NYU implemented EAD in earnest in 2002 under the guidance of the University Archivist, Nancy Cricco. Finding aids were encoded in EAD to conform to NYU's local guidelines, which included the guidelines of RLG and Michael Fox's EAD Cookbook. Project archivist Brian Stevens developed templates for creation of new EADs and easier conversion of legacy word-processed guides. Use of these templates provided consistent encoding of inventories and front matter. Through the initiative and cooperation of Marvin Taylor and Ann Butler at the Fales Library and Michael Nash at Tamiment/Wagner, NYU's special collections now have over 400 EAD finding aids published.
For researchers, EAD files are converted to HTML on the fly using the open source Saxon XSLT processor developed by Michael Kay. Configuration of the server where the EADs preside is undertaken by the Digital Library staff. Finding aids are accessible from indexes maintained by NYU's special collections and from the 856 field in library catalog records. EAD files are then ingested into an Oracle database for searching. They are also searchable via RLG's ArchiveGrid.
Most EAD files published by NYU were created using an MS Excel template in concert with a NoteTab clip. Troubleshooting and ongoing editing of EAD files is done with NoteTab utilizing Chris Prom's EAD configuration.