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Home Par APEnet Developments

Local conversion tool

NB: This page is no longer updated. For the latest version, go here.

 

Converting any XML file to APE EAD v1.1.4

The main goal of the Archives Portal Europe is to meet users' expectations by providing seamless access to various archival resources held throughout Europe. To achieve this, the APEnet project team has developed a common European EAD-XML schema. This APE EAD will act as a pivotal format, additionally enabling the Archives Portal Europe to deliver standardised data to Europeana, and is the basis of the main processes provided within the tool downloadable here.

The tool relies on international standards and has developed a standard usable by all. Additional to EAD and ISAD(G), the standards EAC-CPF (based on ISAAR-CPF) to describe the records creators as well as EAG and ISDIAH to describe the archival institutions themselves are also taken into account. For more information on these archival standards and their use within the Archives Portal Europe, please refer to the section "About APEnet > Standards" of this website.

With this tool each partner is enabled to convert his/her data – already structured in "local" EAD or drawn from databases etc. compliant with ISAD(G) – into the commonly used APE EAD before integrating them in the portal. Furthermore, all archival institutions interested in a future participation within the Archives Portal Europe can locally try their data against the archival standards as used in the portal with this tool.

Before downloading and using the tool, we recommend that you read the manual. The tool is currently available in English, German and French and the manual only in English.

This tool is open source and at your disposal, however,

  • developed under a project funded by the European Commission, this tool is submitted to a European Union Public License. You can find the general terms of this license here.
  • if you encounter some errors or problems in using it, we thank you to report them via the contact form of the Archives Portal Europe.

This tool can be used in different ways to achieve various objectives. Most of the functionalities described below are independent from each other:

  • check that the EAD files produced by your institution are compliant with the EAD 2002;
  • convert your files to APE EAD to evaluate a possible participation in the project and/or its procedures (for instance using your own XSLT style sheet within the tool to convert your files);
  • automatically create a simple holdings guide based on your finding aids;
  • create an EAG file to describe your institution;
  • create your own ESE files from your valid APE EAD files.

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