Post No. 6 A Useful Listserv, ATUG-L

ATUG-L stands for “Archivists’ Toolkit User Group” frankly I am not sure what the “L” stands for. It is a listserv for users of Archivists Toolkit. You can find it on the web at:

https://mailman.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/atug-l

In order to gain access you must of course sign up. The moderators make it clear that ATUG-L is a closed list and you can be denied membership, however the application process easy and was approved fairly quickly. Of all of the discussion groups and listservs I have seen out there this one is by far the most active. Though I have only been a member of the listerv since the middle of November I have already seen nine emails containing both queries and responses. This is not an overwhelming compilation of material to draw upon I know but, still does provide a sense of the kind of interaction and support one I think can expect from the group.

From the messages I have seen the dominant discussion surrounds specific problems with using Archivists’ Toolkit. From what I can tell the members of the list are “Lone Arrangers” or archivists working alone or with very limited staff. These individuals have installed the program themselves, and quite often with no IT support. On one occasion a user listed a problem with Archivists’ Toolkit recognizing a particular back end database -in this case MySQL, other messages have dealt with editing style sheets, and putting EAD finding aids into HTML. If my brief examination is any indication, ATUG-L is a helpful resource where users of Archivists’ Toolkit can go and get honest help from fellow users of the program.


(n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2009, from ATUG-L: https://mailman.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/atug-l