[1] RAD was first published in 1990 after being developed by the Bureau of Canadian Archivists' (BCA) Planning Committee on Descriptive Standards.
[2][4] Similar in structure to AACR2,[4] RAD provides archivists with a framework for generating archival descriptions and finding aids.
It is a multi-level descriptive metadata standard structured to reflect the context of a group of records based on the manner in which they were created, used, and managed.
[5] Completed descriptions vary in depth, but often include a biographical sketch about the creator of the records, information about the physical extent of the material, and an overview – in the form of a scope and content note – about what the archival fonds consists of.
[10] Title, dates, extent, administrative history, biographical sketch, and scope and content are required RAD elements:[2][10] As per the SCAA, six additional elements should also be considered for a basic RAD description:[2][10]