Integrated Archives and Manuscript System – IAMS Bill Stockting, S&C Cataloguing Systems and Processing Manager and Wieke Avis, IAMS Officer: UKAD Forum, TNA, 2 nd March 2011

Introduction We will look at: Background to the IAMS project Success: IAMS cataloguing system, data model and standards Legacy data migration Challenges Search Our Catalogue: Archives and Manuscripts – SOCAM Access to digitised and born digital material Data exchange and open data

Archives and Manuscript Collections Extensive collections of unique archives and manuscripts managed in separate collection areas: Manuscripts: Western, Oriental, Literary and Music Records of East India Company and its successors, and related private papers and manuscripts Digitised collections from the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) British Library Corporate Archive

Fragmentation Collections managed separately within thematic Study Areas: No single inventory and differing cataloguing traditions, practices and standards Some Catalogues in electronic form but in a number of online systems: Molcat (Western and music manuscripts) on Library website Endangered Archives Programme as web pages on Library website – not cross searchable East India Company archive and related private papers on A2A managed by the National Archives! Others only available to users in the reading rooms

IAMS Mission Statement To deliver a powerful, flexible integrated cataloguing and resource discovery system that will unite and broaden access to the British Librarys archives and manuscript collection and will provide standards compliant data for external co-operative projects

IAMS: Bringing it all together New cataloguing will be done in one system to one set of standards Legacy catalogues will be migrated to the same system Having our catalogue data in one place and in one format will make it easier to share data with: Internal resource discovery project to provide integrated access to all the Librarys holdings External projects, gateways and portals of all sorts, nationally and internationally IAMS can be used as a cataloguing and access tool for material not held in the Library as part of partnership projects Richness of Librarys archive and manuscript collections will then be brought to the attention of new audiences, especially when catalogue records linked to digitized or born-digital archives and manuscripts

IAMS Project Timetable: Success July 2009: Cataloguing system complete Autumn 2011: Data Migration complete

IAMS System Internal development has allowed us to build a system and data model: Not a flat system - contains hierarchies and relationships Different dates, calendars and eras; quotations in any language or script Best of both from traditional practice: archives and manuscripts! Ensures consistency Makes best use of our legacy data Navigate as well as search the catalogue Build on others experience Latest developments in modelling and description standards

IAMS: Data Model Project & Collections held by Persons, Families, Corporate Bodies created by Archives & Manuscripts Places, Subjects, Events, Titles have subjects Archive institutions acquired / funded by

IAMS: Standards IAMS standard based system and data model: Structure: International Council on Archives Standards for Archival Description and related entities (ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), ISDF, ISDIAH) Content: no UK equivalent of AACR2 IAMS Cataloguing Guidelines are a melding of local, national and international standards and practice, including NCA Rules for names (not LC/NACO); ISO standards for languages, scripts etc. Communication: XML schema for capture, display and exchange of archival and manuscript descriptions: EAD, EAC, TEI (cataloguing)

IAMS: Cataloguing

IAMS Project Timetable: Remaining Challenges Remaining parts of vision to be achieved by integration with other Library systems October 2010:Public interface 1 st cut - SOCAM 201?: Seamless requesting 201?: Access to digitised and born digital archives and manuscripts 201?: Data Exchange and Open data

What Next: Resource Discovery

What next: integrated access to digitised archives and manuscripts

Where Next: Data Exchange and Open Data

Contact Bill Stockting: S&C Cataloguing Systems and Processing Manager: Wieke Avis: IAMS Officer: