March 26, 2025

ArchivesSpace Virtual Member Forum - Session A

Session A

1pm-3pm UTC (6-8am PT, 9-11am ET, 1-3pm GMT) - Find your local time

Register now at https://lyrasis.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rGtQpypKSka20d0F0VnPsQ

1:00pm - 1:05pm UTC

Welcome and Announcements
Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace

1:05pm - 1:30pm UTC

Open Sesame! Data Cleanup with OpenRefine
Megan Brett | Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Monticello
Courtney Rookard | Xavier University of Louisiana

OpenRefine is an essential tool for bulk data cleanup, both before and after migration. The open-source program is simple to install, runs on a web browser, and has valuable functions straight out of the box. This presentation is a brief introduction to basic and intermediate cleanup functions.

Courtney will show how she is utilizing OpenRefine to reconcile accession record data in preparation for an initial import into ArchivesSpace. She will highlight some of the basic functions of OpenRefine, including text faceting, text filtering, column moving, and column splitting and joining, as well as recommended first steps when starting a new project.

Megan will explain how she used OpenRefine with the Spreadsheet Bulk Updater plugin to fix issues with existing records, which were the result of legacy data imports and user errors. She will focus on how she used some of OpenRefine’s data transformation tools - and some Regular Expressions (RegEx) - to pull dates from the Date Expression and Title fields, change them into ASpace-compliant formats, and populate the Date Start and Date End fields. She will share some resources for taking your use of OpenRefine to the next level.

1:30pm - 1:55pm UTC

A Rainbow of Flavors: Managing an array of digital content in ASpace from accessioning through access
Lynn Moulton, Elizabeth Carron, Elizabeth Peters, and Molly Aleshire | Boston College

Boston College uses three practical approaches in ArchivesSpace to manage born-digital and digitized content across its lifecycle. Designed to fit seamlessly into archival collection management, from acquisitions to access, these methods help manage and safeguard backlog, streamline description, and make this content more accessible. By utilizing out-of-the-box solutions with minimal customization, these workflows stay scalable and adaptable. This presentation will outline our strategies, their benefits, and how other repositories can integrate them to enhance digital material management for staff and researchers.

Break
1:55pm - 2:05pm UTC

10 minute break

2:05pm - 2:30pm UTC

Not So Secret Agents, Man
Chris Tanguay | MIT

A brief look at how MIT's Distinctive Collections is using the agents module to document people, corporations, and families beyond the typical authority record. This includes using agent records as a knowledge base to capture biographical and historical information about MIT and associated people that were once kept on a separate website and have now been entered into ArchivesSpace as EAC-CPF records.

2:30pm - 2:55pm UTC

Managing the Manual: An Overview of the User Documentation Group
Kelly Francis | User Documentation Subteam

It's a safe assumption that anyone using ArchivesSpace starts off by referring to the User Manual. Consequently, it's essential the User Manual remains up to date and reflects any changes in recent releases. But who works to manage any changes and how are those changes done? This session will give an overview of the User Documentation sub-team, including our workflow, recent projects, and current projects.

2:55pm - 3:00pm UTC

Closing Remarks
Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace

5:00 - 5:05pm UTC

Welcome and Announcements

Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace

5:05pm - 5:30pm UTC

Bulk Imports and Cloud-Based Collaboration: Populating Finding Aids for Large Collections
Sara Kaparos | University of Tennessee

ArchivesSpace’s bulk import template is an efficient tool to populate finding aids for large collections. Although a great resource, its complexity can be overwhelming for undergraduate student assistants. Discover how the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections developed a workflow to populate the finding aid of a large archival collection while maintaining a clear method of data entry for our student employees. This presentation will relay the use of ArchivesSpace’s bulk import template in conjunction with a collaborative cloud-based spreadsheet. We will explain how this method allows for better management of student workers, improved quality control, and straightforward progress tracking.

5:30pm - 5:55pm UTC

Updates from the Metadata Standards Sub-team (TAC)
Diane Biunno | Metadata Standards Subteam

The Metadata Standards sub-team supports the ArchivesSpace community by taking a transparent and proactive approach to documenting the metadata standards used by the ArchivesSpace application and monitoring the standards landscape. This session will provide an update on the sub-team’s initiatives and accomplishments so far this year. It will give a backdrop as to what we do in general and also explore opportunities for the broader community to engage with the sub-team’s efforts and invite feedback on how the sub-team can strengthen connections and collaboration with the community.

Break
5:55pm - 6:05pm UTC

10 minute break

6:05pm - 6:55pm UTC

Development and prioritization sub-team–Ask us anything!
Bri McLaughlin | Development and Prioritization Subteam

This session will give representatives from the Development and Prioritization (Dev Pri) subteam the opportunity to answer questions from ArchivesSpace users. Dev Pri presented an overview of our work a few years ago, and the Q&A section was lively enough to warrant a session focused on answering questions from the community.

