Finding Aids Unleashed

Iterative Development of a Portable Publication System

Abstract

New York University Libraries recently completed a redesign for their finding aids publishing service to replace an outdated XSLT stylesheet publishing method. The primary design goals focused on accessibility and usability for patrons, including improving the presentation of digital archival objects. In this article, we focus on the iterative process devised by a team of designers, developers, and archivists. We discuss our process for creating a data model to map Encoded Archival Description files exported from ArchivesSpace into JSON structured data for use with Hugo, an open-source static site generator. We present our overall systems design for the suite of microservices used to automate and scale this process. The new solution is available for other institutions to leverage for their finding aids.