The Ducal Archive of Gandia: Technical Treatment and Information Retrieval Resources within the Spanish Archives Portal (PARES)

Abstract

This article aims to serve as a tool to improve users’ research experience when working with noble archives of the Crown of Aragon preserved at the Archivo Histórico de la Nobleza. To this end, the ducal archive of Gandía—one of the best known and most frequently consulted collections in the institution—is taken as a case study. First, the article explains the diversity of current and historical reference codes, resulting from its integration into the Ducal Archive of Osuna. Second, it analyses the evolution of the archive’s internal organization, its successive owners, and changes in titularity, with the aim of clarifying its present archival classification. Third, it examines the ways in which its contents have been described, both at the level of documentary entities and non-documentary entities, paying particular attention to the challenges of standardization in a multilingual archive. Taken together, these analytical tools are intended to enable users to make more efficient use of the Spanish Archives Portal (PARES).