...
My institution, the University of Denver, has been using ArchivesSpace since the 1.0 release, which also involved a migration from Re:Discovery, ably presided over by Kevin Clair (currently on the Technical Advisory Council, now at Penn State). Since this time, ArchivesSpace has become integral to our special collections and archives technology ecosystem; it is integrated into and/or connected to our digital preservation and access infrastructure, our library management system, and will soon be connected to our online exhibits platform. Despite the “Large” category we belong to, we have a relatively small but still mighty technology team – two full-time developers and an IT librarian who are responsible for all library and archives-related development and systems maintenance, and a newer Digital Collections Librarian – and so this integration and development that we’ve been able to achieve is reflective of the kind of deep expertise and collaborative long-term planning that we have all built together. I look forward to bringing this ethos and context to the governance board.
Teresa Mora
Head of Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Santa Cruz
Thank you for considering me as a candidate for the ArchivesSpace Governance Board. I look at this as a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the larger archival profession and am eager to more fully participate in the ArchivesSpace Community.
Having come to the role of manager through the pathway of technical services I am keenly aware of the need for functional and flexible systems, such as ArchivesSpace, to support the larger mission of collection accessibility. Although I'm no longer a regular user of ArchivesSpace, I was an early adopter in my previous position at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley and have had the opportunity to see the tool in use in both a very large (Bancroft) and now large institution (UC Santa Cruz). In my time at the Bancroft as the Principal Manuscripts Archivist I helped to implement ArchivesSpace and was an active user. In my current role as Head of Special Collections & Archives at UCSC, I still engage with the tool but most of the daily work is conducted by colleagues as I focus my time on managing the department. Small by UC standards, our holdings include over 40,000 published works and over 600 manuscript collections. All of our manuscript holdings are managed in ArchivesSpace and it is our primary tool for the authoring of finding aids as well as MARC records for our archival collections.
Although not yet a perfect system, I believe strongly that, as a community-driven, open-source system, ArchivesSpace is a powerful tool and I welcome the opportunity to become more involved in moving the work of the community forward. I am particularly intrigued by the prospect of serving on the Governance Board given the good work they have been doing in recent years, specifically the adoption of the Diversity Partnership program which I consider a model for the bridges that need to be built to ensure the entire archival community has access to this important resource, not just those of us located in well-established and well-funded institutions.
...
Medium Level Representative
...
Maggie Hughes
Archival Processing Manager, The Huntington Library
I’m excited for this opportunity to run for the ArchivesSpace Governance Board as an institutional representative for medium-sized institutions and serve Aspace and the wider community. I believe I would be a valuable member of the board because I have extensive experience with, and a range of perspectives on, ArchivesSpace. I’ve been using ArchivesSpace since 2014 at four different institutions, primarily in positions where I have been involved in implementing ASpace, including developing institution-specific trainings and workflows. The Huntington Library is in an ongoing implementation of ASpace, which I see as a 5-10 year process, realistically (not including ongoing maintenance). Additionally, I was a member of the ASpace Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for four years (2017-2021), and served as Vice Chair and Chair during those terms. My past experiences with TAC were professionally and personally fulfilling and edifying, and I’m excited about this opportunity to learn from colleagues on the board and contribute to the mission and strategic direction of ASpace in a new way.
...
After the Historical Society joined ArchivesSpace as a Charter Member in 2013, I served as an Inaugural Member of the ArchivesSpace User Advisory Council from 2014-2017. Thanks to ArchivesSpace members who contribute code, funds, and time to its further development, ArchivesSpace is a truly collaborative, leveling tool. I believe that the greatest benefit of adopting ArchivesSpace is the community. Making the technology available to every type and size of institution and providing archivists who staff them opportunities to join forces bridges divides between institution sizes and types and leads to greater understanding of our profession. To that end, I would advocate for continued support for Diversity Partnerships and look for innovative ways to include those repositories who cannot afford even the very small membership category. As your representative, I would strive to bring your ideas and concerns to the Governance Board to aid in the future development of ArchivesSpace in a way that is inclusive of institutions of all resource levels.
Laurie Sather
Head of Technical Services, Hagley Museum and Library
I am the Head of the Technical Services Department at Hagley Museum and Library, where I supervise Hagley's archival processing and cataloging projects; manage the collections management system (ArchiveSpace), the online public access catalog (EOS), and the public finding aids database and public MARC catalog. I supervise the management of the library and archival collections, including accessioning and space management of 45,000 linear feet of archival material, 10,000 linear feet of audiovisual material, 300,000 volumes of published works, and over eight terabytes of born-digital materials.
In 2015, I was a Visiting Professional Fellow in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the Smithsonian Institution. Prior to my current position, I was the public services librarian for the Special Collections Department at the University of Delaware Library, a project archivist at Drexel University Archives, and a PACSCL Hidden Collections Project collections processor. I hold an MLIS from Drexel University, an MA in Media Studies, and a BA in Theatre Arts, both from the Pennsylvania State University. I am also a Certified Archivist.
At Hagley Museum and Library, one of my duties is to manage the archival collections data in the collections management system (CMS) and in the public database for finding aids, which in this case are now one and the same – ArchivesSpace (ASpace). Before Hagley adopted ASpace, we used Archivists' Toolkit (AT), which many of you know was only a back-end system.
I believe I will be a valuable member of the Governance Board because we at Hagley were not early adopters of ASpace. I took workshops for five years, watched the development of ASpace unfold, and waited. I was part of a team researching other CMS options available (paid and open-source), determining our wants, needs, deal-breakers, and dream features. The team spent over a year testing different systems, using sandboxes containing our data, and speaking with vendors. At Hagley, we never withdrew our support/membership, despite investigating other options. After all that research and testing, we decided to go with ASpace, because it was and is the best software for our repository.
I know this is an unconventional candidate statement, and maybe for many, it may make you uncomfortable that I didn't immediately install ASpace at my institution. Why would you elect me to serve as a Governance Board representative instead of someone devout from the start? I believe that since our decision to switch to ASpace was a calculated and deliberate choice based on thorough research and careful examination, positions me to provide valuable insight as to the needs of repositories at the "very small" level. A large portion of my daily work relies upon ASpace. I hope my experiences with the program will benefit the current user community and those considering it.