.3 for examples of legal or administrative action affecting the existence of corporations.

A government corporation abolished by statute ceases when the relevant statutory provisions come into effect

The date of commencement of the provisions abolishing a statutory corporation (which may be fixed by a commencement provision in the Act, royal assent, or proclamation) is normally the abolition date for the corporation.

A corporation abolished by executive action ceases when the decision takes effect

The following conventions have been employed -

• Commonwealth Departments of State are created, renamed and abolished by Federal Executive Council Minutes which have effect from the date of the Executive Council meeting;

and unless the record-keeping system continues -

• a Royal Commission terminates on the date on which it tenders its final report;
• a Judicial Inquiry terminates on the date on which it tenders its final report;
• a Parliamentary Committee terminates on the date of its last meeting or the date specified in a resolution of Parliamentb terminating it - whichever is later;
• Naval units cease when they are de-commissioned;
• Military and airforce units cease when they are de-activated;
• Boards and Committees cease on the date of their final meeting;
• other corporations cease when they no longer produce records.

Corporations are not necessarily abolished and recreated when they are reconstituted

See P 2.3.2d.

Give the date of death of a person

The cessation date for a corporation may post-date its legal or formal termination if there is evidence of later activity

Inquiries and Royal Commissions provide examples of records-creation by staff who maintain an independent record-keeping system after the date of termination of the corporation. In such cases, the corporation continues with the record-keeping system and does not cease with its formal termination unless the later records are regarded as the creation of another corporation providing for the wind-up or implementation of the recommendations of the Inquiry or Commission.

Example The secretariat of a Royal Commission continues creating records after the Commission has presented its final report -

• Royal Commission on Administrative Waste, 5 Apr 1969 - 8 Dec 1968
  Note : Established by Letters Patent on 9 May 1968. Report
  presented on 5 Nov 1968.

instead of -

• Royal Commission on Administrative Waste, 9 May 1968 - 5 Nov 1968
  succeeded to Department of Administrative Affairs, 1950 - ct
  succeeded by Department of Administrative Affairs, 1950 - ct

The cessation date for a corporation may pre-date its legal or formal termination if evidence of activity is lacking

Give the date of cessation of activity separately from the date of cessation of existence

Give the date of cessation of records-creation separately from the date of cessation of existence

Give the date of records survival separately from the date of cessation of existence

Dates are expressed using one or more of the following components according to dating and timing conventions currently in use in Australia :-

• year
• month
• day
• time of day

There are no agreed conventions for dealing with time zone variations. Chronological data is normally ordered as day-month-year

Examples

• 12 June, 1954
• 12/06/1954

but one Australian programme as used a year-month-day convention for data entry

Example

• 19891231 (31 Dec., 1989).

Use a date range to show the lapse of time between the commencement (birth) and cessation (death) of a corporation (person)

Examples

• 12 June 1954 - 31 Dec 1978
• *19540612*19781231* (input)
• 12/06/1954 - 31/12/1978 (output)

Use an open ended date range if cessation or death has not yet occurred

Examples

• 12/06/1954 - (output)

In computerised systems, it may be necessary to supply a date or code in place of a second or closing date -

• *19540612*99990000* (input)
• 12/06/1954 - (output)
• 12/06/1954 - ct

Use a single date if the date of commencement (birth) and the date of cessation (death) are the same.

Examples -
Where only the year is shown and a corporation commences and is abolished in a single year -

• 1943

In computerised systems, however, it may be necessary to repeat the date to differentiate a single date from an open date range -

• *19430101*19431231* (input)
• 1943-1943
  

Modify dates to indicate doubt or difficulty.

Examples

by : where an event is known to have occurred by the date specified but may have occurr