At the fonds level the archivist will include information about the entire
organization and all of its records in a general way. In its simplest and most common form, a RAD description consists of five elements:
- Title
- Dates
- Extent
- Administrative History/Biographical Sketch
- Scope and Content
Six other elements should also be considered for a basic RAD description. While these are not optional, they will not always be necessary, either.
- Custodial history
- Source of supplied title note
- Physical description note
- Arrangement note
- Restrictions
- Accruals.
If all fonds-level elements were used, the order of your fonds-level description would be as follows:
- Title
- Dates
- Extent
- Administrative History/Biographical Sketch
- Custodial History
- Scope and Content
- Source of supplied title
- Arrangement
- Restrictions
- Accruals
