Records in Contexts – Foundations of Archival Description

Records in Contexts–Foundations of Archival Description (RiC-FAD) is a brief introduction to the principles and purpose of archival description. It is the first part of the Records in Contexts standard, which also includes a Conceptual Model (RiC-CM), an Ontology (RiC-O), and Application Guidelines (RiC-AG). The versions 1.0 of RiC-FAD, RiC-CM, and RiC-O, that were released in late 2023, mark the first stable and complete version of the first three parts of RiC.  The RiC-Application Guidelines (RiC-AG) were released in 2025, marking the completion of the fourth and final part of Records in Contexts.  

RiC-FAD was first published in 2016 as part of RiC-CM version 0.1 and subsequently turned into a revised independent document called Introduction to Archival Description (version 0.2). In 2023 it was again revised and renamed as Foundations of Archival Description (version 1.0). 

RiC-FAD 1.0 can be downloaded from https://www.ica.org/app/uploads/2023/12/RiC-FAD-1.0.pdf or https://github.com/ICA-EGAD/RiC-FAD/blob/main/current-version/RiC-FAD-1.0.pdf.