<div dir="ltr">Hi Jordon,<div><br></div><div>Thank you!! Your response is indeed very helpful and I totally understand the logic behind your decision. Just a little background, we are almost ASpace live. We are about to set up all of our user accounts. At some point along the way, I read ASpace documentation advising not to use users as linked agents. I can't at the moment remember exactly where, but I can see that as useful advice. We ignored it for a couple reasons cited below.</div><div><br></div><div>We, in contrast to y'all, have decided to use staff agents for human-initiated collection management activities that may need to be documented in major record types. In particular, events.</div><div><br></div><div>I think there were a couple of things throwing us off here. For one, events require some kind of linked agent, and we are using events for various stages of accessioning and the ultimate stages of processing, as you have chosen not to do in all cases (at least through events records which do not use relators). For something like a processing step completed in an event, how would the required linked agent not be some kind of staff user? We also wanted it very clearly documented that certain staff played certain roles in events.</div><div><br></div><div>The second is that all users are included in the list of possible candidates when one starts typing in a linked agent in accessions, resources, and archival objects. So below, my record is pulled up because I started typing in my name (in this case in a new accession record) in a new linked agent sub-record:</div><div><img src="cid:ii_160c48291ee713d6" alt="Inline image 1" width="472" height="181"><br></div><div>I was created as simply a user in ASpace, not an agent. Anyone could add me to a record as a creator or subject regardless of an institutional policy not to add users as linked agents. Relooking at ASpace, apparently being a user also makes me an agent in ASpace, with all the functionality ASpace endows to agents. I could edit my agent record's URI or create relationships with other agents, etc.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm seeing a lot of pros and cons here. I can give myself as a user a VIAF URI in my agent (not user) record. (It also appears that editing my user "Full name" doesn't automatically update the equivalent "Primary name" field in my agent record). But if you go with a policy that users are not agents and should not be used as linked agents, how do you get staff creating and editing records not to add the users that appear as candidates when they start typing in the linked agent fields as linked agents? Users are options here. Our solution was that "staff" addition. </div><div><br></div><div>In terms of authority control, it seems very precarious to allow any user to be added as a linked agent to any record, particularly to a published record. If it's possible to add any user as a linked agent, despite institutional policy not to, someone will. (Months of cleaning up legacy data has made me a skeptic.) Even if that same user has a sanctioned, legit, separate agent record.</div><div><br></div><div>Has this been a problem for anyone else? Do you have ambiguous relationships between agents and users? And Jordon, given your library's policy, has this ever been an issue for you... staff accidentally adding users as linked agents? Again, we've got staff members who are regularly creators, subjects, donors, etc.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm also curious about the relationship between users and their correlated agent records and how/if various interrelated/common fields are reciprocally updated.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks, and if there is documentation that exists about this apologies!</div><div><br></div><div>-Olivia</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 7:18 PM, Jordon Steele <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jsteele@jhu.edu" target="_blank">jsteele@jhu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="m_-7969389869608898544WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Olivia,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Yes, we do use URIs for our agent records, and, like you, they are sourced from VIAF.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">We separate user accounts from agent records. A user account is for someone to edit or view ASpace data. An agent record is reserved to document creators or subjects
of collections or staff involved in collection-related activities. We’ve discussed and decided not to create and manage agent records for roles related to collection management activities such as processing or updating records; those names just appear as free
text in processing notes (or in the audit trail of the ASpace record, which shows the last username to edit a given record). We generally only create agent records for staff to document curatorial activities like acquisition and deaccessioning.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">So there could indeed be a scenario where we have an agent record for a staff member and a separate user account for that staff member, which we’ve decided we
can live with, especially because agent records are managed in a module separate from user accounts. It’s a similar situation to a library catalog’s authority file, where a staff member may be listed because he or she happened to, like, author a book that
the library owns, but that staff member may also have logins managed separately to access library applications. But I understand the gray area—we’ve just decided to accept it.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Hope that helps!<u></u><u></u></span></p><span class="">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Best,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Jordon<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Jordon Steele<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Hodson Curator of the University Archives<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Special Collections<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">The Sheridan Libraries<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Johns Hopkins University<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">3400 N Charles St<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Baltimore, MD 21218<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:(410)%20516-5493" value="+14105165493" target="_blank">410-516-5493</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:jsteele@jhu.edu" target="_blank">jsteele@jhu.edu</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> <a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group-bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">archivesspace_users_group-<wbr>bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group-bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">archivesspace_users_<wbr>group-bounces@lyralists.<wbr>lyrasis.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Olivia S Solis<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 04, 2018 4:29 PM<span class=""><br>
<b>To:</b> Archivesspace Users Group <<a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">archivesspace_users_group@<wbr>lyralists.lyrasis.org</a>><br>
</span><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Archivesspace_Users_Group] Staff users/agents as subjects/creators<u></u><u></u></span></p><div><div class="h5">
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Jordon,<u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for the response! Do you use URIs for your terms? Forgive me if this was not clear before (or if it was that I am being repetitive). We've been doing a lot of work to clean up normalize data set ourselves up for a linked data universe
where we reference all of our names with URIs and we specify the name authorities we are using. In particular, we've chosen VIAF. So say Celine Dion is our Registrar who uses ArchivesSpace daily to create and search for records. She also donated her papers
to us. She needs a user account, but we want to refer to her by her URI: <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://viaf.org/viaf/12491209" target="_blank">https://viaf.org/viaf/12491209</a><wbr> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">in her papers, in particular to anything we publish. If she has a user account, there is no field for the URI or the authority. If I'm not mistaken, all users who get "Local" rules, but we would want to specify "VIAF" as the source of the
term.<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks, and again, sorry if I am over-explaining!<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">-Olivia<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="433" height="472" id="m_-7969389869608898544_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.png@01D38599.2AA31E20" alt="Inline image 1"><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 3:13 PM, Jordon Steele <<a href="mailto:jsteele@jhu.edu" target="_blank">jsteele@jhu.edu</a>> wrote:<u></u><u></u></p>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #cccccc 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Hi Olivia,</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">We have one agent record and assign different roles or relator terms based on the context. So for a
given collection, Person X may have the role “Source” and relator “Curator” if that person was involved in acquiring a collection. If the person was the subject of the collection, we’d re-use the existing agent record and assign the role “Subject.” If we ended
up getting that person’s papers, in that scenario, we’d assign the same agent record but with role “Creator.” We think of the agent one entity who may have different roles depending on the collection/event/context.
