[Archivesspace_Users_Group] policy change for ArchivesSpace membership level criteria for non-academic and freestanding archives

[Christine Di Bella]

Dear ArchivesSpace members,

ArchivesSpace is celebrating its five-year anniversary as a membership program this year. We're very appreciative of the support we've received from our members and the larger archival community in that time. We think it's a good time to reflect and to review a few of our policies and activities, with the goal of better serving our community, including some parts that we believe may have been underserved in the past. I'm writing to you today about a change in our membership level criteria for free-standing and non-academic archives that was recently approved by the ArchivesSpace Governance Board.

Beginning with the 2018/2019 membership term, which starts July 1, the membership level criteria for these types of archives will be as follows:

Free-Standing or Non-Academic Archives:

JSTOR or Artstor Classification

Total FTE Staff
(only for those without a JSTOR or Artstor Classification)

ArchivesSpace Level

Annual Fee

Very Large

401+

Very Large

$7500

Large

301-400

Large

$5000

Medium

151-300

Medium

$3000

Small

51-150

Small

$1000

Very Small

0-50

Very Small

$300


This represents higher FTE thresholds across the board for non-academic institutions, which may mean that some institutions that were previously classified at a higher level will now be classified at a lower level (for example, a non-academic institution with 30 FTE would have been Small under the previous criteria; it will now be Very Small). No institutions will have their level raised, but some may be lowered. This change does not affect current members that are academic institutions, anyone already using a JSTOR or Artstor classification, or those already at the Very Small level. Our membership benefits continue to be the same at every level.

We have contacted the small number of institutions in our current membership that we believe may be positively affected by this change. If we haven't contacted you and you believe you may be eligible for a reclassification, please email me.

We still consider JSTOR and Artstor classifications to be the best and fairest measures for membership level, because they take a nuanced view of institutional capacity, and we will continue to request JSTOR or Artstor classifications from all institutions for whom they are appropriate during the membership application process.

ArchivesSpace membership provides for the long-term development and sustainability of the application, and our intent is to give institutions of all sizes and types the ability to contribute toward its future and participate in our community. We aim to be equitable and fair in applying our membership levels, and believe that changing this specific policy will enable better parity with our classification criteria for academic institutions and others in our community who have JSTOR or Artstor classifications. We very much hope it will encourage certain types of institutions that found it difficult to participate under the previous classification system to join us.

Thank you for your continued support and all you have done to build our community in its first five years. We look forward to continuing to grow and mature even more in the next five.

All best,
Christine

Christine Di Bella
ArchivesSpace Program Manager
christine.dibella at lyrasis.org<mailto:christine.dibella at lyrasis.org>
800.999.8558 x2905
678-235-2905
cdibella13 (Skype)

[ASpaceOrgHomeMedium]

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