Recent Posts

A few weeks ago, I described how we included schema.org metadata in our finding aids and library records, with the hope that this would improve our search relevance and visibility rankings. So, is it working?

I wanted to let everyone know about a new effort underway in New York State to test the feasibility of a state-wide consortium for EAD finding aids. The RAC has been involved from the beginning of this project, which started with a 2011 survey of archives, special collections, historical societies and other institutions in New York State that hold unique materials to determine the level of EAD implementation at the state level. This survey found a very strong support for a finding aid consortium in the state.

Our finding aids get from AT Reference to DIMES in what is basically a three-step process:

1. Data is exported from ATReference as EAD files
2. Those files are then indexed in DIMES
3. And finally, transformation processes are run on those files to convert them and have them display in a web browser.

On the surface, this is a relatively simple process. However, each of these steps involves a number of different technologies and paradigms for information storage, retrieval, and display.

I’m pleased to announce that Rockefeller Archive Center’s finding aids and library records available on our discovery system, DIMES, are now licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) dedication! This means that you can copy, modify and distribute our descriptive metadata in any way you want without asking us for permission. The CC0 license is explained in full on the Creative Commons website.