The various elements of Archivist are all based on the DDI Lifecycle (CLOSER Profile) standard. The following pages cover each of the elements of Archivist in detail. Following the description, you will be able to see case studies and further examples to help understand how complex decisions are made. The questionnaires that form a part of CLOSER are varied and complex and different ways of addressing each of the issues were developed throughout the process. The examples display a direct comparison between an actual question taken from a questionnaire, and how it translates into Archivist.

A questionnaire comprises of questions, answers and constructs which allow the respondent to navigate through the questionnaire. These processes are captured in four main elements: Constructs, Questions, Response Domains and Code Lists. The Archivist elements are used to break down and classify metadata within a questionnaire; which can then be input accordingly. The following diagram is a basic example of a question being split into some of the Archivist elements.