Opening up the archives of the British Antarctic Survey

• Main Author: Beverley, Ager
• Other Authors: fi=Kirjasto|en=Library|
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Lapin yliopisto 2019
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: https://lauda.ulapland.fi/handle/10024/63983; http://nbn-resolving.org/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019102334429

The Information Services group at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) – which includes the Polar Data Centre and Archives Service – aims to promote the visibility and availability of its collections. This includes making improvements to metadata catalogue descriptions, and increasing access to polar data and information. This presentation will provide an overview of a recent project undertaken by the Archives Service, aiming to increase access to its holdings, improve data exchange with other systems and provide open linked data. The Archives collection reflects over 70 years of interdisciplinary science in the polar regions with roughly 1.2 linear km physical records and 9Tb digital data. The initial part of the project involved migration of 40,000 catalogue records to xml-based Modes Complete software. This software is often used for museum collections and combines high-functionality with costeffectiveness. It provides tools for managing mixed collections in a single cataloguing system that complies with a variety of archival descriptive standards. Currently the focus of the project is on working to make the catalogue available online using CKAN open source software. This will provide discovery-level catalogue descriptions and access to images and digital versions of documents and films. This portal will also be used cross-BAS to provide access to polar collections, including the datasets held by the Polar Data Centre, the UK’s national repository for polar data. publishedVersion