Testing Sub-Team

This is a cross-council subteam that includes members of the ArchivesSpace User Advisory and Technical Advisory Councils. The Testing subteam was created in January 2016 following a decision to split the former Features Prioritization and Testing team into two separate groups. The subteam coordinates work via email and only holds meetings when necessary. The preference for cross council teams is to have the lead and vice-lead be from different councils.

Testing Process

Testing occurs on an ad-hoc basis as Jira issues become ready for testing or prior to any release. Jira testing is targeted and tests only the specific issue(s) selected for testing. Full suite testing prior to a release involves testing the standard operations and workflows in ArchivesSpace.

Additional details about current testing workflows can be found on the Testing Process page.

Skills

Testing offers team members the opportunity to become very familiar with all sections of ArchivesSpace - even those that may not be part of the standard workflow at their home institution. This familiarity is essential for the full suite testing which tests the all sections of the application. Jira testing offers a similar opportunity, though the Jira issues are much more focused.

The ability to follow specific sequential steps and workflows is key to testing. Since not everyone is as technically minded and may require another team members assistance in working through the specifics of a complicated Jira issue, communication skills are also important.

Some familiarity with GitHub may be useful for more complex Jira testing. For the more technically minded, the ability to run and test ArchivesSpace locally using Docker may be useful in certain situations.

Workload

Workload varies and is typically concentrated in bursts throughout the year. The full suite testing for each release is the most time consuming and will typically take at least several hours to complete for each round. There are usually 2-4 releases per year, though this varies. The full suite testing requires the tester be familiar with all sections of ArchivesSpace. Jira testing for sprints is less time consuming, but may also require the tester to become more familiar with a specific section or workflow.

The team lead has additional duties which include assigning the testing, attending UAC meetings, noting quarterly accomplishments, and writing up an end of year report. These duties are shared with the team vice lead. Additional details about the lead responsibilities and workflows can be found on the Lead and Vice Lead Roles page.