ArchivesUM is a portal to help researchers locate materials described in finding aids to archival and manuscript collections at the University of Maryland Libraries.
ArchivesUM provides the following tools for researchers:
1) Search and browse descriptions of our archival and manuscript holdings
2) Search and browse collection descriptions by subject categories
Subject guides are automatically-generated when finding aids are uploaded to ArchivesUM and are based on multiple "abstract" tags.
Once staff convert the files to EAD, they upload them to the server using an administrative interface. Via the administrative interface, the manager can upload, delete, and convert finding aids to HTML using an XSL stylesheet. This pre-processing of the XML document was built into the system so that the finding aids (some as long as 300 print pages), do not have to be converted to HTML at the time of the request.
Collections are available in several browse lists (alphabetically by creator, alphabetically by unit) and in subject groupings. An advanced search feature allows researchers to search on a number of different fields in the EAD documents using Boolean operators.
Links are provided to the EAD files from MARC records to processed collections in our online catalog.
Our legacy finding aids are primarily in Microsoft Word and follow a standard format. We have been rekeying finding aids when necessary, rather than using OCR.
We use a two-step process:
1) Microsoft Access database. This relational database, which was created by the staff of the Archives and Manuscripts Department, reduces workflow by also working as a collection management tool. Staff use the database for accessioning and record-keeping purposes. The finding aid is a natural end to this process. Fields in the Microsoft Access database are mapped to correspond with EAD tags
2) Conversion. Using a converter program written in Java that communicates with the Microsoft Access database using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) staff are able to convert database records into XML files in a matter of seconds.