Settings¶

Global settings¶

Global settings allow administrators to control certain aspects of how AtoM appears and behaves.

To access the “Settings” menu in AtoM, click on the Admin menu in the main menu located in the header bar and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu. You will be redirected to the “Site Settings”, where a number of information areas, including the “Global” settings, should be opened. If closed, simply click on the “Global” blue menu to open the area and view the fields.

This section will describe each field in the “Global” information area:

• Application version
• Check for updates
• Maximum image width
• Results per page
• Accession mask
• Accession counter
• Reference code separator
• Inherit reference code (Information object)
• Treeview type
• Sort treeview (information object)
• Sort browser (users)
• Sort browser (anonymous)
• Default repository browse view
• Multiple repositories
• Default archival institution upload limit
• Total space available for uploads
• Upload multi-page files as multiple descriptions
• Show tooltips
• Generate description permalinks from
• Default publication status
• SWORD deposit directory

Hovering over each field will also provide additional information on that field - it will appear in an “information box” below your cursor.

When making changes to the global settings in AtoM, don’t forget to click the “Save” button in the button block, located at the bottom of the “Global” settings information area.

Check for updates¶

If yes is selected, an administrator will automatically receive a notification if a newer version of the AtoM software has been released and can be installed. This notification will appear in the browser for authenticated (i.e. logged in) users, as an orange bar across the top of the application alerting users to the newest release available.

This image shows a themed AtoM installation at the City of Vancouver Archives, showing an update notification in orange at the top of the screen. Only authenticated users will see this notification.

For more information on updates, see:

• Search for updates

Accession mask¶

By default, AtoM creates the accession record identifier as a unique number compiled from YEAR-MONTH-DAY-Incremental#, expressed as %Y-%m-%d/#i. This mask, or default counter, can be changed by administrators to suit institutional needs.

For more information on accession records, see Accessions.

Inherit reference code (information object)¶

When this is set to “yes”, the reference code string will be built using the archival description identifier plus the identifier of all its ancestors (parent records), as well as the repository identifier and country code if they have been entered. The string will appear in this order with the applicable elements:

• Country code (derived from the country code of the country entered into the contact information of the related archival institution)
• Repository identifier (derived from the identifier field on the related archival institution)
• Fonds/Collection level identifier
• Series identifier
• Subseries identifier
• File identifier
• Item identifier

When reference code inheritance is enabled, AtoM will also display the full reference code in the edit page for archival descriptions, as contextual information to help orient the user.

Note

Whether reference code inheritance is turned on or not, the sort button option on the archival description browse page will still sort by full inherited reference code, and not by identifier alone. This setting only affects the display. For more information on sorting, see: Sort button.

Important

This setting also determines how the <unitid> element in the EAD XML is populated. If the inheritance is turned on, then AtoM will populate all descendant records in the EAD XML with the full inherited reference code. If inheritance is turned off, AtoM will only add the identifier for that record in the <unitid> on export. This allows users exporting to a different source system that does not have a reference code inheritance setting to maintain a full reference code at all levels in the target system. However, if you are exporting from one AtoM instance to another (for example, from a local institution to a portal site), you might want to consider how this will impact your record display in the target system - if you have reference code inheritance turned on when you export, and the target AtoM instance also has the setting turned on, you may end up with duplication in the display!

See also

• Control area

Treeview type¶

This setting allows administrators to choose between two different display formats for the treeview. For more information about the treeview in AtoM, see: Treeview.

The Sidebar setting refers to the classic treeview that appears in the left-hand context menu of an archival description. The Full width treeview, introduced in the AtoM 2.3 release, will display below the description title, and above the first information area of the description. The display space of the full-width treeview can be expanded by users by gripping and dragging the bottom bar of the treeview downwards to expand the viewing area.

Other differences include:

• The sidebar version does not indent lower-levels, while indentation is used in the full width treeview
• The Identifier is included in the sidebar treeview nodes, while no identifier is included in those of the full width version
• The results in the sidebar treeview are truncated - the first 5-6 nodes in the hierarchy are displayed by default, after which an approximate count of remaining nodes in the current level is provided, with the option to expand the results to display more. All nodes are shown in the full width treeview.

