The Archivists’ Toolkit Lee Mandell Kelcy Shepherd Brad Westbrook MCN Presentation Nov. 3, 2005

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Overview Project Summary and Update –Project Objective and Staff –First year efforts –Goals for second year –Prospects beyond the grant period AT Software Specification –Overview of features –Functional modules –Application architecture and technology Demonstration example

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Project Objectives To build digital tools that will: Support archival processing in a manner that promotes efficiency and standardization Integrate key functions in the archival lifecycle: –Accessioning –Description –Subjects and name management –Location management Produce outputs such as EAD, EAC, METS, MARCXML and various administrative outputs Be deployable in a range of archival settings

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Project Team Brian Schottlaender, UCSD, Co-Principal Investigator Carol Mandel, NYU, Co-Principal Investigator Brad Westbrook, Proj. Mgr & Spec Team Leader Lee Mandell, NYU, Design Team Mgr Jason Varghese, NYU, Programmer Kelcy Shepherd, Analyst Brian Stevens, Analyst Luc Declerck, UCSD, and David Ackerman, NYU, Administrative Oversight

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Project Advisory Board Robin Chandler, CDL Michael Fox, MHS Merrilee Proffitt, RLG Richard Szary, Yale Guenter Waibel, RLG Beth Yakel, U Mich

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005

Goals for Second Year Build Prototype from AT Specification –Interface Design Compose User Documentation –User Manual –Application Help Module –Installation Scripts Test Application and Documentation –Functional Testing –Usability Testing Formulate Business Plan Release Tested Application

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Prospects Beyond the Grant Period Modular Design Architecture in Open Source Software Possible Extensions include –More Robust Collection Management Module –Additional Tools to Support Ingest of Local Data –Extended Digital Object Module –User Registration / Resource Use Module Shared Development

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Application Features Output neutral data Modular Customizable Easy to use Secure Stand-alone or multi-user network Context-sensitive help Open source

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Design Overview Administration/Project Management Ingest Accession Description Location Names Subjects Search Audit Tracking

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Establish repository record Manage users Customize default fields, required fields, input forms Create project definitions Application/Project Management

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Ingest Module EAD version 1.0 and 2002 (XML) MARC XML

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Accession Module Preliminary descriptive information Some collection management fields Descriptive and administrative outputs: –Accession record –Accession receipt –Acquisitions report –Processing reports –More…

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Description Module Archival resources and digital objects Inputs based on DACS, ISAD(G) Outputs: EAD METS MARC XML MODS Dublin Core PREMIS Collections guide Printed finding aids Administrative reports More…

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Location Module For tracking “permanent” locations Accommodate a range of practice Outputs: –Location record –Shelf list –List of all locations for a resource

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Names Module Authority control for names (personal, family, and corporate/conference) Includes fields for contact information, biographical/historical note Supports see also and see references Outputs: –Source record –Sources list –EAC record

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Subject Module Basic authority control for subjects Can create records in advance or on an as- needed basis Outputs: –Repository subject guide

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Search Module For moderated use in reference setting Features: –Search for resource by resource ID, title, creator, or subject –Search for resources, resource components, surrogates, and surrogate components by keywords in title –Search for locations by resource ID

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Uniquely identifies each record Allows repository to track creation and editing of records Record Tracking

Archivists’ Toolkit: Application Architecture and Technology Lee Mandell, Design Team Manager

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Back End (database) Developed with mySQL Will work with many SQL databases both open source and commercial –Partial list: DB2, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, Informix, Ingres... Why SQL and not other technologies like xml and object databases? –Maturity of SQL databases –Likelihood of local IT departments having SQL expertise –Many existing open source projects to integrate into the projects.

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Front End (Client) Needs: Cross platform (Mac OSX, Windows 98+, Linux), open source, sophisticated user interface capabilities Solution: Java desktop client –Many more user interface options than a web based client –Will run on any computer with Java 5 (1.5) installed Client and database can be installed on the same computer or on different computers. –Single machine configuration –Local network configuration –Wide area network configuration

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Open Source SourceForge –Project will be listed by the end of the year. –Source code will be available in an early alpha version early next year for viewing only –When we enter beta testing we will be open to other developers joining the effort Anyone will be able to download the source code and use it as they wish. We hope a developer community will grow out of the project

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 The Great Divide or in technical terms The Paradigm Mismatch Java Object Oriented Programming Language SQL Relational Database

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 Hibernate A persistence layer An open source project to bridge the differences between Java and relational databases Saves us from rolling our own Allows easy swapping of back end databases

Archivists' Toolkit - MCN Presentation, November 3, 2005 A Live Demonstration