</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Best,</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Jordon</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Jordon Steele</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Hodson Curator of the University Archives</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Special Collections</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">The Sheridan Libraries</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Johns Hopkins University</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">3400 N Charles St</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Baltimore, MD 21218</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:(410)%20516-5493" target="_blank">410-516-5493</a></span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:jsteele@jhu.edu" target="_blank">jsteele@jhu.edu</a></span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
<a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group-bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">
archivesspace_users_group-<wbr>bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group-bounces@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">archivesspace_users_<wbr>group-bounces@lyralists.<wbr>lyrasis.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Olivia S Solis<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 04, 2018 3:05 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Archivesspace Users Group <<a href="mailto:archivesspace_users_group@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">archivesspace_users_group@<wbr>lyralists.lyrasis.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Archivesspace_Users_Group] Staff users/agents as subjects/creators</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hello all,<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was wondering if some of you have a situation we have. Occasionally, some of our staff will appear as subjects/creators in resources and accessions. We have some staff members
who are published scholars and appear in name authority files. In such cases, we'd want to use the URIs for those names (no such field in user records). We also have specific rules we follow for local names for subjects/creators.<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">How do you/do you distinguish between staff members when they are acting in their capacity as staff (e.g. as the recipient of the agreement received event) vs. as subject/creator?
Staff users appear to be agents that are selectable in any kind of record type.<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our current strategy is to include a "(staff)" addition to "Full name" for users. For instance, mine would be "Olivia Solis (staff)", the reason being to make it absolutely clear
this is not the non-existent "Solis, Olivia" in VIAF who is also an agent, but not a user. I don't like including information that is not part of a name in the name field, but otherwise, I think people would accidentally select the user agent in instances
where they should select e.g. the VIAF "Solis, Olivia" with a URI we want to use. Is there a better solution to "staff" for disambiguation purposes? Somehow display the person's title in the type-ahead list that appears when you start typing in a linked agent
name? I'm not sure how difficult that would be.<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">We plan to retire (change passwords for), but not delete staff user accounts when the staff members no longer work here so we don't get rid of their data trail. But in 20 years
it would be nice for staff to know that the retired "Olivia Solis (staff)" is also the same person as creator of one of our collections. Or maybe a donor, in which case I would not want to use the user account.<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Olivia<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">--
<u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Olivia Solis, MSIS</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Metadata Coordinator</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Dolph Briscoe Center for American History</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">The University of Texas at Austin</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">2300 Red River St. Stop D1100</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Austin TX, 78712-1426</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black"><a href="tel:(512)%20232-8013" target="_blank">(512) 232-8013</a></span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
Archivesspace_Users_Group mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Archivesspace_Users_Group@lyralists.lyrasis.org" target="_blank">Archivesspace_Users_Group@<wbr>lyralists.lyrasis.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lyralists.lyrasis.org/mailman/listinfo/archivesspace_users_group" target="_blank">http://lyralists.lyrasis.org/<wbr>mailman/listinfo/<wbr>archivesspace_users_group</a><u></u><u></u></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br clear="all">
<u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">-- <u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Olivia Solis, MSIS</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Metadata Coordinator</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Dolph Briscoe Center for American History</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">The University of Texas at Austin</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">2300 Red River St. Stop D1100</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black">Austin TX, 78712-1426</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:black"><a href="tel:(512)%20232-8013" value="+15122328013" target="_blank">(512) 232-8013</a></span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:#888888"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
Archivesspace_Users_Group mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Archivesspace_Users_Group@lyralists.lyrasis.org">Archivesspace_Users_Group@<wbr>lyralists.lyrasis.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lyralists.lyrasis.org/mailman/listinfo/archivesspace_users_group" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lyralists.lyrasis.org/<wbr>mailman/listinfo/<wbr>archivesspace_users_group</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">Olivia Solis, MSIS</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">Metadata Coordinator</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">Dolph Briscoe Center for American History</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">The University of Texas at Austin</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">2300 Red River St. Stop D1100</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">Austin TX, 78712-1426</font></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136);font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12.8px">(512) 232-8013</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>