[spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives

Fri Oct 1 09:42:49 CDT 2010

Several years ago we looked at several products (Archon, AT and Cuadra). There was a hope/desire to create single resource for the three archives on Wheaton's campus. Though this desire didn't materialize the Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections is beginning its third year with Archon. We selected it after Archon made huge steps forward from v.1 to v.2. It must be mentioned that Lisa Spiros' report is invaluable, but it is now becoming dated. Several of the tools described have gone through revisions and upgrades. For instance, Archon was reviewed in v.2.1 and it is now on v.3.13.

Why did we chose Archon? Simplicity. Technologically I am an advanced user. Archivist's Toolkit is a powerful and complex resource that can do a great deal. However, as a power user and an archivist for many years I had difficulty figuring out what went where. This was not the case with Archon. Additionally, AT is a "back of the house" tool that creates flat files (e.g. EAD). Archon is both a front and back of the house product that creates a searchable database for patrons. This user-centric perspective resonated with our own goals and mission. We lived in a flat web environment before Archon where we upload HTML pages modified from our MSWord finding aids. In moving to a database-driven environment we didn't want to get lost in the deep web and lose the many serendipitous users who found us through Google. Archon gave the ability to get "data-fied" yet retain the joys of serendipity. 

As Archon and AT look and plan to merge in the next few years both products will grow. Each will have a migration path into a unified product. I'm not at all worried about what the future will look like because good minds and people are involved. I'm intrigued to see what happens.

David B. Malone, MLIS, CA
Assistant Professor and Head of Archives & Special Collections
Wheaton College
501 College Ave.
Wheaton IL 60187-5593
630.752.5707  | 630.752.5987 FAX
david.malone at wheaton.edu  |  http://library.wheaton.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu [mailto:spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of spcollig-request at carli.illinois.edu
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 8:48 AM
To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
Subject: spcollig Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1

Send spcollig mailing list submissions to
	spcollig at carli.illinois.edu

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://carli.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spcollig
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	spcollig-request at carli.illinois.edu

You can reach the person managing the list at
	spcollig-owner at carli.illinois.edu

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of spcollig digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. Database solutions for the Archives (Laurie Sauer)
   2. Re: Database solutions for the Archives (Pamela Hackbart-Dean)
   3. Re: Database solutions for the Archives (Chris Prom)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:32:13 -0500 (CDT)
From: Laurie Sauer <lsauer at knox.edu>
Subject: [spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives
To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
Message-ID:
	<1335770139.58388.1285878733932.JavaMail.root at zimbra.knox.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hello, 

I am not an Archivist, but I am responsible for implementing technology solutions in the library. In our Archives, we currently do not use a database solution for the ingesting and managing of archives materials, but I am looking at Archon and The Archivists' Toolkit. I would very much appreciate any comments you might have about the pros and cons of each system based on your experience with either implementation and management from a technical point of view and/or with end user experiences with the system, or any comments at all, really. Also, if you are using a commercial product, could you tell me what that is and how you like it? 

I'll summarize responses for the list anyone else thinks it would be useful. Many thanks. 

Laurie Sauer 
Information Technologies Librarian 
Knox College 
309-341-7788 
lsauer at knox.edu 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://carli.illinois.edu/pipermail/spcollig/attachments/20100930/667f1b82/attachment.html 

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 08:27:42 -0500
From: "Pamela Hackbart-Dean" <phdean at lib.siu.edu>
Subject: Re: [spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives
To: <spcollig at carli.illinois.edu>
Message-ID:
	<797303B748C24D40ABDCCC6416E356A4034083AE at libsrvxch2.cd.ds.siu.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Lisa Spiro?s Archival Management Software: A Report for the Council on Library and Information Resources <http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/spiro2009.html>  (Council on Library and Information Resources, 2009) outlines the features of major archival management systems currently on the market, and discusses the advantages and tradeoffs of each, available online at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/spiro2009.html.

**************************** 
Pam Hackbart-Dean, C. A.
Director, Special Collections Research Center 
Morris Library 
Southern Illinois University Carbondale 
PH:  618-453-1452        FAX:  618-453-3451 

From: spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu [mailto:spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of Laurie Sauer
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 3:32 PM
To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
Subject: [spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives

Hello,

I am not an Archivist, but I am responsible for implementing technology solutions in the library. In our Archives, we currently do not use a database solution for the ingesting and managing of archives materials, but I am looking at Archon and The Archivists' Toolkit. I would very much appreciate any comments you might have about the pros and cons of each system based on your experience with either implementation and management from a technical point of view and/or with end user experiences with the system, or any comments at all, really. Also, if you are using a commercial product, could you tell me what that is and how you like it? 

I'll summarize responses for the list anyone else thinks it would be useful. Many thanks.

________________________________

Laurie Sauer
Information Technologies Librarian
Knox College
309-341-7788
lsauer at knox.edu

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://carli.illinois.edu/pipermail/spcollig/attachments/20101001/4cf84cbf/attachment.htm 

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 08:47:47 -0500
From: Chris Prom <chris.prom at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives
To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
Message-ID: <25CFF2DC-51CF-4F28-8DD9-32334D5BD92C at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

Laurie,

I should also mention that Scott Schwartz and I would be happy to answer any specific questions you have in relationship to Archon.  As you probably know, we developed it at the University of Illinois and are in the process of planning to merge it with Archivists Toolkit, so you should make your decision based on what your current needs are, knowing that we are planning to migrate to a common platform eventually.  The other piece of open source software you should look at, which is mentioned in Lisa's Report, but not to same extent as Archon or AT, is ICA AtoM.  It is a great program as well, and similar to ARchon in some respects.

Thanks,

Chris
____

Chris Prom
chris.prom at gmail.com

Asst. Univ. Archivist

University of Illinois

On Oct 1, 2010, at 8:27 AM, Pamela Hackbart-Dean wrote:

Lisa Spiro?s Archival Management Software: A Report for the Council on Library and Information Resources (Council on Library and Information Resources, 2009) outlines the features of major archival management systems currently on the market, and discusses the advantages and tradeoffs of each, available online athttp://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/spiro2009.html.

**************************** 
Pam Hackbart-Dean, C. A.
Director, Special Collections Research Center 
Morris Library 
Southern Illinois University Carbondale 
PH:  618-453-1452        FAX:  618-453-3451

From: spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu [mailto:spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of Laurie Sauer
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 3:32 PM
To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
Subject: [spcollig] Database solutions for the Archives

Hello,

I am not an Archivist, but I am responsible for implementing technology solutions in the library. In our Archives, we currently do not use a database solution for the ingesting and managing of archives materials, but I am looking at Archon and The Archivists' Toolkit. I would very much appreciate any comments you might have about the pros and cons of each system based on your experience with either implementation and management from a technical point of view and/or with end user experiences with the system, or any comments at all, really. Also, if you are using a commercial product, could you tell me what that is and how you like it? 

I'll summarize responses for the list anyone else thinks it would be useful. Many thanks.

Laurie Sauer
Information Technologies Librarian
Knox College
309-341-7788
lsauer at knox.edu

_______________________________________________
spcollig mailing list
spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
http://carli.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spcollig

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://carli.illinois.edu/pipermail/spcollig/attachments/20101001/b6fa248e/attachment.htm 

------------------------------

_______________________________________________
spcollig mailing list
spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
http://carli.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spcollig

End of spcollig Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1
**************************************