Charge
The Yale Archival Management Systems Committee (YAMS) is charged by the Special Collection Steering Committee with overseeing implementation, operation, system maintenance, and development of enterprise systems used by Yale University Library (YUL) special collection units for archival resource description, discovery, accessioning, collection control, and the description of people, families and corporate bodies. The Committee coordinates all matters pertaining to the development and maintenance of policies and best practices related to the use of these systems.
YAMS is committed to sharing resources and information with the professional archives community - including developed software, scripts, processes, and systems expertise - and strives for a practice of openness and collaboration with internal and external colleagues.
The current system of record for archival accessions and materials described in finding aids in YUL special collection units is ArchivesSpace.
Member Duties
- Establish, publish, and maintain policies and best practices for the use of ArchivesSpace at YUL
- Establish, publish, and maintain policies and best practices for the creation and delivery of archival description through ArchivesSpace via Archives at Yale (the ArchivesSpace Public User Interface) to the YUL community and external users
- Maintain training documentation and make available appropriate training sessions and other outreach activities regarding the ArchivesSpace staff and public interfaces
- Coordinate the development of enhancements and new features for ArchivesSpace internally, in collaboration with the ArchivesSpace community, and with outside vendors
- Oversee the integration of ArchivesSpace with other systems and coordinate with staff members responsible for the implementation of those systems
- Maintain documentation of best practices and the committee's activities
- Advise senior library leadership on relevant issues related to enterprise systems for archival collection control and authoring of descriptive records
- Keep current with national developments related to ArchivesSpace; EAD, DACS, and other relevant archival standards; and electronic finding aids
- Provide periodic reports on committee activities to the Special Collections Steering Committee
Term of Appointment
- Members: One year with the option to renew.
- Co-chairs: Two-year terms, preferably staggered.
Time Commitment
- Members are expected to attend 1 hour bi-weekly meetings.
- Members are expected to commit time to work on behalf of the committee, on average, as follows: Chair 10-20% (2-4 day/month), members 5-10% (1-2 days per month)
This is an active committee with changing priorities that may require greater time commitments depending on ongoing committee projects
Internal Relationships
YAMS has open meetings and invites any interested stakeholders or colleagues to attend.
- Library IT
- Information Technology Steering Committee
- Archival and Manuscript Description Committee (AMDECO)
- Metadata and cataloging staff
- Aeon User Group (AUG)
- Born Digital Archives Working Group (BDAWG)
- Digital Preservation Services
- YUL ArchivesSpace user community
- Special Collections Steering Committee
Membership Breakdown
- At least 2 Representatives from Manuscripts and Archives
- At least 2 Representatives from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- At least 3 Representatives from other repositories
- At least 1 LIT Representative
- Consultants from other repositories or library departments as necessary
Non-members are welcome to attend regular YAMS meetings.
