[Yale ArchivesSpace] Project Update: Implementing a new Public User Interface for Special Collections and Archives at Yale

Wed Nov 29 08:35:23 EST 2017

Hello,

Once again, on behalf of the entire project team, I would like to provide an update on our effort to implement a new search and discovery platform for special collections and archives at Yale. We are three months into the project, or about 1/3 of the way through the estimated time frame. In many projects, this is a good and natural point to pause and reflect on the original plan and assumptions made. The 1/3 mark is not technically a milestone, but for me it is an ideal time to reflect on not just if we are on schedule, but also if we are on point. At this stage there is time to apply course correction if needed, examine the work completed and work that remains, and review if it is in the spirit of the original stated business need. As some of you know, my Halloween costume was a Project Management Classic, scope creep, and this is exactly to what I refer. Scope creep is hard to avoid. It happens because a few weeks into the project you might discover something you hadn't considered in the project ideation/initiation phase, or because people involved with the project get a new idea as a natural outcome of rolling up their sleeves. The role of the project manager is to document as much of the anticipated environment as possible during ideation, including requirements, risks, and what's in and out of scope due to budget, time, FTE, or technology. A significant part of project management is expectation management, and hopefully always locating the middle ground.

For the implementation of the ArchivesSpace PUI, Yale had a core business need to improve the search and discovery experience for users of special collections and archives. The work of the project teams has focused on how best to accomplish that need. The Public User Interface Enhancements team is spending time reviewing the current search and discovery experience for users and staff, including how the current YFAD is used, meeting with each special collection repository in ArchivesSpace to document their typical/model search cases, and examining the default ArchivesSpace PUI for how to improve it. The model search case effort<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_spreadsheets_d_1-2DLtn10yW2K9JPoWbt-2Dz42gPS-2DZ16pPxi6u307RBNNJg_edit-3Fusp-3Dsharing&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=atwitoYUwuczazxWGyBxfCQ8brD4_486-aHvbUxlDc0&e=> is particularly interesting because it documents how people are searching for archival materials, and what they expect to happen with the search and the results. Each of these model searches  has been cast in YFAD, then recast in the PUI to make note of consistencies, differences, or loss/gain of search and discovery experience. It is challenging to work with a newer version of software, because the vendor/open source community publishes it at a certain state of viability, but often locally the needs or standards are not all met. Although ideally I wish for some purely creative opportunity for the group (because they are a dream team), much of their early work is to underscore with Lyrasis some very basic features we still need in the PUI. The PUI Enhancements team is not only helping achieve Yale's business need to improve search and discovery, they are also helping every user of the ArchivesSpace PUI, present and future.

The User Experience and Accessibility testing is also on point to support the stated business need. In order to know if Yale has improved the search and discovery experience, we must understand more about the current experience and environment, and find ways to measure and document improvements, both from a user perspective and technical/data presentation experience. This is an iterative process, with a baseline analysis of YFAD search and discovery, a baseline analysis of minimally customized PUI, and a follow up analysis a little later in the soft-launch timeframe. The stated business need of the improved experience reflects a very open-ended objective, but the process of establishing targets and measures, as in a project scorecard method, is a great way to provide a framework and boundaries to this phase of the project.

The Technical Integrations team is also upholding the core business need by discussing and planning in advance how best to make the transition to a soft-launch with both YFAD and the PUI available to users. These are considered discussions to determine what we want out of a soft-launch period<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1mlq-5FMbubACMqnI5pXlAYXj0RTkc3shXw2yvIkQLPSfg_edit-3Fusp-3Dsharing&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=JK3R9C5LdgLnyw3yQLNAF1BeYRn-P8TKMVl_f-2J1n4&e=>, why it matters, and how it will affect staff and users. We are working to make the transition to a soft-launch as smooth as possible, and Steve and I will be emailing folks soon with a more detailed set of decision points he has referenced in this slide deck<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_presentation_d_1Q2Fzl5kIVUZCiLorPbEHJ8Etc10yaZlWzjZPq-2DHFtjg_edit-3Fusp-3Dsharing&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=TsFXrya6rme4u8X5u9RqfrUS-RsZ7wTvF1sBsoNomD0&e=> concerning publication to the Library's front door and individual library web pages.

