[Archon-L] Multiple repositories / one database

[Jason Fowler]

David,

We are currently testing Archon as a UC platform for the Association of Librarians and Archivists of Baptist Institutions.

Here are a couple of issues that I have found:

1. Archon supports only one classification system. To be used as a UC, it really needs to support multiple classification systems, one for each repository. One workaround is that you can make a given repository the top level of the classification system. The problem with the workaround is permissions. Anyone who has access to edit the classification system can edit any part. So, workers could inadvertantly edit someone else's classification, or put items in the wrong place.

2. Archon supports only one location system. The same type workaround mentioned above could work for this as well. You could give unique identifiers to each institution's locations, but permissions is an issue.

3. Theme changes are necessary to enable searching individual repositories rather than searching all repositories. That one should be pretty simple to implement. The structure is already in the code to allow it. You just need to add the repository flag to your URL (respositoryid=1). If it is set to 0, it searches all repositories. If it is set to any other number, it searches the repository that corresponds to the number.

4. Theme changes would be necessary to display the repository name when looking at finding aids.

5. I think there would be problems with the researcher module. I think it is designed with one institution in mind.

We, too, would love to see changes made to Archon to allow it to be used as a union catalog. I think it would be a much more helpful system if it supported UC functionality. For us, we would love to give free, one stop shopping for collection descriptions to researchers looking for Baptist records.

Jason Fowler, CA
Archives and Special Collections Librarian
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
502-897-4573
jfowler at sbts.edu
________________________________________
From: archon-bounces at archon.org [archon-bounces at archon.org] On Behalf Of David Malone [David.B.Malone at wheaton.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:27 PM
To: archon at archon.org
Subject: [Archon-L] Multiple repositories / one database

Is anyone out there using Archon as an archival union catalog? I'm trying to think through issues that will stem from using Archon in this fashion. I think it will be necessary to change some things to be able to maintain the individuality of each archive, yet enable a cross-repository search.

Any one interested in helping flesh this out with me??



David B. Malone
Assistant Professor
Head of Archives & Special Collections
Wheaton College
501 College Ave.
Wheaton IL 60187-5593
630.752.5707
630.752.5987 FAX
david.b.malone at wheaton.edu
http://library.wheaton.edu



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