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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
To Discovery And Beyond: Using Workflow Automation As An Opportunity For Collaboration And Education, Rebecca B. French
To Discovery And Beyond: Using Workflow Automation As An Opportunity For Collaboration And Education, Rebecca B. French
Libraries
This poster describes a project to automate portions of JMU Libraries' workflow for distributing Special Collections finding aids to various discovery platforms. Through the development of a custom Python app called Spaceport, we were able to greatly improve the efficiency and sustainability of this process while also providing a more consistent discovery experience for our patrons. The project also had broad impacts in other areas. Our incremental and collaborative approach provided space for professional development related to the project, supported evolving project goals and the process of adapting to the new workflow, and strengthened relationships between departments. In addition to …
Small Steps Make Giant Leaps: An Incremental Approach To Technical Services Workflow Automation, Rebecca B. French
Small Steps Make Giant Leaps: An Incremental Approach To Technical Services Workflow Automation, Rebecca B. French
Libraries
James Madison University Libraries' workflow for distributing its Special Collections finding aids to various discovery platforms historically involved a significant amount of manual data entry and hand-encoding. Through a series of small steps, we have been gradually improving this process by automating select tasks. I will share different iterations of our workflow, the automated solutions we've put into place, and the tools and technologies used, including XSLTs, APIs, and Spaceport, a custom Python app. As evidenced through the efficiencies, staff excitement, and other benefits we've observed, automation has transformed a previously tedious process while also facilitating the completion of other …
Spaceport: A Finding Aid Launchpad, Rebecca B. French
Spaceport: A Finding Aid Launchpad, Rebecca B. French
Libraries
JMU Libraries distributes its Special Collections finding aids to a number of discovery platforms, a process which historically has involved a significant amount of hand-encoding and manual data entry. We recently developed and implemented Spaceport, a Python app that has revolutionized this workflow. This presentation provides an overview of the app's functionality, which includes generating EADs for Virginia Heritage, HTML files for upload to the Libraries website, and MARCXML records for our catalog and OCLC. It also describes the efficiencies and other benefits we have observed from Spaceport's use.