Publication Date
2-13-2020
Document Type
Presentation
Abstract
James Madison University Libraries' workflow for distributing its Special Collections finding aids to various discovery platforms historically involved a significant amount of manual data entry and hand-encoding. Through a series of small steps, we have been gradually improving this process by automating select tasks. I will share different iterations of our workflow, the automated solutions we've put into place, and the tools and technologies used, including XSLTs, APIs, and Spaceport, a custom Python app. As evidenced through the efficiencies, staff excitement, and other benefits we've observed, automation has transformed a previously tedious process while also facilitating the completion of other related projects. Our experience suggests a number of advantages to taking an incremental approach to technical services workflow automation projects.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
French, Rebecca B., "Small Steps Make Giant Leaps: An Incremental Approach to Technical Services Workflow Automation" (2020). Libraries. 184.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/letfspubs/184
Comments
Presentation given at "Work Smarter, Not Harder: Innovating Technical Services Workflows" Amigos Library Services online conference.