A major component of this grant project is to test archival software that will help us preserve and make accessible our digital collections. While one goal of the project is to share Art Center history of industrial design education, another goal is to implement software to better manage our collections.

Artefactual Systems Inc. developed Archivematica and AtoM (Access to Memory), which are both open-source software solutions for managing digital preservation and access.  In late October Art Center archives and information technology staff met with consultants from Artefactual Systems, Inc. to install both pieces of software, and we are now testing them with items from the Industrial Design collections.

For years archivists have preserved analog materials by having storage that is temperature and humidity-controlled, using archival enclosures and boxes, and consulting with conservators.  For the last several years, a new paradigm for managing digital records was developed dealing with issues such as hardware and software obsolescence, preservation file formats, viruses, and authenticity.  It is our goal to develop a strategy to deal with these issues and work at preserving Art Center’s digital materials.