This paper compares the purpose, content, structure and level of specificity of two archival metadata schemes:The International Standards for Archival Description (ISAD (G)) and the Business Acceptable Communication model (BAC) developed by the University of Pittsburgh Project. It suggests that different archival views guided the work of the two projects and these views influenced and shaped the respective schemes. Finally it recommends that archivists involve users in the development of their schemes to ensure the identification of the right metadata at the appropriate level of specificity to meet users' need.