Abstract

Archival descriptions are significant in utilizing archives, as they are important tools for archival research and use. Meanwhile, content services are key services in modern society, where the use of archives and the importance of content are increasing. In this study, archival descriptions and content services were not viewed as different areas but as a relationship that could advance complementarily. This is because if archival descriptions are rich and well-prepared, high-quality content can be produced based on them, and archival descriptions can be enriched if well-made content is supplemented or linked to the descriptions again. This study intends to reveal the complementary relationship between archival descriptions and content services and propose an advancement plan based on this relationship. As such, the current status and problems of the archival descriptions and content services of the National Archives of Korea and the Presidential Archives website were analyzed, and the UK's National Archives (TNA), the USA's National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Seoul Metropolitan Archives, and the Korea Democracy Foundation's Open Archives were selected as exemplary cases for comparison. Based on the implications of the six analyzed institutions, an advancement plan for archival descriptions and content services, as well as a complementary development plan, was proposed. Through this study, it is expected that archival descriptions and content services will develop in a mutually complementary direction.