Below are screenshots of the same fonds, shown with each version of the treeview enabled, for comparison.

Sidebar treeview

Full width treeview

See also

• Treeview
• Context menu
• Archival Descriptions

Default repository browse view¶

This setting will determine if the “card view” or the “table view” is the default view for the archival institution browse page, when users first arrive on the page.

Tip

Regardless of which setting you choose, any user can easily toggle between the card view and the table view on the archival institution browse page, using the view toggle button that appears to the right of the archival institution search box:

For more information on working with archival institutions, see:

• Browse archival institutions
• Search archival institutions
• Archival Institutions

Site information¶

In this section, administrators can change the site title and site description, and set a Base URL for the application.

The site title and description will appear in the AtoM header bar, if they are included in the default page elements. See below for an image of where the Title and description appear, and more about setting the visibility of default page elements.

The base URL is used to create absolute URLs included in XML exports (e.g. MODS and EAD exports). For example, your AtoM site is made up a series of web pages. Each page has a full Uniform Resource Locator (URL) something like http://www.your-atom-site.com/your-description. The Base URL is the part of this URL that does not change - in this example, http://www.your-atom-site.com.

Setting this value will ensure that links included in your XML exports will be properly formed. Do not include a slash / at the end of your base URL - AtoM will automatically add this when building the absolute URLs.

To save any modifications, click the “Save” button located below the “Site Description” field.

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Default page elements¶

This section allows administrators to enable or disable certain page elements. Unless they have been overridden by a specific theme, these settings will be used site-wide.

Checked boxes will display the corresponding element and unchecked boxes will hide the element. The logo, site title, site description, and language menu all appear as part of the AtoM header bar:

The digital object carousel appears when there are multiple digital objects attached to lower-level descriptions:

The Copyright status filter and the General material designation filter appear as filters available in the Advanced search panel. For more information on using this panel, see: Advanced search. The Copyright status filter relates to PREMIS rights added to descriptions - for more information, see: Rights. The General material designation filter is derived from the Canadian Rules for Archival Description (RAD) standard, and is only used on the RAD template.

When unchecked, the above elements will be hidden from display after you save the default page element settings. This can be useful for customization - for example, if you are not translating the content of your website and do not need the language menu, unchecking it here will remove it from the AtoM header bar. Similarly, if you are not using the Canadian RAD standard as your default template, you might want to hide the General material designation filter from the advanced search panel.

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Default templates¶

AtoM ships with default page templates for viewing and editing archival descriptions, authority records, and archival institutions. For more information on the standards on which these templates are based, see Descriptive standards.

The “Name” column shows the types of entities that are described in AtoM: “Archival descriptions”, “Authority records” and “Archival institutions”. Drop-down menus of descriptive standards for each are provided under the “Value” column. Administrators may select one for each entity using the drop-down menus.

Once changes have been saved, records on the site will be able to be edited and viewed in the templates that have been selected.

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User interface labels¶

Users of AtoM interact with six main entities: accession records, archival descriptions, authority records, archival institutions, functions and terms.

AtoM is flexible enough to support descriptions a variety of cultural materials such as archival, library, museum, and art gallery collections. The code, therefore, uses generic terms for entities. Administrators can specify how they want these terms to appear in the user interface labels to suit the institution’s collections. The default labels that ship with AtoM are terms typically used by archival institutions.

The “Name” column shows the generic entity name and the “Value” column shows AtoM’s default user interface labels. The following is a list of the generic terms and their AtoM user interface labels. Click on each label below to see glossary definitions and descriptions of how the terms are used in AtoM.

• informationobject: archival description
• actor: Authority record
• creator: Creator
• repository: Archival institution
• function: Function
• term: Term
• subject: Subject
• collection: Fonds
• holdings: Holdings
• place: Place
• name: Name
• digitalobject: Digital object
• physicalobject: Physical storage
• mediatype: Media type
• materialtype: Material type (general material designations used in the Canadian Rules for Archival Description).
• facetstitle: facets title
• genre: Term for the Genre access point taxonomy, currently only available on the RAD template. It appears as a facet filter in the archival description browse and search pages - this label will change the display in the facet headers.

