Delivering the Goods: Constructing a Next-Generation Information Retrieval System for Distribution of EAD Finding Aids

This paper describes the design of the Cheshire onlineinformation retrieval system currently underdevelopment at the University of California, Berkeleyand at Special Collections and Archives, University ofLiverpool Library. One of the specific aims of theproject is to produce a next-generation systemsupporting enhanced access to archival finding aidsencoded in Encoded Archival Description (EAD). Thispaper will focus on the conceptual model informing thedevelopment of the Cheshire system and demonstrate howthis model is being used by libraries, museums, andarchival repositories to distribute information. Itwill touch on a number of relevant research issuesinforming the ongoing development of the system,namely those of cross-domain resource discovery, datamining, metadata, and navigation of information. Atissue is: how will users be able to gain access to thecontents of ``original materials'' encoded in digitalform, and how should such digital surrogates beidentified, organized, and retrieved to best supportthe users who need to have access to them.