Becoming a
contributor

Contributing to the Archives Hub is a great way to expose your collections to a wider audience, and experience the benefits of being part of a large-scale cross-searching service.

Contributions are welcomed from institutions in all UK sectors, who hold collections of value to education and research. See our collection policy for more information. If you're interested in becoming an Archives Hub contributor, please contact us.

What you need to do

In order to contribute to the Hub, you'll need to provide us with:

• Your ARCHON code.This is a code provided by The National Archives which uniquely identifies your repository. If you don't have an ARCHON code, you can contact The National Archives to apply for one.
• Your repository name. Please let us know how you would like your repository name to be displayed (i) on the search page (ii) on the contributor pages
• Contributor information. Please provide us with a short summary of your repository, with a logo if possible, e.g. archiveshub.ac.uk/contributors/universityofaberdeen.html

What you need to know

Open Data

We have an Open Data ethos, and are very keen to promote open and reusable metadata. We are working on a Linked Data project, looking at integrating archival descriptions with other data, and we are keen to encourage other initiatives for the free-flow of data, to help increase profile and use of archives. Therefore we apply an open licence to our metadata unless a contributor specifically asks for this to be withheld. You can read more about the benefits of open data here: http://discovery.ac.uk/businesscase/principles/

Data format

The Archives Hub descriptions are in Encoded Archival Description (EAD). This is an international standard that provides for sustainability and interoperability, enabling us to exchange data and giving the potential to expose the descriptions to the widest possible audience.

Submitting descriptions

There are several ways you can contribute descriptions to the Archives Hub:

1. If you are creating new descriptions, or modifying existing descriptions, you may wish to use our EAD Editor. This allows you to easily create, modify, and submit EAD descriptions. The Editor is user-friendly, and supports collection-level and component-level descriptions, as well as the inclusion of digital objects. We run EAD Editor training several times a year, and have extensive online help and an audio tutorial. Please contact us to request a login.
2. You can export descriptions from a growing number of Archive Management Systems to the Archives Hub. Please read our guidance, and contact us if you have any questions, or would like to import data from another system.
3. You can use any other means to create valid EAD, but please do send us a test description so that we can check compatibility with the Hub system. The Hub uses EAD DTD 2002.

What you might like to do

Monthly features

Every month we have a feature on a theme or specific collection from the Archives Hub. It’s a great way to promote your collections and you can use this to coincide with the launch of an exhibition or a project. The features get good search engine ranking, so they are a useful way to profile your collections. Contact us if you're interested in writing or contributing a feature - you might have to book in advance as features are becoming increasingly popular with our contributors!

Contributors Forum

Hub contributors are welcome to get involved in our Contributors’ Forum. This meets once a year to discuss the functioning and development of the Archives Hub. Let us know if you’d like to take part.

Genesis

Contributors to the Hub have the opportnity to contribute to Genesis, a free online resource for women’s history, provided by the Women’s Library. Genesis includes Archives Hub data, so if you have any collections relating to women's history and would like them to be included, please let us know.

Indexing and data creation

We have a number of resources to help with data creation, including information on standards, adding images to descriptions, and an audio tutorial for the EAD Editor. The Hub team was also involved in the creation of the UKAD Indexing Tutorial, a freely-available online tutorial, written by archivists for archivists.

What we will do

Once you've signed-up to contribute to the Hub, we will

• Add you to our contributor mailing list
• Provide feedback on descriptions - always on your first description, as requested thereafter
• Set up a folder for your repository on our server. All your data will be held in EAD within your folder, and we can provide you with copies at any time.