Author: MelissaW

Update on ArchivesSpace PUI

MelissaW

Many of you may be familiar with YFAD, the Yale Finding Aids Database. The Library developed YFAD locally several years ago, and the system is showing its age. After a few years of intense technical development, a new discovery interface for ArchivesSpace is available for implementation. Yale implemented ArchivesSpace as an archival management tool for staff several years ago, and with it for the first time, a standard tool used across almost all libraries, museums, and galleries on campus with archival materials. The extension of the ArchivesSpace platform to include a public user interface will provide new opportunities for systems integration, more seamless staff workflows, and an improved user experience for researchers.

The project at Yale to implement the ArchivesSpace discovery had a three month preplanning process, involving the project sponsors and administrative stakeholders. Melissa Wisner, Senior Systems Librarian in Library IT, serves as the Project Manager. Mark Custer, Archivist and Metadata Coordinator at Beinecke, serves as an ex officio member due to his role as Project Manager for the technical development and design phase. The project is sponsored by E.C. Schroeder, Director of Beinecke Library and Associate University Librarian, and Chris Weideman, Director of the Department of Manuscripts and Archives, and has a roster of approximately 30 staff members, and a larger number of stakeholders.

There is significant work to accomplish along with preparations for changes before the debut of the new service to users. The plan is to begin with a soft-rollout of the new discovery interface, while continuing to keep YFAD available. There will be a period when both tools are available through the Library website as final adjustments are made for the transition from YFAD to ArchivesSpace. As of today, the project team anticipates an early 2018 soft-launch.

The following working groups comprise the ArchivesSpace project team:

  • Public User Interface Enhancements & Ideas, led by Alison Clemens
  • Data Cleanup & Enhancement, led by Alicia Detelich and Christy Tomecek
  • Staff Training & Documentation, led by Emily DiLeo
  • Technical Integrations, led by Steve Wieda
  • Usability & Accessibility, led by Jenn Nolte
  • Marketing & Branding, led by Mike Morand

Several different tools to organize and manage the work and communication of the project are being used: Asana for the project plan, a Slack channel for day-to-day project team communication, Google Drive for file sharing, GitHub, and the local Yale ArchivesSpace email distribution list. Monthly updates on progress will be sent to Yulib. Project team members will post details about the project and aspects of project management to the Yale ArchivesSpace blog on a regular basis.

The monthly All Project Member/Stakeholder meetings are open to everyone with an interest in the new user interface, special collections, or an interest in teaching users about finding aids, archives, and special collections at Yale. The meeting for October is Tuesday Oct. 31 in Bass Library L01 & L02 from 3-4pm.

For more information about the ArchivesSpace project, visit the YAMS LibGuide or the ArchivesSpace blog. This month’s post by Melissa Wisner focuses on project management: Implementing the ArchivesSpace PUI: A Before Action Review.

ArchivesSpace Passes SDR

MelissaW

Yale University Library is implementing an exciting new open source platform for describing and managing special collection materials called ArchivesSpace.

Part of the implementation included working with Yale’s Information Security department to complete a Security Design Review of the application and infrastructure. Working with John Lee from InfoSec is always a great experience. The SDR process, recently improved, is required for any new service or application brought up on the Yale network. It begins with a comprehensive questionnaire about the application, data, and users of the system. InfoSec runs a series of scans (Accunetix, Nessus, etc.) to suss out any vulnerabilities that could compromise the application and Yale network.

The reports detail the vulnerabilities and rank them as High, Med or Low risk. Application owners then work with InfoSec on remediation. Once all High and Med risks are resolved, and Low-level risks remedied or accepted as is, the application receives final security approval. The process is informative and keeps the Library in compliance with Yale security standards.

The Library Prepares for Workday Testing with University ITS

MelissaW

Yale University is planning a migration to a new tool called Workday. Workday is platform to manage enterprise level data and services, including payroll, Human Resources and Talent Management/Recruitment. The first phase of the University’s transition to Workday will focus on the “people” data within Human Resources. As a downstream user of  “people” data, specifically for populating the Voyager patron database, the library has been coordinating with University ITS since early September to ensure all critical operations that depend on this data continue to work seamlessly.

Despite the significant changes that the Workday platform will bring to staff workflow and interfaces in Human Resources, not much will change for the library. This is good news. The data the library extracts from University data sources, including Banner and Datawarehouse, will remain unchanged. From our technical end, the procedure to query and extract data will also remain unchanged. The Workday platform is providing a new data input interface for University staff, however, that same data will continue to be fed to Banner and Datawarehouse sources.

All change is worth examining though, and so the library will be coordinating with Sterling Library Access Services staff to test the patron data extract process during the first three weeks of February 2015. If any issues arise during this window, University ITS staff are available to address them with us. Once this testing period is complete, the next step will be waiting for a cut over to Workday. University ITS is anticipating early April 2015 for this production cut over.