Word Processing and Database Software as EAD Encoding Tools

Abstract

Long container lists within finding aids,whether newly created with EAD in mind or legacyguides in electronic text formats, are daunting andtime-consuming to encode and are often the reason thatEAD finding aids are not created at all. However,through the judicious use of word processing anddatabase software, these tasks can be semi-automated.Application of Microsoft Word's rather sophisticatedsearch and replace feature and macros, together withMicrosoft Access's import/export, and report features,allow the user to tag long, repetitive lists of data,and can significantly streamline the encodingprocess.