[Archon-L] Box list import issue
Chris Prom
prom at uiuc.edu
Wed Jun 6 08:27:04 MDT 2007
As Leah points out, there are many potential issues to confront
with EAD importing. The import script we includued with the 1.1
distribution only takes in very specifically formatted EAD Files.
It is probably impossible to write a single script that would
deal with all tagging eventualities allowed by the DTD, because
it is just so darn flexible. The Archivists Toolkit has the same
types of problems.
Any of the three ways Leah mentions below can be used to address
the issue. However, there is a third, and potentially easier
way to get EAD Files into Archon: modifying the import script.
In order to do that, you need a decent understading of SQL
syntax, PHP and xml, as well as some knowledge of the Archon API
as it is documented on the Archon website. And it would really
help to know that the ead files you are attempting to import
follow some type of consistent tagging protocol, and to
understand throughly what the protocol is. For example, if you
want to save the bold formatting, you could do that if you modify
the script to accomodate it.
Anyway, you would need to modify the file 'import-ead.inc.php' in
the admin\database folder on the webserver (or just copy to a new
file, and it will show up in the importer in the admin
interface).
Similarly, if you are attempting to import information from
another data source, such as tab delimited, you can add scripts
in that folder.
Finally, I should note that in the version 2.0 software we are
currently working on for beta testing in about a month, there
will be some additional import scripts included, as well as other
new features.
Thanks,
Chris
--
Christopher J. Prom
Assistant University Archivist
University of Illinois Archives
19 Library
1408 W. Gregory Dr.
Urbana, IL 61801
phone: 217.333.0798
fax: 217.333.2868
e-mail: prom at uiuc.edu
web: http://web.library.uiuc.edu/ahx
On Tue, 5 Jun 2007, Leah Broaddus wrote:
> We had the same issue with this when we were trying to upload some
> finding aids that Emory University had encoded for us originally using
> XMetal I think, where they probably also did some tagging adjustments by
> hand to jazz up the web display. Here is what we encountered and
> considered as options:
>
> 1. Archon will not take any special formatting tagging-- no bold tags,
> no italics tags, no tags that indicate bibliographic data or citations.
> We used a Perl script to remove all special formatting tags, leaving the
> text unharmed.
>
> 2. Archon will not take any special characters, including curly
> apostrophes, long dashes, and curly quotation marks. We wrote a Perl
> script to remove these.
>
> 3. Archon does not accept long titles-- if you put a long box
> description in where Archon is looking for a title of a box, for
> example, it will fail because of the character limits on titles. We
> changed the character limits on the title field.
>
> 4. Archon does not accept all the possible EAD nestings and hierarchies
> of elements that posting an EAD doc direct to the Web would normally
> allow. You cannot stick in a description or a title name just anywhere
> inside of a <c01> tag. There seems to be only one format that Archon
> allows and if you want to know what that format looks like for what you
> want to accomplish:
>
> Create a mock-finding aid skeleton in Archon that uses the hierarchy you
> want, for example, a series with a short title and a short description,
> and a three boxes with titles and descriptions and dates, and 3 folders
> in each of those boxes, and 3 items in those folders, etc.--fill it all
> out in every way that you might want, then go to Archon's EAD view of
> your mock finding aid and take a look at the EAD that was generated from
> your mock finding aid in Archon. Observe how it is marked up in Archon
>
> Now decide which would be faster:
>
> 1. entering the box list by hand into Archon
>
> 2. reformatting the coding of your existing EAD by hand according to the
> format Archon seems to want it in: using the EAD output that Archon
> gave you for your skeleton as a guide.
>
> 3. reformatting the coding of your existing EAD using a Perl script to
> change it to the format Archon wants, if that can be done. *Note that
> this will involve a lot of trial and error testing...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: archon-bounces at archon.org [mailto:archon-bounces at archon.org] On
> Behalf Of Wayne Graham
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 8:32 AM
> To: kacoombs at uh.edu
> Cc: Archon at archon.org
> Subject: Re: [Archon-L] Box list import issue
>
> Still working on it...
>
> There are a few issues that we're working through. The first was
> actually getting all the Level/Container content sorted out in the
> Level/Container Manager. We're still having a bit of an issue that I
> suspect is a result of the EAD DTD we're using.
>
> For the most part, Archon will grab something like
>
> <c01 level="item">
> <did>
> <unittitle>"Family Record"
> <unitdate type="inclusive">1800's</unitdate></unittitle>
> <container type="Folder" label="Folder">1</container>
> <physdesc>
> <extent>4 pages.</extent>Ms.</physdesc>
> </did>
> <scopecontent>
> <p>This item includes a listing of births, deaths, and
> marriages during the period of, 1786-1855, of the
> Holland family. Family relationships with the Sumner and
> Bussey families are also shown.</p>
> </scopecontent>
> </c01>
>
> And process it. What actually comes out of this in the Content Manager
> is Folder 1 (and nothing else).
>
> The error messages on the import aren't very helpful ("Error storing
> content . Error Message: Could not store Content: LevelContainerID not
> defined"). However, I've dutifully gone into the Level/Container Manager
> to add these elements.
>
> If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd sure appreciate it!
>
> Wayne
>
> Karen Coombs wrote:
>> We have this problem too. None of our box list information imports. I
> can't
>> tell if this is because the import isn't designed to import this piece
> of
>> the EAD or if our EADs just are not formatted in a way that the import
> can
>> read the box list information.
>>
>> Did you every find a solution?
>>
>> Karen
>>
>>
>> On 5/10/07 7:19 AM, "Amy C. Schindler" <acschi at wm.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> Which reminds me...we are having a problem importing our EAD finding
> aids
>>> into Archon. Everything is going along fine until it gets to the
> items in
>>> box and folder lists, which it basically throws up (to use a
> technical
>>> term). Has anyone else been confronted with this and care to share?
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>>
>>> Amy C. Schindler
>>> University Archivist
>>> Special Collections Research Center
>>> Earl Gregg Swem Library
>>> The College of William and Mary
>>> 757-221-3094
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: archon-bounces at archon.org [mailto:archon-bounces at archon.org] On
> Behalf
>>> Of Lyles, John
>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 4:08 PM
>>> To: archon at archon.org
>>> Subject: [Archon-L] box list display problem
>>>
>>> This was a thread back in March:
>>> ***When I have a collection that consists of only 1 folder and
> "Folder" is >
>>> the top container level, the information from the description field
> is > not
>>> showing up in the Box List, either Formatted ***or Printer-Friendly.
>> It's
>>> also not pulling that info into the EAD/XML file. Is this > something
> that
>>> needs to be changed in the Level/Container manager? If > not, how do
> I get
>>> that descriptive ***information to transfer over?
>>> .....any resolution to this? I cannot get folder level or any level
>>> descriptions to display.
>>>
>>> thanks
>>> John
>>>
>>> John Lyles
>>> Archivist
>>> Columbus Public Library
>>> 3000 Macon Road
>>> Columbus, GA 31906
>>> 706-243-2681
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Archon mailing list
>>> Archon at archon.org
>>> http://archon.org/mailman/listinfo/archon_archon.org
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Archon mailing list
>>> Archon at archon.org
>>> http://archon.org/mailman/listinfo/archon_archon.org
>>
>
> --
> /**
> * Wayne Graham
> * Earl Gregg Swem Library
> * PO Box 8794
> * Williamsburg, VA 23188
> * 757.221.3112
> * http://swem.wm.edu/blogs/waynegraham/
> */
>
>
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