Interoperability without effort: the development of the distributed Archives Hub Amanda Hill University of Manchester, UK too much

What do we want from a union catalogue of finding aids?

Sustainable Owned by the community Comprehensive Ubiquitous

Archives Hub Developing since 1999: a union catalogue for archives held in universities, colleges and other organisations throughout the UK Funded by the JISC Now holds c.20,000 finding aids from 150 institutions Distributing the data was part of the plan from the early stages of the service

Developing since 1999: a union catalogue for archives held in universities, colleges and other organisations throughout the UK

Funded by the JISC

Now holds c.20,000 finding aids from 150 institutions

Distributing the data was part of the plan from the early stages of the service

Frustrated Happy Graph inspired by Jessica Hagy http://indexed.blogspot.com/

Testing Feedback Development

Cheshire Development Team, University of Liverpool Archives Hub service team, Manchester and early adopters at universities in Scotland and England Direct from testers and more formally through Spokes Users and Developers group and Contributors’ Forum Testing Feedback Development Cheshire for Archives 3.2

Quick guided tour

Spoke home page

Results display

Collection-level record

Full multi-level finding aid

Search term ‘photograph’

Administration interface

Managing EAD files

Overview of activity

Technical details Runs on a Linux (Red Hat or Fedora) server Cheshire3 information retrieval software Cheshire for Archives EAD-specific software All open source

Runs on a Linux (Red Hat or Fedora) server

Cheshire3 information retrieval software

Cheshire for Archives EAD-specific software

Installation Takes around one hour to install Free to download (http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/arch/spokes.shtml) Documentation and support from Archives Hub website and Spokes mailing list

Takes around one hour to install

Free to download (http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/arch/spokes.shtml)

Documentation and support from Archives Hub website and Spokes mailing list

Cheshire for Archives Provides Web, Z39.50 and SRU interfaces to archival descriptions Highly customisable: XHTML display controlled by XSLT and CSS Search options make full use of EAD’s descriptive markup

Provides Web, Z39.50 and SRU interfaces to archival descriptions

Highly customisable: XHTML display controlled by XSLT and CSS

Search options make full use of EAD’s descriptive markup

Issues Time: software development is a time-consuming business Evolving standards: Z39.50 being succeeded by SRU has entailed additional work Requirements: institutions’ needs and preferences vary considerably - important to build flexibility into the software Communication: importance of keeping a wide user community up to date with developments and any problems

Time: software development is a time-consuming business

Evolving standards: Z39.50 being succeeded by SRU has entailed additional work

Requirements: institutions’ needs and preferences vary considerably - important to build flexibility into the software

Communication: importance of keeping a wide user community up to date with developments and any problems

Benefits for Archives Hub community Software gives control of data back to the repositories Makes it more likely that they will add new descriptions and expand upon existing ones Built-in interoperability means that data can be accessed by a wide range of services, from search engines to metasearch applications Including the Archives Hub!

Software gives control of data back to the repositories

Makes it more likely that they will add new descriptions and expand upon existing ones

Built-in interoperability means that data can be accessed by a wide range of services, from search engines to metasearch applications

Including the Archives Hub!

Sun Mill Company

John Rylands’ Spoke

The Archives Hub becomes… More sustainable Community-owned Increasingly comprehensive Available to users wherever they are

More sustainable

Community-owned

Increasingly comprehensive

Available to users wherever they are