We launched the new OAC system with a snapshot of all published finding aids as of June 30, 2025. As part of this process, we ran a bulk validation process on existing finding aids to check the EAD encoding, and also identify any issues with finding aids that would result in display errors in the new OAC website. We identified 1,079 EAD finding aids (approximately 2% of all migrated EAD finding aids total) that result in display errors in the new OAC website. The key errors are summarized below.
1) Encoding issues that we will resolve (and subsequently re-run the migration process)
The first category summarizes encoding issues that are resulting in OAC display and/or Dashboard errors, due to missing data. We are planning to make adjustments to the system, and will re-run the process to migrate these finding aids (based on the June 30, 2025 snapshot of data):
- Failed to parse title: the finding aid does not contain a <unittitle> in ead/archdesc, indicating the title of the collection. We are adjusting the display to use the <titleproper> as a fallback.
- Failed to parse collection number: the finding aid does not contain a <unitid> in ead/archdesc, indicating the collection number/identifier for the collection. We are adjusting the display to use the EAD filename as a fallback.Components cannot have level=collection: the finding aid includes Component <c0#> elements, with the LEVEL attribute set to “collection”.Failed to import supplemental files: the finding aid includes links to some supplemental PDF finding aids, which were not successfully migrated.
- Components cannot have level=collection: the finding aid includes Component elements, with the LEVEL attribute set to "collection".
- Failed to import supplemental files: the finding aid includes links to some supplemental PDF finding aids, which were not successfully migrated.
2) Encoding issues that we need your help with remediating
The second category summarizes encoding issues that we need your help with remediating. Once the files have been updated, you can re-upload and publish them through the new OAC Dashboard.
- Could not parse XML file: the finding aid contains EAD encoding that does not validate against the EAD DTD or schema, and/or contains malformed XML. Please update the source EAD file, and republish to OAC. We recommend using the EAD Validator, supported by the Society of American Archivists, to check the encoding (Choose "EAD 2002" as the schema in the dropdown).
- No title for empty component: the finding aid includes Component <c0#> elements with no additional descriptive information, such as a title, date, file/item number, or container. Please update the source EAD file to include at least one descriptive element (e.g., <unititle>, <unitdate>) for each Component.
Error reports
The table below provides a summary of EAD error reports (XLS spreadsheets), organized by contributing institution. The reports can be downloaded at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DZ_iNCcgf3DazeFky09b0eQqOo5sy4xe?usp=drive_link
Copies of your submitted EAD files are for downloading at: https://voro.cdlib.org/oac-ead/submission/