The complete minutes of the November Monthly PUI Stakeholder meeting are available here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1VHs5-5FnOBLhQgIZ6-2DcFMdGcFhVBoMxeY8v-2DFZTPT0TG8_edit-3Fusp-3Dsharing&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=ugUEZhn99oOriCbF7bCzegIGgO1qo0zwO_mj8NCmcnU&e=>. There are several "Key Conversations" to follow up on from today's meeting and the details are in the minutes, along with links to other presentation materials. In addition to the monthly minutes, please review the list of major project updates since the last month. We are trying to adopt a model of publishing updates ahead of the monthly meetings, so that there can be more active discussion during the hour on broader issues. A reminder that every monthly stakeholder meeting is open to any interested staff, and our minutes will always be shared. Our intention is to keep the project, particularly decision points, as timely and transparent as possible. We continue to blog about the project<https://campuspress.yale.edu/yalearchivesspace/> and project management at the Yale Archival Management Systems (YAMS) site.

Please feel free to ask any member of the project team or repository representative for more information about the project. Our roster is here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1OBKC1nQSkjuIHKEqhRsu810u3J05tYVd57d2Z6tSoK0_edit-3Fusp-3Dsharing&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=JgD_BBxsomXZiexOF93jeMAQlqqFWjLhyF60lT2Y_wo&e=>.

 Thank you for time and attention to read through this update. This truly is a major effort, but I know we will succeed.

Melissa Wisner

Yale Library IT

 From: Wisner, Melissa
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 2:15 PM
To: yulibl at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Project Update: Implementing a new Public User Interface for Special Collections and Archives at Yale

Hello,

On behalf of the entire project team, I would like to provide an update on a major effort currently underway to implement a new search and discovery platform for special collections and archives at Yale. Many of you may be familiar with the existing platform, Yale Finding Aids Database (YFAD<http://drs.library.yale.edu/fedoragsearch/rest>). This tool was developed locally, many years ago, and is starting to age out, both technically and with user expectations. For example, New York Public Library offers this presentation for its archival materials, https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__archives.nypl.org_&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=nTeyk-U4CZBqtEsuDPTxMJ5Ukixi2letL2sC1p3IUMQ&m=JG4srydO5NwIiaifym8JlfyjxlMy2OpAkBs3FKmzgHA&s=Y2dJD8gIvWK5KcwQnGypVP-XT3ma_IXxY7x9qc8p_BM&e=.

After a few years of intense technical development, a new public user interface for ArchivesSpace is available for implementation. Yale implemented ArchivesSpace as an archival management tool for staff several years ago, and with it for the first time, a standard tool used across almost all libraries, museums, and galleries on campus with archival materials. The extension of the ArchivesSpace platform to include a public user interface, will provide new opportunities for systems integration, more seamless staff workflows, and an improved user experience for researchers.

The project at Yale to implement the new user platform for special collections and archives had a three month pre-planning process, involving the project sponsors and administrative stakeholders. I am serving as the Project Manager, and Mark Custer, is serving as Ex Officio, due to his role as Project Manager of the technical development and design phase. We are sponsored by E.C. Schroeder and Chris Weideman. The project has a roster of approximately 30 staff members, and a larger number of stakeholders.

There is significant work to accomplish and preparations for changes, before we debut the new service to our users. When we are ready, we will begin with a soft-rollout of the new discovery platform, while continuing to keep YFAD available. We anticipate a period when both tools are available through the Library website, as final adjustments are made for the transition from YFAD to ArchivesSpace. As of today, we anticipate an early 2018 soft-launch.

The project is utilizing several key working groups to manage the tasks of implementation. These include-

  *   Public User Interface Enhancements & Ideas, led by Alison Clemens
  *   Data Cleanup & Enhancement, led by Alicia Detelich and Christy Tomecek
  *   Staff Training & Documentation, led by Emily DiLeo
  *   Technical Integrations, led by Steve Wieda
  *   Usability & Accessibility, led by Jenn Nolte
  *   Marketing & Branding, led by Mike Morand

We are using several different tools to organize and manage the work and communication of the project. These include Asana for the project plan, a Slack channel for day-to-day project team communication, Google Drive for file sharing, GitHub, and the local yulaspace email distribution list. We will also be sending a monthly update on our progress to the yulib distribution list. We are also blogging about the project and aspects of project management on the Yale ArchivesSpace blog<https://campuspress.yale.edu/yalearchivesspace/>.

We also extend an invitation to attend the monthly All Project Member/Stakeholder meetings. These meetings are open to everyone with an interest in the new user interface, special collections, or an interest in teaching users about finding aids, archives, and special collections at Yale. The monthly meeting for October is Tuesday Oct, 31, 2017. It will be held in Bass Library L01 & L02 from 3-4pm.

Thank you,

Melissa Wisner
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