[Archivesspace_Users_Group] A Word Of Caution (was Re: Anyone making use of Harvard's aspace-import-excel plugin?)
Bobbi Fox
bobbi at bobbifox.net
Mon Jan 14 14:35:25 EST 2019
Thank you, Olivia, for your kind words.
Please note that at the moment, downloading and initializing this plugin
fails, apparently due to the release of Bundler 2.0
(https://bundler.io/blog/2019/01/03/announcing-bundler-2.html)
We are working on a fix, but unfortunately do not have an ETA for its
delivery. Once we have a working solution, we will make an announcement.
Sorry,
Bobbi
(No longer at Harvard, but still supporting aspace-import-excel)
On Mon, 14 Jan 2019, Olivia S Solis wrote:
> Hi Emily,
> We have been using the plugin (We're using 2.4.1 of ASpace and 2.1.13 of the
> Harvard plugin.), and as with for others, it is working great!! Thank you Harvard,
> so much. The largest inventory we did was for a record with approximately 3500
> lines of inventory. I worked great, taking about 50 minutes to complete the job,
> but that would probably depend on your system specs.
>
> We made some modifications to the spreadsheet to suit our needs and uploaded the
> Excel spreadsheet as a Google Sheets doc, which processors make copies from. I am
> sharing below:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-hCN-1OZDctrRnWO8Hg_3SXbtPATTT9l6Z8CueWVPK
> Q/edit?usp=sharing
>
> Some of the changes:
> * I added data validation so that processors can only enter kosher dates for
> begin and end dates.
> * Same for our EAD ID column, which requires a certain syntax.
> * You can only upload 1 date record through the spreadsheet, but you can add any
> column you want. We added a column for processors to keep track of their dates
> should they want more than one date record per archival object. They go back in
> the GUI and manually add dates not uploaded through the spreadsheet.
> * We keep track of container profiles and locations for top containers. We added
> columns for those so processors can document those and go back and add them
> through top container/bulk updates in the GUI.
> * Added values in dropdown menus for the columns (container profiles, instance
> type, etc.).
> One other thing we've found in our ongoing experiments with the plugin is that it
> is easy to make mistakes that ASpace would normally catch in the GUI if you just
> use the spreadsheet. (e.g. you might forget to enter the date type.. ASpace/the
> plugin will reject the date). Yes, the plugin will throw you an error, but it is
> much better to catch the mistakes up front. I am working on a workflow for checking
> for varied possible mistakes using Google Sheets filter views, which can be saved
> and copied over to the spreadsheets processors use. Those checks are described
> here, but disclaimer: this is very drafty! I'm not done with container checks and
> the things we need to check for grows. But I think filters are a good way to check
> that you've got all the required info to make an archival object record or
> subrecord within that archival object.
>
> A few other things. If you go Google Sheets (which I believe Harvard would
> discourage) and download as xslx, make sure all your columns are in Text (vs. auto
> or number mode) in your Sheets template. In fact, I feel it is risky to write in
> Google Sheets and open in Excel because it might (e.g.) mess with your dates and
> transform them to a syntax ASpace will reject ... mess with other formatted text.
>
> We sometimes have boxes reserved for oversize or restricted materials and these
> boxes already exist in ASpace as top containers. Processors sometimes add materials
> to them and need to refer to those top containers in their inventories. The barcode
> column is how you link to the existing top container record using the
> spreadsheet/plugin. But we are having problems doing that with barcodes that are
> strings of numbers, though not with anything that includes both numbers and letters
> works fine. This is also because we implemented this config fix (see also here). We
> don't totally understand the issue, but the linkage is not made when we have the
> config fix turned on. It does when we don't.
>
> At any rate, thank you again, Harvard! I strongly recommend your plugin.
>
> Best,
> Olivia
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 5:53 PM Peale, Anne <aep3 at williams.edu> wrote:
> Hi Emily,
> We installed the plugin about a year ago and it's been working brilliantly.
> We have loaded several very large files (up to c. 1500 items), and the
> process is a little slow but it does complete.
>
> However, we have also noticed that when we use the plugin in our sandbox
> environment, it is much less tolerant of large sets of items and can only
> cope with short lists. I'm not the administrator for ASpace at Williams and
> don't know much about the way our server is set up, but I wonder if the
> problem has something to do with server capacity and if the plugin will
> actually work fine when you try to load to your main ASpace system. If you'd
> like more information, I can ask our administrator for details.
>
> The plugin has been an absolute joy to work with, especially for importing
> legacy finding aids. We've also had good luck having student assistants enter
> data into a google form or sheet, then proofreading before importing -- much
> smoother than trying to proofread additions made directly by rapid data
> entry.
>
> All best,
> Anne
>
> On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 6:12 PM Emily Pyers <epyers at slv.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>
> Link to it in GitHub here:
> https://github.com/harvard-library/aspace-import-excel
>
>
>
> We’re really excited about it (the 80% rule!) and have
> implemented it on our test system (v2.4.0). We’ve been testing
> it and it’s mostly working fine, until we attempt to load
> spreadsheets that have more than around 100 lines. Attempts to
> load spreadsheets over this size are resulting in job timeouts
> and overall system slowdowns, and we’ve tested pretty thoroughly
> – it doesn’t seem to be an issue with the data. Our tech team
> have reviewed the system logs, but are unable to pinpoint the
> source of the problem.
>
>
>
> I was hoping someone out there might be able to confirm that a)
> they have successfully used the plugin to load spreadsheets
> greater than 100 lines (since this seems to be a point of
> scepticism for some of our internal stakeholders), and that b) if
> you might be able to point us towards any potential areas of
> investigation?
>
>
>
> I would be so appreciative for any help on this!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Emily
>
>
> Emily Pyers | Metadata & Archival Systems Specialist | Collection
> Development & Description
> In the office Monday, Wednesday - Friday 9.30am-3pm
> State Library Victoria | 328 Swanston Street | Melbourne VIC 3000
> T +61 3 8664 7368 | epyers at slv.vic.gov.au
> slv.vic.gov.au
>
>
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> --
> Olivia Solis, MSIS
> Metadata Coordinator
> Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
> The University of Texas at Austin
> 2300 Red River St. Stop D1100
> Austin TX, 78712-1426
> (512) 232-8013
>
>
--
Bobbi Fox bobbi at bobbifox.net
Database-driven and Web-enabled applications development
http://www.bobbifox.net
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