Information for Archivists
I am a repository in the Philadelphia area with EAD Finding Aids. May I contribute my finding aids?
Yes! Philadelphia Area Archives welcomes finding aids from organizations that are non-profit and make their collections open to the public.
If you use ArchivesSpace, and want to directly connect your ASpace instances with the PACSCL Site Harvester (no need for a web folder), please contact Holly Mengel. She will put you in touch with UPenn developers, who will provide you with specific guidelines. In order for UPenn's developers to complete this process, you will probably need to work with your ArchivesSpace host (usually Atlas, Lyrasis, or on-site developers). They will need to provision API access from UPenn's IP range; you will also need to create a read-only user in ArchivesSpace and send the credentials to UPenn. Instructions for each of these steps exist and can be shared once you begin your conversation with the UPenn developers.
Another option is to post your finding aids in EAD-XML format to be displayed on the site. (Note there are some additional assumptions about the formatting of the EAD, so if your finding aids were generated outside ArchivesSpace or Archivists' Toolkit, you may need to make some changes to the formatting.) To self-host your finding aids, they must be placed in a web-accessible folder that includes nothing beyond the EAD files, and that either includes an index.html file or has the "directory listing" functionality enabled for the folder. More details about setting up a web folder are available upon request. Please contact Holly Mengel to begin this process.
If your institution is not able to self-host, PACSCL is able to host the finding aids for you. (It is still necessary that these be in EAD-XML format.) Please contact the PACSCL director with any questions.
My finding aids are already on Philadelphia Area Archives, but I have revisions and want to update a guide or contact information. How do I do that?
If you host your own web-folder, to revise a finding aid, simply make revisions, re-export the finding aid and save the new file to your web-folder, replacing the existing file. The site harvests web-folders on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and after those harvests, the updated version of your finding aid should be available. If it does not, please contact Holly Mengel for troubleshooting.
If you would like to change your contact email address, update the URL for your web folder for harvesting, or set up direct harvesting from ArchivesSpace via API, contact Holly Mengel.
If your finding aids were added through the Small Repositories Program: (When looking at a finding aid, click on the "Contact us" button. If the email address is small_repositories@hsp.org, that means PACSCL is currently hosting your finding aids. If you want to make changes to your PACSCL-hosted finding aids, contact the PACSCL director and your email will be directed appropriately. All finding aids on the PACSCL website are in EAD-XML format. If you are comfortable editing EAD-XML files yourself, you may request copies of the files, make your changes, and send them back. If not, you may send line edits or an annotated document with desired changes via email. If changes are to be made to an inventory list, a spreadsheet with columns for each data field (title, start year, end year, top container, etc.) is preferred. It is better to consult in advance about how to set up your spreadsheet.)
If your repository is Chester County History Center, Independence Seaport Museum, National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia City Archives, Thomas Jefferson University (Guttman Library files), St. Joseph's University, or Founding Forward, the Drexel College of Medicine hosts your web folder. Please contact Drexel Medicine Archives about making changes to the content of your finding aids.
Still not sure? Reach out to Holly Mengel.