Today's Deep-Dive: ArchivesSpace

Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're opening the vault on something that's

just

foundational for anyone in cultural heritage. It really is. We're taking a look at

ArchiveSpace,

that specialized application that, well, thousands of places use to manage

everything from archives

to manuscripts and now more and more digital collections. Right. And if you've ever

wondered

how, you know, a big university or historical society keeps track of literally

everything,

like a box of 19th century letters and a terabyte of photos. ArchiveSpace is

probably the answer.

Exactly. So, our mission today is pretty simple. We just want to give you a clear,

beginner-friendly way into this tool to understand what it does, why it even needs

to exist,

and how this really unique community model keeps it all going. Okay, let's unpack

this.

Sounds good. But first, a quick thank you to the supporter of this Deep Dive, Safe

Server.

Safe Server commits to hosting this software and supports you in your digital

transformation. You

can find more info at www.safeserver.de. Their support really does help us bring

you these kinds

of explorations. So, when we start talking about ArchiveSpace, I think the first

thing to get is

its origin. It really is the leading open-source tool for this, but it wasn't

designed in a

corporate boardroom somewhere. Right. It was literally built for archives by archivists.

Which feels important. It's everything. This tool exists because the off-the-shelf

stuff

for libraries or museums, it just couldn't handle the complexity of archives, the

way things are

arranged, the hierarchy. It's just different. So, it was a necessity. A total

necessity.

The first version, ArchiveSpace 1.0, came out in 2013, and it was this huge

collaboration with

places like NYU Libraries, UC San Diego, University of Illinois, all backed by the

Mellon Foundation,

and with organizational help from Lyracis. It was built to be stable from day one.

That phrase, built by archivists, that really sticks with me. Because you're right,

a library

might have thousands of individual books, one barcode each, but an archive, that's

a whole

different beast. It's millions of unique, connected things in one collection. So,

why does that need

its own software? What can ArchiveSpace do that, say, a really good database couldn't?

It really boils down to two things. Maintaining what we call intellectual control

and physical

control, and doing both at the same time. It's a single system that supports the

entire life cycle

of archival work. Everything from the moment an item arrives to the moment a

researcher finds it.

So, let's walk through that life cycle. For someone new to this, the terms can be a

bit

technical. Sure. So, there are five essential stages.

What's the first one? The first is accessioning.

That's just the intake. The moment a collection comes through the door,

you're recording what you got, who you got it from, the basic legal and procedural

stuff.

So, it's official record of arrival. Got it. What's next?

Second is arrangement. And this is critical. Archives aren't just random piles of

stuff.

They have an original order, the way the creator kept them.

Right. And that order has meaning. Exactly. So, the system lets you map out

that hierarchy digitally so the original context isn't lost.

Okay. That makes perfect sense. What's number three?

Third is description. This is where you create all that crucial metadata.

Basically, you're writing the finding aids. The roadmap for researchers.

Precisely. The guide that tells someone what's in box three, folder six.

An archive space helps generate those in standard formats, like EAD, so they work

everywhere.

So, it does the heavy lifting on those really complex documents.

It does. Then fourth, you have preservation. This part tracks the physical side of

things.

Where is it located? What are the environmental conditions? Does it need

conservation?

All to ensure its long-term health. And the last one.

And finally, number five is access. This is the payoff. It's the public interface

that lets people actually search and discover all this amazing material,

connecting all that backend work to the researcher.

Wow. Okay. When you lay it out like that, yeah, spreadsheet just isn't going to cut

it.

Not even close. It really is an essential piece of

digital infrastructure. And on the technical side, it feels just as solid. You can

tell it's built

to last. Yeah. I mean, we don't have to get lost in the code, but the fact that it's

built on a

mature language, like Ruby says a lot, this isn't some quick web app. It's a

serious platform meant

for the long haul. Which is what you need when you're managing history. And you see

that reflected

in the development activity. You can look at GitHub and see the numbers. 385 stars,

238 forks.

Which shows people are paying attention. Right. But the number that really tells

the story

is the 96 contributors. That's not just a couple of developers. That's a dedicated

community of

professionals putting in their own time and expertise. 96 people. That's a lot of

brain

power. And that kind of active dedication, that really brings us to the most

fascinating part of

this whole story. It really is. Because what's so interesting here is that Archive

Space isn't just

software you download. It's a community. In what way? I mean, it's an organized

body of archivists,

librarians, developers, administrators, all working together. It's community-supported

software.

The users aren't just customers. They're the owners. They decide where the software

goes next.

