The Value of User Experience (from Web 2.0 Expo Berlin 2008)
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Opening Your Collections
An Overview of Two Open-Source
Descriptive Tools
ALABI 2008Jason Fowler, CA
Archives and Special Collections LibrarianThe Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
What Are the Descriptive Tools?
A descriptive tool is an instrument to help describe your collections
Could be a form, template, software package Archon and the Archivists' Toolkit are software
packages
Why Should I Use Them?
They create consistency for your descriptions and make it easier to share your data and conform to standards
They lessen the number of your decisions They ease training and speed up data entry They make it easier to create access to collection
descriptions These tools are free
What is Open Source?
What is Open-Source?
Often synonymous with “free software” Software with an OSI recognized software license
Free to redistribute Source Code is available Derived works allowed
Both Archon and Archivists' Toolkit are licensed as Open Source
So What?
Both Archon and Archivists' Toolkit are free (as in lunch) to download
Both Archon and Archivists' Toolkit are free (as in speech) to use
Both Archon and Archivists' Toolkit are free (as in speech) to study and tweak
Both Archon and Archivists' Toolkit are free (as in speech) to change and redistribute
Disclaimer: Free Ain't Cheap
Open source software may have tangible costs Open source often has intangible costs
More time and money devoted to staff training Can have a steep learning curve May have very little support or documentation May undergo obsolescence
What is Archon?
Web-based tool for description and access Designed by the staff at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and funded internally Can be downloaded at http://archon.org/ Designed with both end-users (researchers) and
archivists in mind Modular – only install what you need
What does Archon do?
For archivists... Allows archivists to manage accessions Allows archivists to manage creators and subjects Assists archivists in managing and describing collections Allows archivists to upload digital objects Allows archivists to import and export EAD and MARC Allows archivists to keep track of researcher
appointments
What does Archon do?
For researchers... Allows researchers to find collections more easily Allows researchers to see collection relationships Allows researchers to access digital images Allows researchers to set up accounts Allows researchers to request appointments
What is the Archivists' Toolkit?
GUI-based tool for management and description of archives
Cooperative project of UCSD Libraries, NYU Libraries, and the Five College Libraries
Initially funded by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant
Can be downloaded at http://archiviststoolkit.org/ Designed with archivists in mind
What does AT do?
For archivists... Allows archivists to manage the full life cycle of records Allows archivists to manage creators and subjects Assists archivists in managing and describing collections Allows archivists to import and export EAD, MARC,
and HTML
What does AT do?
For archivists... Allows archivists to manage metadata for digital objects Allows archivists to export METS, MODS, and
Dublin Core Allows archivists to generate really nice reports
Which System is for Me?
Not necessarily a choice. Things common to both systems
Platform independent Fairly intuitive Granular permissions Manage accessions, collections, subjects, creators,
locations, and digital objects Negligible system requirements Multiple repositories
Which System is for Me
If making a choice, you must assess your needs Do you need a fully developed reporting suite? Do you want a nice public interface for your users? Do you hate dealing with software issues? Do you have lots of minutiae to track (rights
management, donor details, etc.) ? Do you want to access easily from any location? Do you want to be able to customize the software?