CUADRA STAR
Home Page	http://www.cuadra.com (home page) http://www.cuadra.com/products/archives.html (description of STAR/Archives)
Developed by	Cuadra Associates, Inc.
Developer’s Description	“STAR/Archives supports the management of archival collections of all types. In describing your collection, you can choose an appropriate level within the full hierarchical model—collections, series, containers, and items. With STAR/Archives you can manage the accessioning process, track donors and generate deeds of gift; describe and maintain multiple archival collections, including collections with digitized materials; reorganize the hierarchies as required; provide web-based access to your collections; search within or across collections; link images and other electronic files; and manage your inventory. You can also dispense with the labor-intensive process of creating finding aids by using a text editor or an SGML/XML authoring tool. STAR/Archives dynamically creates EAD finding aids as XML files whenever you need them. STAR/Archives provides support for many standards, including ISAD (g), DACS, Dublin Core, and EAD.”
License	Commercial Two options are available: a perpetual license and a subscription to the Hosted Service
Purchasing Cost	The price depends on whether STAR/Archives is hosted by he company or on the institution’s own servers, as well as the number of simultaneous users supported and several other variables. Training, data conversion, maintenance, and peripherals also entail separate costs. Cost estimates are provided on request.
Maintenance Cost	Software maintenance is included in the subscription cost of the hosted solution. For the perpetual license, the first year of software maintenance is free.
User Support	Available 12 hours a day, Monday – Friday Users can contact support by phone, email, or fax. Web site Teleconferencing Web conference Reputed to provide good customer service
Training	Yes, generally delivered via teleconference, however onsite training is also available. For teleconferenced training: 12 hours initial training, 6 hours follow-up training. For onsite training: 3 days onsite. System management training is in addition.
System Requirements	Varies by the operating system of the server. The following server operating systems are supported: Windows 2000/2003; Unix; Linux. Users responsible for creating records and managing the application need PCs that run under Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, or Vista.
Technical Architecture	Windows client for managing collections Web-based public search interface
Backup/ restore utility	STAR relies on standard backup procedures that are included with operating systems and commercial third-party backup software.
Maturity	STAR itself was first released in 1982. Organizations have been using STAR to manage archival collections since 1983. STAR/Archives was released in 2003.
Hosting Available?	Yes
Demo/ Sandbox Available?	Yes, by request
Sustainability	Maintained by company.
Example Users	Available on request
Unique strengths	Institutions without much technical support can have Cuadra host their data Provides browser-based public search interface Rich archival management features Flexibility
Support for Importing/ Exporting Metadata[1]
Exports MARC	Yes
Exports EAD	Yes finding aids are generated in EAD as XML files. (though one user reported problems with EAD export)
Exports Dublin Core	Yes
Exports MODS	No
Exports METS	No
Exports MADS	No
Batch Exports EAD	Yes. EAD files for a repository can be exported as a batch
Batch Exports MARC	Yes
Batch Export Tab Delimited Files	Yes
Imports EAD	Yes, with support from the company
Imports MARC	Yes, with support from the company
Imports Tab Delimited Files/ CSV	Yes. Customers that have perpetual licenses can use STAR’s toolkit to filter and import such data. For others, and for most new customers, Cuadra staff can import such data on the users behalf.
Imports Digital Image Files	Digital image files are linked to item-level records, not imported. Cuadra links the files to the item-level records as part of legacy data conversion projects. From then on, users themselves link the files as they enter item-level records.
Import Accession Data	Yes. Customers that have perpetual licenses can use STAR’s toolkit to filter and import such data. For others, and for most new customers, Cuadra staff can import these data on the users behalf.
Batch Import EAD	Yes, with support from company
Batch Import MARC	Yes, with support from company
Batch Import CSV	Yes, Customers that have perpetual licenses can use STAR’s toolkit to filter and import such data. For others, Cuadra staff can import these data on the users behalf
Collection Management Features
Appraisals	Yes
Accessions	Yes
Create Deeds of Gift	Yes
Prioritize Processing Order	No
Track Donors	Yes
Project Management	No
Record Condition	Yes: Includes fields for recording condition as well as conservation.
Manage Locations	Yes
Manage Restricted Materials	Yes: “control who can see records as well as the associated images and files”
Manage Rights	Yes: “records reproduction and other ownership rights and logs rights granted to others”
Manage Loans & Exhibits	Loans yes. Support for exhibit management is planned.
De-Accessioning	Yes
Reference Support	No
Generate Reports	Yes: customizable report function
Track Repository Statistics	While the application does not yet meet the standards that are being developed by the University of Michigan, several statistical reports are included in STAR/Archives
Resource Description
Authority Control	Yes
Controlled vocabulary	Yes
Compliance to Archival Standards	ISAD(G), EAD, Dublin Core, DACS
Data Validation	Yes
Templating/ Default Fields	Yes
Support for Digital Media	Yes
Internationalization	Partial: supports translation of user interfaces
Flexibility of Data Model	Yes
Item-level Description	Yes
Reorganize Hierarchies	Yes: “reorganize hierarchies as required”
Dynamically generate EAD finding aids	Yes
Publish finding aids online	Yes
Administrative Functions
User Permissions	Yes
Support for Harvesting/ Syndication	No
Customization/ Configuration	Yes
Spell Check	Yes
Bug Reporting	Yes. Customers are encouraged to report problems to Customer Support. Problems are addressed as they are discovered or reported and the customers affected by any particular problem are provided with either a fix or a workaround.
Interoperability with Digital Repository Systems	STAR includes APIs that allow other software programs to communicate with STAR.
User Interface
Web Publishing	Yes: web-based public interface that allows for searching within and across collections.
Browse	Yes
Search	Yes: “search within or across collections”
Advanced Search	Yes
Customizable	Yes: “Advanced searching allows the use of explicit Boolean operators, set combinations, date-ranging, and field selection”. In addition, both the look and the functionality of the web module can be customized in many different ways.
Built-in Help	Yes
Link to Images & Other Files	Yes
Easy Data Entry	Yes
Other Features	“Manage your inventory” “Track items in circulation” Includes a web-based public access module that allows for searching both on and across collections. “Smart” hypertext search links, galleries of electronic files, and a “dual” finding aid report that allows the hierarchy for a given collection to be used as a navigation aid are all part of the public access module. Many capabilities are provided to help archivists enter data easily and quickly. For instance, data can be entered in the Accessions module and then copied into the Cataloging module. Legacy data conversion services are available.

[1] In addition to exporting data in formats that have been predefined, STAR includes tools for exporting data in tagged format and then filtering it into other formats. STAR also includes tools for filtering and importing data from many industry standard formats (e.g., delimited, fixed-column position, tagged, MARC, etc.) This part of STAR’s functionality is available to all customers that have purchased STAR under a perpetual license, and to those that subscribe to the premium level of service for the Hosted Service.

Cuadra STAR Matrix