CDL hosts instances of ArchivesSpace for use by the UC Libraries and UC campus department libraries, archives, and museums. The intent of the service is to support campus repositories with managing their archival holdings – while also providing a mechanism to create finding aids that can be published to the OAC.
ArchivesSpace is an archival collection management system, which can be used to maintain and publish information about archival holdings. ArchivesSpace is an open source application with a robust user community and resources for member institutions.
CDL Service Provision
The CDL-hosted ArchivesSpace service generally supports an out-of-the-box implementation, with minimal support for customizations. There is currently no direct cost to the UC Libraries or UC departments for utilizing the service.
- Hosting and maintenance of ArchivesSpace technical infrastructure.
- Coordination of software upgrades. Upgrades are always scheduled in advance, prioritized alongside development work in CDL’s service portfolio. Upgrades are communicated in advance, and may involve a brief service downtime to conduct the upgrade.
- Management of backup/data recovery services.
- Technical consultation. We work closely with campus library ArchivesSpace Administrators, who in turn provide additional technical and user support to staff within the library.
- Hosting and maintenance of CDL-created technical and user support documentation/tutorials; these support articles are supplementary to user documentation maintained by ArchivesSpace.
- Install ArchivesSpace plug-ins on a request basis, once fully evaluated and tested by campus library or department staff. (CDL will provide a hosted testing environment, to assess the plug-ins). Implementing plug-ins generally involve a high-degree of testing and iteration.
- Enable customizations, which are subsequently maintained by campus library or department staff. Support for customizations is currently limited to modifying labels, messages and tooltips, which are specified in multiple “locales” files; for more information, see Managing Local ArchivesSpace Custom Labels. Customizations generally require maintenance during each ArchivesSpace version upgrade, in which new labels or features may be introduced in the ArchivesSpace application.
The CDL currently does not provide support for the following:
- User support or user training; ArchivesSpace offers a number of resources for users as well as resources for member institutions (including a "Help Center" for members, and a members listserv).
- Managing ArchivesSpace customizations on behalf of campus users; any ArchivesSpace customizations will need to be maintained and updated by campuses, typically at the time of each version upgrade.
- Addressing bugs that occur on the ArchivesSpace application-side; please report ArchivesSpace application bugs directly to ArchivesSpace.
- Database migrations from non-ArchivesSpace instances to CDL-hosted ArchivesSpace.
- Direct editing access to the ArchivesSpace backend database.
Local hosting of ArchivesSpace may be more suitable for use cases involving more tailored use of the software beyond the out-of-the-box application. Other third-party hosting providers may also provide software customization and user support options beyond the CDL's service scope; a list of registered service providers is available on the ArchivesSpace website.
Eligibility
- CDL-hosted ArchivesSpace is a service available to the UC Libraries, and UC campus department libraries, archives, and museums. The CDL supports individual ArchivesSpace instances (one instance per campus library or department).
- UC campus libraries (and campus departments) may also use the service to steward archival collection information on behalf of other organizations that they are partnering with. In such cases, the UC campus library (or campus department) assumes responsibility for maintaining the content, and serves as the key service contact point for partner organizations.
UC Campus Library/Department Responsibilities
- Maintain a current key contact (ArchivesSpace Administrator) on file with the CDL; notify the CDL if there is a staffing change in the role of ArchivesSpace Administrator. Specific responsibilities of this role include:
- Authorizing users of ArchivesSpace affiliated with their respective campus library or department.
- Setting the appropriate permissions for ArchivesSpace users.
- Restricting access to their campuses’ resources in ArchivesSpace (as necessary).
- Serving as first point of contact for CDL on issues and questions related to an individual institutions' collection.
- Evaluate and test requested ArchivesSpace plug-ins; maintain local workflows in consultation with documentation provided by the plug-in developer.
- Maintain files that enable customization of the ArchivesSpace instance, such as displaying custom labels and messages in the staff interface; coordinate with CDL to install updated files in the hosting environment.
- Securely maintain ArchivesSpace accounts, and do not provide logins and passwords to any third party. If an account holder's password has been compromised for any reason, it should be changed immediately.
- When utilizing the ArchivesSpace service to publish finding aids to the OAC, abide by the terms of participation for OAC.
This policy was last updated May 2025 and is subject to periodic revision. Any material changes to our policies will be communicated and shared with CDL-hosted ArchivesSpace users.