Post No. 7 YALE UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS COLLABORATIVE

The Yale University Collections Collaborative is an excellent website chronicling the implementation of Archivists’ Toolkit by a major institution. Its website can be found at:

http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/at/

To quote a statement found on the project’s homepage:

“The purpose of this project is two-fold: 1) install and test the AT as an open source collections management system; 2) examine the feasibility of establishing a Yale way of managing and tracking collections.”

The site maintains a number of resources including a “instruction/tutorial” section which has step by step tutorials regarding installation, how to set-up the program, accessioning, managing resources, names, name links, collection locations, subject fields, how to create reports and various customization options.

The site offers detailed documentation of their project including the original project proposal, and implementation plans. A particularly nice feature of this site is a blog maintained by those conducting the program chronicling their efforts. The most recent blog dates to October 25, 2009. Although the project is implemented by a large institution it is still of value to the lone archivist working at a smaller college or archive. The Yale project offers a glimpse into the experiences of those implementing Archivists’ Toolkit. If one is looking at AT and wondering if this is something they want to initiate in their own archive this gives a fairly good idea of what it will be like to implement the program. The resources provided at the Yale website also is yet another place where those who already have the program can go and get some ideas on any challenges they may be encountering.


(n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2009, from Yale University Collections Collaborative: http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/at/