6.0       LIFE EVENTS AREA

 

6.1       LIFE EVENTS

 

DEFINITION:           

This category identifies a range of events that are important in the life of an individ­ual such as trials, imprisonment, birth, death, graduation, confirmation, baptism, participation in a battle,  or residence in particular locations.  This is the type of information often identified in a chronol­ogy to depict important occurrences in an individual's life.

 

DISCUSSION:         

This category focusses on events that are commonly seen as noteworthy occurrences in an individual's life.

 

            >>Purpose:               

Life events provide a context for understand­ing incidents or places that may have influ­enced an individual, or regarding which there may be docu­mentation relating to the individ­ual.

 

            >>Nature:                  

Life events may be traditional events that are recognized as cultural rites (baptism, marriage, confirmation), achievement-related events (gradua­tion, passing the bar examina­tion), periods of residence in particular locations (address, geographic location, name of residence), or events of personal signifi­cance (participation in a battle, premiere of an art work, publication of a novel).

 

SOURCES:              

Information on life events may be iden­tified from such primary sourc­es as legal documenta­tion, or per­sonal records.  It may also be obtained from the individual, fami­ly members, or asso­ciates. It may also be obtained from biographical sketches, obituaries, news­paper articles or other secondary documentation on the individual.

 

USES:                       

Information on life events can provide impor­tant insight into the personality and activi­ties of an individual. It can help in assess­ing the informational content of archival records.  It may also be useful as a means of viewing an important event from the perspec­tive of a (typical) participant, such as letters from a World War II soldier describ­ing the battle of Okinawa.

 

ACCESS:                 

Access to information on life events is use­ful for direct searching.  The access may be to generic event types (baptism), specific events (the battle Okinawa), or locations (places of residence, addresses).

 

TERMINOLOGY:

Use appropriate and relevant standards to develop or implement controlled vocabulary or word lists.

 

EXAMPLES:

Philip A. Hart.

           

            Birth, December 10, 1912

            Resided in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, 1912-1920

            Graduation from Georgetown University, 1934

            Injured at Utah Beach, Normandy, France, 1944.

 

INTERCHANGE:    

Associations between the subcategories must be maintained during information exchange or data transfer.

 

RELATIONSHIPS:  

This category relates to the Relationships area and the Scope of Activity area.  There are close interrelationships of some life events with elements of information in those areas, for example, an activity such as serv­ing in the military forces will result in a life event such as an injury, or composing music will result in the premiere of a par­ticular piece.

 

PRACTICE:

Life events are very actively described in biographical information.  Generally, those recorded either are documented in the archi­val records, are identified in the source literature for preparation of a biographical sketch, or are of common cultural types such as birth, death,and marriage.

 

ISSUES: