[Archivesspace_Users_Group] Update from June ArchivesSpace Board meeting

[Carol A Mandel]

Dear ArchivesSpace members,

I am writing to report some of the decisions the ArchivesSpace Governance
Board made during its 4th Quarter meeting Monday, June 13.  Going forward,
the Chair of the ArchivesSpace Governance Board will update the membership
on Board topics and decisions after each quarterly Board meeting.



The most important outcome of the 4th Quarter meeting was the Board’s
unanimous approval of the ArchivesSpace FY2016/17 budget.  This budget is
in healthy shape and will allow the ArchivesSpace program to continue its
many activities including building and engaging the ArchivesSpace community
and supporting the use of the ArchivesSpace application by providing user
documentation, coordinating workshops around the country, and responding to
user questions.



I expect that the item of greatest interest to all of you is that the
approved budget allocates the funding necessary to continue and increase
ArchivesSpace software development and support. We know that your highest
priority is the functionality of the software, and the Board’s objective is
to ensure that membership dues are invested in the most effective way to
meet that priority.  We will be recruiting to replace the on-staff
developer, and we are adding a half-time technical support position to
assist ArchivesSpace members with installing the software, troubleshooting,
and migrating data.  In addition, we will be contracting for additional
development support, both to accomplish desired work while the developer
position is open and to address additional high priority development needs.



The ArchivesSpace program team has already started the process of
recruiting an on-staff developer and is negotiating a contracted plan of
work with the development firm Hudson Molonglo (HM).  As many of you know,
HM built version 1.0 of ArchivesSpace and has been responsible for
significant code contributions since, including the new container
management functionality and location enhancements present in the upcoming
release of version 1.5.0.



We are very pleased that Harvard University is contributing a full-time
developer for the next five months to work on enhancement of the
ArchivesSpace public interface, and Yale University has contracted HM to
develop additional enhancements to the public interface within the same
time frame.  Yale is also providing a project manager to coordinate these
efforts.  The Board is very grateful for these contributions to the
community effort.



Other business transacted during the 4th Quarter meeting included the
following:

•                    Setting a pattern of quarterly Board meetings for
FY2016/17, including two face-to-face meetings and two by teleconference.

•                    Endorsing Gregor Trinkhaus-Randall as the new liaison
to the ArchivesSpace Board from the LYRASIS Board.  Gregor
Trinkhaus-Randall is currently the Vice Chair of the LYRASIS board and a
former SAA President.  He succeeds Jay Schafer as the LYRASIS Board Liaison.

•                    Endorsing the report of the Nominating Committee, and
thanking the committee for its excellent work.

•                    Reviewing operational reports from the Program Manager
and the chairs of the Technical and User Advisory Councils.  We note that
the range and impact of the activities of the councils and their respective
sub-teams is impressive, and extend our appreciation to UAC chair Gordon
Daines, TAC chair Sally Vermaaten, and all of the members of both groups
for their tireless and terrific work.

•                    Determining Board member contributions at the
ArchivesSpace Members Forum scheduled for August 2 during SAA week.
Christian Dupont and Lynda Kachurek will attend the forum and present a
Board update; they are looking forward to hearing from ArchivesSpace
members.



In closing, I am very happy to report that the ArchivesSpace program
continues to grow.  As of the June, there are 290 members across the five
membership levels, 9 Educational members, and three Registered Service
Providers hosting 61 ArchivesSpace databases.



The Board extends its thanks to the ArchivesSpace staff for their excellent
work, and I thank all of you for your continuing support and ongoing
contributions to the great community we are building.

Respectfully,



Carol A. Mandel

Chair, ArchivesSpace Governance Board
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