1. Building A Web-based University Archive
Sharon Yang
Rider University
and
Robert J.Congleton

2. Introduction 1. Problems with Accessing Archives
A. Traditional problems with Accessing Archive Material
1. Material is not usually cataloged or available online
2. Access to material is restricted
3. Most inhouse databases have limited search ability and are dependent on what information has been included in the record.
B. Problems with the two Access Databases used in Rider’s Archives
1. Having two different databases is a problem by itself.

3. Problems with First Access Database: 10,100 items, first six columns (14 total columns)
What is this communiqué?
Wrong document title
To what does “status” refer?

4. Problems with first Access Database: last six columns
No Date Acknowledged information
Many records have no location information

5. Problems with 2nd Access Database, 1650 items, first five columns (thirteen columns overall)
No details about the lectures in this series
Not an archive item

6. Problems with 2nd Access Database, 1650 items, last eight columns
More items have location information, but many have no box no.
This item is actually in a different Special Collection, and is not archival

7. Summary of problems with Rider’s two Access Databases
Not easy to use by Archives staff
Not available to the public
Limited search ability
Contained many errors or blank fields
Links to digitized images were not available

8. We needed a better database for the Archives

9. A Web-based Archive On the Internet and web-based Searchable
Links to images or text
Data import capability
Easy to learn and use by staff

10. Links SQL Latest version 3.0.4 release July 2005
Front end – A Perl script
Back end – MySQL
Visit for more information about this program

11. Perl Scripts Most popular web programming language
Runs in Operating systems such as Unix and Windows and others
Free or open source under GNU General Public License (GPL)
Visit Perl web site at

12. MySQL
Free database management tool under free software/open source GNU General Public License (GPL)
Latest release MySQL 5.0
Visit or

13. Links SQL Life Long Support and Upgrade
Admin Panel and Web-Based Interface
Can Handle Images Well
Searchable on the Web

14. Requirements to Run Links SQL
A Unix or Windows Server (or any other OS that can run CGI scripts)
A Web Server such as Apache
Software Links SQL
A Database Management tool such as MySQL or Oracle

15. Review of Links Admin Panel
This is where data entry takes place for editing or adding items to the archives database.

16. Moving the Archives to Links
Exporting the two Access Databases into Links
Merging the two databases
Exporting information to MySQL code
Locating problem records that needed to be corrected or deleted
Creating fields in Links
Importing the information to Links

17. Merging the Access Databases, with assistance from Dave Capuano
Task accomplished by creating a new Access database
Adding fields to the new database
Adding fields to the two old databases so that each database has the same number of fields in the same order, 15 columns in all.
Exporting old databases to MySQL format
Importing the two databases, one at a time, into the new database by mapping fields of old databases to the fields of the new database.

18. Mapping Access fields in old databases

19. Exporting to Links SQL
Export data from new Access database to MySQL format
Remove Microsoft coding from the file
Create new fields in Links to be used for Archive database
Import into Links SQL mapping information to new fields.

20. Exported MySQL data extracted by R.Congleton and D. Capuano

21. Default Fields in Links

22. Fields We added to Links

23. Mapping Fields to Links using Links MySQL import module

24. Access Database 1 record

25. New Archives Database Record, Revised Record from old Database

26. New Archives Database Record, public view

27. Additional Collections now in Links
Historic Business Machines.
This collection consists of historic typewriters, adding machines and computers used in offices during the last 140 years.
Typewriters were photographed with a digital camera. The digital images were then linked to the Archive database in Links.
Live demonstration

28. Building a Web-Based Archive
Good-Bye and Thank You.
Any Questions?????