We will begin with a brief overview of the subteam’s work, before transitioning into an open discussion. We will come prepared with answers to some frequently asked questions, but will dedicate the majority of the session to the audience. The session will give attendees a better understanding of how the subteam makes decisions and how users can engage with the process. Dev Pri can also take this opportunity to recruit new members ahead of the next term.

6:55pm - 7:00pm UTC

Closing Remarks
Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace

3:00pm - 3:05pm UTC

Welcome Remarks and Introduction

Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace

3:05pm - 3:30pm UTC

Returning to ArchivesSpace: The University of Illinois’ Plan to Migrate from Archon by 2027
Kyle Rimkus | University of Illinois

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is embarking on a two-year project to migrate all local instances of Archon to ArchivesSpace. In the early 2010s we were closely involved in the initial development of ArchivesSpace and its migration tools from Archon. While we initially chose not to replace our own instances of Archon with ArchivesSpace, we now feel that it is our best option for the future, especially in light of the development of ArcLight as a frontend. In this talk we will detail our two-year plan for migration, which we have broken into a number of sub-projects.

3:30pm - 3:55pm UTC

All for One, and One for All: CUNY’s Move to Shared ArchivesSpace
Regina Carra | City University of New York

In 2024, the City University of New York (CUNY) embarked on an ambitious 3-year project to amplify and unify archives across its 25 campuses. One of the project’s core initiatives is the implementation of a shared instance of ArchivesSpace. The implementation of the shared instance will involve the migration of existing campus instances of ArchivesSpace, as well as the creation of brand-new repositories for campuses that have no history using ArchivesSpace before.

This presentation will discuss how CUNY archivists are actively approaching the pre-implementation phase, the plans and ongoing work of an ArchivesSpace Metadata Working Group, and specifically, takeaways from a recent Edit-a-thon event it organized to engage current users of ArchivesSpace in metadata clean-up.

Break
3:55pm - 4:05pm UTC

10 minute break

4:05pm - 4:30pm UTC

Migrating 6000 finding aids to Archy: A glow-up story
Emily Brassell and Dawne Lucas | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

On March 4, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Wilson Special Collections Library will launch an Arclight public interface for our ArchivesSpace implementation. This will be the culmination of a multi-year, interdepartmental migration project that consolidated data for accessions, physical locations, and description from three different systems into ArchivesSpace. Data from more than 11,400 accession records, 28,000 locations, and 6,100 finding aids was migrated, and more than 100,000 digital objects were created. We’d like to give an overview of the project and its outcomes.

We’ll talk briefly about our migration process and the launch sequence that occupied the final months before launch. We’ll point out some of the customizations we made to Arclight and mention some lingering user experience questions. We’ll discuss the ecosystem developed around our implementation, including an ArchivesSpace plugin to manage Digital Objects and a Rails app allowing archivists to publish collections to Arclight.

4:30pm - 4:55pm UTC

PUI Customization for Seamless User Experience
Emma Jaud and Colleen Estes | University of Delaware

The University of Delaware Library IT Team worked with Atlas to update the default public user interface (PUI) template files for their hosted ArchivesSpace website to customize the design and look of the PUI using CSS code. This work enabled the PUI to be in line with the University of Delaware website branding guidelines and provide a more seamless user experience for researchers moving between ArchivesSpace and other University of Delaware Library websites.

Web developers with the UD Library IT Team will discuss the steps they took to configure the hosted UD ArchivesSpace template files in a way that allowed flexibility for future CSS styling updates. They will also discuss the reasons for customizing the look of the PUI, pros and cons of PUI customization, and the process for testing the customizations when an upgrade is needed.

Break
4:55pm - 5:05pm UTC

10 minute break

5:05pm - 5:30pm UTC

Receipts or it didn't happen: documenting reference for institutional memory
Leah Constantine, Amelia Bathke | Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The LCPA archive team has implemented workflows to build institutional knowledge into the collection catalog and system. Our goal is to enhance material use and support the transmission of knowledge from one generation of archivists to another using ArchivesSpace’s features for managing controlled values and creating events in parallel with a project management and document storage system. Reference Archivist Amelia Bathke and Archives Senior Manager Leah Constantine co-present the workflow following reference and research requests and explain how ArchivesSpace event creation maximizes access to archival collections.

5:30pm - 5:55pm UTC

Empowering ArchivesSpace: Governance, Roles, and You
Maggie Hughes | Governance Board

This session is a collaborative presentation of the branches of the ArchivesSpace Governance structure. As a member-driven organization, ArchivesSpace relies on the insight and contributions of users from member institutions to drive the nation's leading Archival Information System platform forward. The presentation will include an overview of governance structure, the roles and responsibilities of the Board, introductions to member representatives, an overview of the council structure, introductions of council chairs, a review of recent governance initiatives and discussions, and a brief panel discussion with an open Q&A period.

5:55pm - 6:00pm UTC

Closing Remarks
Jessica Crouch | Community Engagement Lead, ArchivesSpace