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Dean,

Just so you know, you can get collections to sort correctly in 
Archon's browsable list by using the sort title field in the 
collection manager.

Then you will not need to change the main title, which will be 
passed intact through to the EAD and MARC records.  It occurs to 
me that maybe we should use the sorttitle as the default text 
that shows up in the browsable list; we'll make that change for 
the next update.

Thanks,

Chris

--

Christopher J. Prom
Assistant University Archivist
University of Illinois Archives
19 Library
1408 W. Gregory Dr.
Urbana, IL 61801

phone:	217.333.0798
fax:	217.333.2868
e-mail:	[log in to unmask]
web:	http://web.library.uiuc.edu/ahx

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008, Dean DeBolt wrote:

> We are using the Archon software which creates a web portal into what we
> call the Special Collections Catalog.   By entering the collection
> information and finding aid, the software produces an EAD as well as an
> OCLC record/worksheet.   We send the EAD to the Florida Center for
> Library Automation which adds it to the Archives Florida section of
> PALMM, thus all contributing archives/libraries have a combined portal
> for EADS.   We send the OCLC worksheet to our cataloging folks in the
> library who then input this into OCLC so our collection (collection
> level cataloging) shows up in the library OPAC as well as OCLC and
> WorldCat.
>
>
>
> Archon does request a collection title and the collections are
> alphabetical.  We've had to make some creative changes in titles.    For
> example, "The Pensacola Yacht Club Records"  looked great on the boxes
> and inventories but it would be under "T" if we didn't change it to
> "Pensacola Yacht Club Records."   Collections that say "John Smith
> Papers" have been changed, for online use to "Smith, John, Papers"
>
> for a title, but in the finding aid would say "John Smith Papers,
> 1819-1920, consist of the ...."
>
> It has taken us forty years, but yes, we've reached the point where we
> do have some twins, as I call them, that would be "Smith Family Papers"
> or "Jones Family Papers"...more than one collection with a similar
> title, so for titling online, they are changed to Smith Family Papers of
> Pensacola, or something like
>
> Smith (John) Family Papers....so the alphabetical titling does not end
> up as two identical titles.
>
>
>
> If we are getting University records from an office, and perhaps there
> are two collections, they can be separated in the titling by time
> periods "UWF Student Affairs Division Records, 1967-1984" and "UWF
> Student Activities Division Records, 1981-2006" that kind of thing.   If
> there are individual item records sometimes where a collection was one
> item, e.g.   "Galvez, Benardo de, Letter 1781"  and you have other
> similar items, then the title might include the date.    We are making
> the collections accessible and not spending great amounts of time
> reprocessing or combining collections where we can.
>
>
>
> We are having, however, to sometimes create finding aids when one was
> too vague or not done.
>
>
>
> Dean
>
>
>
>
>
> Dean DeBolt
>
> University Librarian, Special Collections
>
> John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
>
> 11000 University Parkway
>
> Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
>
> 850-474-2213
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of Heather Rolen
> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:05 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: browsing Finding Aids online
>
>
>
> I would be interested to hear how institutions present an online
> interface to enable users to browse their Finding Aids- specifically I
> would like to hear from institutions that have automated the process
> from an underlying database, and are doing so either on -the-fly, or
> through scheduled batch processes.
>
>
>
> One problem we anticipate is alphabetic zing the collection title
> without complex processing.  We expect there are other issues with
> automating this process.
>
>
>
> All feedback is appreciated - or feel free to contact off -list.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Heather Rolen
>
> Yeshiva University Libraries
>
> 500 West 185th St
>
> New York, NY 10033
>
> 212-960-5400 ext 6172
>
>