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Research Method

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Saved by Lisa Spiro
on November 17, 2008 at 5:43:26 am
 

4. Research Method

In compiling this report, I relied on the following sources:

  1. Archival Management Tool reviews produced by other groups, including Fondren Library’s Woodson Research Center,[1] Archivists’ Toolkit,[2] the International Council on Archives,[3] ICA-AToM,[4] and the Canadian Heritage Information Network.[5]  These reviews tend to focus on available features rather than performance.
  2. Information provided by tool developers/vendors on their web sites and through other documentation
  3. Phone interviews with tool users and developers.[6]  By talking to users of the tools, I was able to get a detailed perspective of their strengths and weaknesses.  Unfortunately, I was only able to arrange interviews with users of Archivists’ Toolkit, Archon, Cuadra/STAR Archives, OpenCollection, and Eloquent, so the analysis of the other tools is based on what the developers say about them rather than users’ experiences.  I also spoke and/or corresponded with representatives from Archivists’ Toolkit, Archon, Cuadra/STAR, OpenCollection, ICA-AToM, Minisis, Adlib, CALM, PastPerfect, and Eloquent.  I briefly experimented with demo versions of OpenCollection, Archon, and Archivists’ Toolkit, and I saw demos of Cuadra/STAR and Eloquent.

To ensure accuracy and fairness, developers/vendors were given the opportunity to respond to user comments and to the features matrix that I developed. (See Appendices 1-3).

 


[1] Woodson Research Center, Wishlist for Archival Management Systems.

[2] Archivists' Toolkit, Features Matrix: Archivists’ Toolkit, Archon, and PastPerfect.

[3] Lake, Loiselle, and Wall, Market Survey of Commercially Available Off-the-Shelf Archival Management Software.

[4] Mugie, Survey of Archives Management Software.

[5]Canadian Heritage Information Network  (CHIN), “Collections Management Software Review.”  See also Collections Trust, “Software Survey - SPECTRUM Partners' Systems” and Stevens, Midterm Report on Software Review and Recommendations Project.

[6] Interviews were conducted between May and July of 2008.  The names of interviewees are kept anonymous.  I tried to represent what interviewees said as accurately as possible, but occasionally quotations contain paraphrases or supplied words.

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