Aeon is a request and workflow management software, licensed by Atlas Systems. If your repository is using Aeon, you can embed "Request items" links in your EAD or MARC21 OAC collection guides. Users clicking on the "Request items" link can then log into your Aeon system, and send requests (reference, photoduplication, etc.) for particular materials described in the collection guide.

For an example of the integration, check out UC Irvine Libraries' Special Collections finding aids in OAC.

To enable Aeon integrations with your collection guides, contact us.

How does it work?

The "Request items" button in OAC integrates EAD-based collection guides with Aeon, by passing forward a URL to your Aeon server, where the URL includes a link to the source EAD file (published in OAC). 

In the case of MARC records, OAC integrates with Aeon by passing forward a URL to your Aeon server, where the URL includes descriptive information (title, identifier, extent, etc.) extracted from the MARC record. We utilize the OpenURL syntax for this purpose.

To enable Aeon integrations with your finding aids in OAC, we will need to work with your Aeon representative to determine the base URL to your institution's Aeon server. 

Please note the Aeon "Request items" functionality is applied at the repository level. Once enabled, all collections maintained within a particular repository will display the option to "Request items." Unfortunately, we are unable to support the Aeon "Request items" function on a per collection level.

How do we get started?

Your Aeon representative will need to configure your Aeon server, to receive the URLs with EAD and/or MARC data shared from the OAC.

Here's a template message you can send them:

Dear Aeon representative,

My organization works with OAC to contribute finding aids. We would like to integrate our EAD (and/or MARC) finding aids in OAC with Aeon, so that users can request reference and/or photoduplication through a "Request items" button.

Can you help us configure our Aeon implementation?

The OAC team will need the base URL to the Aeon server, that will be applied at the repository level for our collections. If needed, they can share an example of a base URL of OAC finding aids that are already integrated with Aeon.

Can we test it out before going live?

Of course! Once your Aeon representative has set up your Aeon instance, please contact us with the base URL . If your organization has multiple repositories, please also identify which of your repositories should offer the "Request items" option. We'll activate this button on our -dev site. Once we receive your approval, we can make sure this button is represented on the production site.