Introduction to the Archivists' Toolkit
The Archivists’ Toolkit™, or the AT, is the first open source archival data management system to provide broad, integrated support for the management of archives. It is intended for a wide range of archival repositories. The main goals of the AT are to support archival processing and production of access instruments, promote data standardization, promote efficiency, and lower training costs.
Currently, the application supports accessioning and describing archival materials; establishing names and subjects associated with archival materials, including the names of donors; managing locations for the materials; and exporting EAD finding aids, MARCXML records, and METS, MODS and Dublin Core records. Future functionality will be built to support repository user/resource use information, appraisal for archival materials, expressing and managing rights information, and interoperability with user authentication systems.
The AT project is a collaboration of the University of California San Diego Libraries, the New York University Libraries and the Five Colleges, Inc. Libraries, and is generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Archivists' Toolkit, Version 1.1
The Archivists’ Toolkit team is pleased to announce the availability of Version 1.1 of the Archivists’ Toolkit application.
New Features
- Batch import of EAD files: target a directory containing the EAD files to be imported and import all EAD files in the directory
- Batch export of EAD and MARCXML records: from the resource browse screen select two or more resources that you want to export as either EAD files or MARCXML records
- Import of XML encoded accession data: Import of multiple names using the XML import method. Use the accessionsImport.xsd file to map your accession data and to create an accessions import file
- EAD schema: replaces the EAD DTD for importing / exporting EAD files
- Extended accession record: includes new fields, including many user definable
- Extended repository record: includes new fields for recording repository statistics, per recommendations of Archival Metrics Project
- Support for other database backends. In addition to the open source database backend MySQL, the application can be run using either Oracle or MS SQL server as a backend
- Updated documentation. User manual and additional documentation have been updated to reflect new features
And more:
- Locations and containers now sort numerically when the indicators are numbers only
- Progress messages when the system is working for more than a couple of seconds, including long searches, loading large resource records, and import and export routines
- The ability to link multiple subjects or names at once
- White space stripping for import of EAD and MARCXML records
- General improvements and feedback to import and export routines
- Separate Maintenance program for initializing new databases, upgrading existing database (e.g., upgrading a 1.0 instance to the 1.1 instance), and running repair functions
For users who have implemented a local instance, they can either create a new database instance to run with version 1.1 or upgrade their current instance. To do either, they will need to use the Maintenance Program, which is located in the main folder where the AT application is installed on the user’s computer.
Requesting support
Please send all inquiries, reports, and requests for support concerning the application to the Archivists’ Toolkit User Group (ATUG-l can be subscribed to at http://mailman.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/atug-l) and / or to info@archiviststoolkit.org. Please do not contact project staff directly via their email addresses or telephone numbers. Sending messages to ATUG-l or to info@archiviststoolkit.org will ensure that your question or report is responded to in a more timely manner.
