Overview: Archives Management
Library Technology Services supports two systems in the area of archival data management and access: OASIS and Archivists' Toolkit. This site describes how to access and use these systems. Information on local repository encoding practices for finding aids is available from the Manuscript and Archives Tools Affinity Group isite.
About OASIS
Finding aids in HOLLIS
Authoring finding aids
About OASIS
OASIS —the Online Archival Search Information System -- is a union catalog of finding aids created by archival and manuscript repositories at Harvard to facilitate the discovery of information within collections of records. Finding aids offer more robust descriptions of the contents of special collections than those found in publically accessible library catalogs, usually include an inventory describing the content of a collection, and/or offer contextual background information that informs how the collection was created. A list of Harvard repositories contributing to OASIS is available on the OASIS home page.
Finding aids in HOLLIS
Finding aids contributed to OASIS are also searchable in HOLLIS, Harvard Library’s central discovery system, and available in their entirety via a "More about this collection" option in the catalog record. LTS is expected to define future phases that will introduce more OASIS-like functionality for finding aids delivered in HOLLIS.
Authoring finding aids
OASIS finding aids are marked up in XML using a Harvard-modified version of the Encoded Archival Description (EAD 2002) DTD and schema. Contributing repositories can use a desktop tool of their choice to author finding aids, or use the Archivists' Toolkit to describe the collection and generate the finding aid. The EAD DTD and schema, as well as the core tools necessary to create and upload OASIS-compliant finding aids, are available in the OASIS Documentation Center. The use of these tools is outlined in How to Participate.
Tab 2, Archivist Toolkit