They fund it. They manage it. They implement it. That sounds amazing in theory, but

how does that work in practice? I mean, are archivists expected to learn how to

code in Ruby?

Where does that technical skill come from? That's a great question. No, it's not

all on the

archivists. The development work tends to come from three main places. You have

developers at member institutions, developers from vendor partners who host it,

like Safe Server,

and then the core program team, which the community's membership fees actually fund.

So there's a professional core. A professional core guided by the community. And

you see that

commitment all the time. Like they just announced Martha Tenney is joining as the

new standards and

testing archivist. They're making sure everything stays up to professional

standards. They're even

planning their 2026 virtual member forum already. This is a very active, very

organized ecosystem.

That active engagement must be what makes it work so well in the real world. And

here's where it gets

really interesting when you hear from the people actually using it every day. Like

the testimonials

tell the whole story. I was reading what Tessa Wakefield from the University of

Northern Iowa

said. She mentioned that it gives her staff more autonomy. They can manage things

more effectively

because they aren't waiting on some outside company. They have a say in the tools

they use.

Exactly. They can help build the solution they need. And it's not just the archivists.

What about

the IT staff? Right. They're off of the forgotten piece of the puzzle. Totally. But

Tom McNeely,

he's IT at Western Washington University, he said it was pretty easy to install and

upgrade. And he

praised the technical documentation. When the IT team is happy, that saves everyone

time and money.

That's a huge win. Good documentation is priceless. It really is. But let's bring

it

back to the public, to the researchers. The impact on discovery is just massive.

Heidi Pettit at

Lawrence College talked about going from over a hundred separate finding aids to a

single

searchable collection in archive space. Can you imagine trying to do research by

searching a

hundred different PDFs one by one? That sounds like a nightmare. A unified system

is a complete

game changer for research. It's a revolutionary leap. And that all comes back to

that community

governance. I think Bre McLaughlin at Indiana University put it perfectly. She said

she

appreciates that feedback and concerns are actually heard. That feeling of having a

real voice is so

rare with enterprise software. Usually you just pay your fee and hope for the best.

That's right.

You're a customer, not a partner. Which brings us to the question that can be a

little confusing

for newcomers. If the software is open source, you know, free to download and use,

then why is

there a membership model? It feels like a paradox. It's a great point and it's the

absolute key to

its survival. The code is free, yes, but running a program team, offering

professional support,

coordinating all that development, that takes real money. So the membership model

is for

sustainability. Exactly. It's a collective fund to ensure the tool not only

survives

but continues to evolve for the good of the whole field. So it's less like buying a

product and more

like, I don't know, supporting public radio. You're funding a shared resource. That's

a

perfect analogy. And members get concrete benefits for it. Like what? Well, there

are tangible

things like getting technical support directly from the program team and access to

the user manual.

But the intangible benefit is the big one. Having a real voice in the future of the

software.

And a seat at the table. A seat at the table. Plus, by investing in this shared

infrastructure,

institutions protect themselves from being locked in by a single commercial vendor

who could suddenly change the rules or raise prices. It keeps the power in the

hands of the

users. It's like an insurance policy and a way to drive standardization all at once.

I also noticed

how they structured the fees. Yeah, the tiered levels are important. Very. They

have five

different membership levels, so a huge university and a small local museum can both

participate

and have their voices heard. It spreads the cost fairly across everyone who

benefits. It makes it

accessible for everyone. It really does. So what we have is this hyper specialized

tool that thrives

on shared investment and, well, dagnetic governance. And it's clearly working. The

latest release,

V4.1.1, just came out on July 1st, 2025. It's just a fantastic model for building

critical

infrastructure. It really is a key example of how open source, when you back it

with a smart funding

and community model, can lead to real innovation and standardization. Without being

driven by profit.

Exactly. And think of the efficiency. Tom Adams from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

pointed out

that because so many institutions use it, they can leverage plugins and tools

others have built.

They don't have to spend a ton of money on in-house development.

That shared effort saves everyone time and money. It lifts the whole sector.

It really does.

That is just a tremendously powerful model. So as we wrap up this deep dive, here's

a final

thought for you to consider. How does this model-free software sustain by a

professional

membership compared to the other essential digital tools you use every day, the

ones built by massive

companies? Does the archive space model maybe ensure a better, more focused

response to the

actual needs of its users, the archivists? It's something to mull over.

Definitely something to think about.

And that wraps up our deep dive. Thank you again to Safe Server for supporting this

exploration.

Remember, Safe Server takes care of the hosting of this software and supports you

in your digital

time for the next deep dive.

time for the next deep dive.