International Standard for Describing Functions

The International Standard for Describing Functions (ISDF) is an archival descriptive standard issued by the International Council on Archives (ICA). It establishes guidelines for the organization and representation of information about the functions, activities, and mandates of organizations and individuals that create and maintain archival records. ISDF complements other ICA descriptive standards by providing a framework for documenting organizational context and provenance at the functional level.

ISDF is designed to work in conjunction with related standards including ISAD(G) for describing archival materials and ISAAR(CPF) for representing creators of archives. Together, these standards enable archivists to create comprehensive descriptions that capture not only what records contain, but also the organizational structures, responsibilities, and activities that generated them. This integrated approach supports improved resource discovery and contextual understanding across archival systems.