Starting From Scratch

[Cynthia Rufo]

Hi everybody!

I just started a position at an institution that has been amassing records for a good hundred years, and I am their very first archivist. I'm trying to decide what kind of software situation I will need to do the following:
-Encode finding aids, put them online, make them searchable and semi-attractive. (The institution has a website, but I would have to build the archives site.)
-House and present a ton (really, a ton) of digital images.

I'm thinking of using Archon for encoding and presenting the finding aids and linking the finding aids to a Greenstone database. I have experience with encoding finding aids, very basic web design, and I'm learning Greenstone, but I am by no means a super tech-y person. Basically, I am wondering if my Archon/Greenstone idea makes sense for what I need to do, or if my understanding of these technologies is way off.

Have any of you had to create a fully-digitized archive from scratch?

[Kelli]

Hi Cynthia! Feels like forever since we were in library school together.

I have been working in my archives for about a year and a half now. I am the first full-time archivist and before I got here all they had was an access database for accessions and used word for the few "finding aids" that existed. I imported the access database into Archivists' Toolkit and have been using that from that time forward. That being said, Archon was still in its early stages when I was starting here and AT had lots of support and step by step instructions. I might choose to use Archon now if I were doing it again. My understanding of Archon is that it also provides a way for you to present your images so it might be the only system you need (aka no Greenstone). Here, I developed "Haystack" (http://archives.colby-sawyer.edu/) from the ground up using Scriblio (http://about.scriblio.net/download/), a program that is based off of Wordpress. I have used Greenstone before and think it is pretty easy to understand particularly if you have some understanding of XML and that software is definitely appropriate for creating a digital library.

[Christina Zamon]

Archon and Archivists' Toolkit recently announced that they will be merging so the whole Archon vs. AT might be moot soon. That being said, I think Cynthia's idea of how to get started is a good one. There is no right answer in this situation. Good luck!