The document discusses the Archivists' Toolkit (AT), a tool for archival data management. It summarizes the goals of the AT, which include supporting archival processing, promoting data standardization and efficiency. It then discusses how a collaboration is using the AT to create finding aids for over 200 hidden collections across 23 repositories as part of a Mellon-funded project. While the AT enables standardization and training, it is noted that the interface and digital objects could be improved. A future system called ArchivesSpace aims to combine the best of AT and Archon.

1. The Archivists’ Toolkit
---
MARAC
November 13, 2010
Holly Mengel
Project Manager
PACSCL/CLIR “Hidden Collections Project

2. About the Archivists’ Toolkit
• The Archivists’ Toolkit™, or the AT, is the first
open source archival data management
system to provide broad, integrated support
for the management of archives.
• It is intended for a wide range of archival
repositories.
• The main goals of the AT are to support
archival processing and production of access
instruments, promote data
standardization, promote efficiency, and lower
training costs.

3. • the application supports
– accessioning and describing archival materials;
– establishing names and subjects associated with
archival materials, including the names of donors;
– managing locations for the materials; and
– exporting EAD finding aids, MARCXML
records, and METS, MODS and Dublin Core
records.

4. • The AT project is a collaboration of the
University of California San Diego
Libraries, the New York University Libraries
and the Five Colleges, Inc. Libraries, and is
generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation.

5. About the PACSCL/CLIR
“Hidden Collections” Project
• Philadelphia Area
Consortium of Special
Collections Library
(PACSCL)
• $500,000 grant from the
Council on Library and
Information Resources
• “Cataloging Hidden Special From the Vaux family papers
at Haverford College
Collections and Archives”
program
(http://www.clir.org/hiddencollections/index.html)

6. Project Goals
• Make accessible approximately 200
“hidden collections” at 23 PACSCL
repositories
– Process roughly 115 collections
– Update legacy guides for roughly 85
collections
• Establish a single access point for all the
“unhidden” collections made available
via the project (and hopefully future
From the Lubin Film Company records
at the Free Library of Philadelphia collections processed by repositories)
– EAD finding aid site

7. Means to Achieve Project Goal
• Efficient and standardized data entry/finding aid
creation in a minimal processing environment
• Finding Aid site (created and hosted by the
University of Pennsylvania)
– Standardized finding aids created at 23 repositories
– Faceted searching
• A sustainable tool for
repositories to use in future
processing efforts

8. … The Archivists’ Toolkit
• Creates DACS
compliant EAD
finding aids at the
click of a button!!!!
– HTML
– PDF
• Usable directly “out
of the box”
• Can be customized
via a style sheet

9. XML

10. HTML

11. PDF

12. How the Project is Using the AT
• Each repository hosts their own instance of
the Archivists’ Toolkit
– After finding aids are created, repositories
generate xml records.
• Each repository creates a web folder which
contains finished xml records
• University of Pennsylvania harvests these xml
records and they are presented on the PACSCL
finding aid site.

13. Data Entry during Processing
Rapid Data Entry EXCEL

14. The Legacy Finding Aids …
• “Finding aids” is generous, at best.
• Complete lack of standardization!
• Formats include
– Paper
– Card catalogs
– Word
– Excel
• For our project (NOT RECOMMENDED), we do
this work off site and do not look at the
collection.

15. Legacy Finding Aids: Paper
• Re-Keying is the only solution UNLESS the
paper document can be scanned.
• Whenever possible, enhance the
biographical/historical note; scope note; and
folder titles.

16. Legacy Finding Aids: Electronic
• Whenever possible, enhance notes and folder
titles
• Sometimes, depending upon existing
structure, re-keying is still the best solution.
• OR--
– Use Notepad ++ to separate fields
– Paste into EXCEL
– Use Matt Herbison’s code
– Paste back into Notepad ++
– Import into the Archivists’ Toolkit

17. Electronic Legacy Finding Aid Magic

18. What we LOVE about the AT
• Forces a degree of standardization across the 23
participating repositories
– Allows for the centralized PACSCL finding aid site
– Develops a support group of knowledgeable users for
future technological issues as processing continues
• Allows processors to spend time on collections NOT
coding EAD
• Allows the project to train processors for all work, not
just individual repository’s systems.
• Hierarchical aspect of data management

19. What we DON’T love about the AT
• NO spell check
• Not entirely intuitive (although practice makes
perfect, in this case!)
• Instance errors are not efficiently corrected.
• No user inter-face
• The Digital-object is not easy (AT ALL)

20. Archon + The Archivists’ Toolkit
=
ARCHIVES SPACE
By Rebecca Goldman

21. Archives Space
• The New York University Libraries, UC San Diego
Libraries, and the University of Illinois Urbana-
Champaign Libraries are partnering to develop a
next-generation archives management
application that will incorporate the best features
of the Archivists’ Toolkit and Archon. With
funding from the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, the project team aims to develop a
technical, sustainability, and governance plan for
the new system.
• http://archivesspace.org/

22. Our Hopes
• From Archon
– Awesome user interface
– Digital Object presentation
• From AT
– Flexibility
– Hierarchical structure

23. “Unhiding” Collections
From the Schuylkill Navy records
at Independence Seaport Museum
http://clir.pacscl.org
http://findingaids.pacscl.org