ArchivesSpace (or ASpace for short) is a server whose main purpose is to host a software program also named… ArchivesSpace. The program is “an open source archives information management application for managing and providing web access to archives, manuscripts and digital objects”. The server also hosts a few auxiliary programs who take the output from ArchivesSpace and convert it into various other formats, which are then made available via an Apache webserver on the same machine.
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Finding aids are stored as Word documents at
Shared/P/Othmer Library/Archives/Collections Inventories/Archival Finding Aids and Box Lists.Kent enters the data in them, one by one, into ArchivesSpace. He revises them in the process. As of summer 2020 approximately 45 have been entered.
Once they are in ArchivesSpace:
They are automatically exported, via a nightly an hourly cron job described below, to EAD files https://archives.sciencehistory.org/ead/ .
They are also converted to HTML where they to the public. Examples: Wotiz; Simon; Fenn; Carbogel; Brody. There is currently no Web page that lists these HTML files, so you have to know the URL beforehand or be directed to them from e.g. Google or the OPAC.
Kent also exports them to a PDF, which he then sends to Victoria. These are entered into the OPAC. (see e.g. https://othmerlib.sciencehistory.org/articles/1065801.15134/1.PDF )
Note: the PDF has to be manually updated in the OPAC every time the metadata in ArchivesSpace changes.
In certain cases the OPAC record also points at the HTML file at https://archives.sciencehistory.org/ , which, of course, is updated nightly.
Finally, the exported EAD files are also ingested by University of Penn Libraries Special Collections and the Center for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (CHSTM).
Penn, in turn, processes these EAD files on a nightly basis and adds them to the Philadelphia Area Archives Research Portal (PAARP), a service funded by PACSCL.
Example: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/pacscl/detail.html?id=PACSCL_SCIHIST_2012021USpaphchf
A conversation with Holly Mengel, the archivist responsible for the process, reassured us that the only thing required for this export to work is for valid EAD files be publicly accessible in the directory at https://archives.sciencehistory.org/ead/ . This URL could be changed as long as we give Holly plenty of notice and coordinate with her, which raises the possibility of us posting them to e.g. an S3 bucket.
Notably, Holly assures us that the apparatus at PAARP / PACSCL does not link back to archival descriptions hosted on any of of our domains.
Likewise, CHSTM ingests these EADs and makes them searchable at its search portal.
Example https://www.chstm.org/collections/search?text=Carbogel
Attempts to contact our liaison at CHSTM, Richard Shrake, have failed.
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The current production version of Aspace is 2.7.1 .
Terminal access: ssh -i /path/to/production/pem_file.pem ubuntu@50.16.132.240
The ubuntu user owns all the admin scripts.
The relevant Ansible role is: /roles/archivesspace/ in the ansible-inventory codebase.
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