User interface labels can be changed by administrators by entering a new label(s) into the field(s) under the “Value” column. Changes will only be saved once the “Save” button is clicked. Changing the label will change its appearance throughout AtoM for both authenticated (logged-in) and public users.

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Add/Remove languages¶

AtoM relies on volunteer translators from the community to support new language options. The translations are managed using Transifex and community members can learn more about contibuting translations here.

The language menu will display the languages that are currently available in your AtoM application.

To add a language:

1. Select a language from the drop-down menu located under “Language code”.
2. Click the “Add” button.
3. AtoM adds the language and refreshes the page; the added language will now appear in the “Add/remove language” section in “Settings”, as well as in the drop-down menu of the language navigation menu located at the top right corner of the header bar.

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To continue adding languages, repeat these steps as required.

To remove a language:

1. Click the delete located in the third (blank) column next to the language.
2. AtoM will delete the language and refresh the page; the deleted language will no longer appear in the “Add/remove language” section in “Settings”, nor in the drop-down menu of the language navigation menu located at the top right corner of the header bar.

To continue removing languages, repeat these steps as required.

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OAI repository¶

Open Archives Initiative, or OAI, is a protocol for metadata harvesting that allows automatic data harvesting and crawling within other systems that support OAI harvesters.

Comprehensive documentation on each field in the OAI repository settings is included in the OAI repository documentation, here:

• Configure AtoM’s OAI repository settings

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Finding aid¶

These settings configure how AtoM generates finding aids from archival descriptions. For more information, see Print finding aids; specifically, Finding aid settings includes a description of each settings field.

Security panel¶

Limit administrator functionality by IP address

This feature allows administrators to limit administrator functionality to one or more IP addresses or IP ranges. Separate multiple IP address or ranges by semicolons, and use a dash to indicate an IP range. For example:

• 192.168.0.1 (single IP address)
• 192.168.0.1;192.168.0.255 (multiple unique IP addresses)
• 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.255 (IP range)

Require SSL for all administrator functionality

This feature allows administrators the option to enable the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), which is a protocol for security over a computer network. It works by layering the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) with the SSL/TLS protocol (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security).

Select yes to require all HTTP requests to be redirected to the HTTPS server, changing the URI scheme from “http” to “https.”

Require strong passwords

This feature allows administrators to enhance login validation by requiring the use of strong passwords. Strong passwords use least 8 characters, and contain characters from 3 of the following classes:

1. Upper case letters
2. Lower case letters
3. Numbers
4. Special characters

Choose “yes” to require authenticated (logged-in) users to have strong passwords.

Permissions¶

Permissions settings are used by administrators to make PREMIS rights records in archival descriptions actionable on attached digital objects. See Rights for more information on working with rights in AtoM.

The permissions settings page is divided into 3 sections - PREMIS access permissions, PREMIS access statements, and the Copyright statement.

For information on configuring the PEMIS access permissions, see: Make rights actionable on digital objects (and for an example use case, see: Example: Configuring copyright permissions). For information on configuring the PREMIS access statements, see: Configure Disallowed and Conditional access statements. For information on configuring and using the Copyright statement, see: Add a Copyright statement before allowing access to a master digital object.

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Inventory¶

The Inventory list allows an administrator to make a page of lower- level descriptions contained within a parent record available on a separate inventory page formatted as a table with sortable columns. For more information, screenshots, and instructions for end users, see: Using the Inventory list.

The selections an administrator makes in this section of the settings will determine what levels of description are included in the inventory list when accessed by users.

To multi-select multiple levels of description for inclusion in the inventory list, hold down the CTRL key (or the Command key on a Mac) while clicking the target levels.

Any level not selected will not appear in the inventory list results when a user clicks the inventory link.

Because level of description terms are included in a taxonomy that can be configured by users with the appropriate permissions, a hyperlink to the Levels of description taxonomy is also provided - an administrator can customize available terms by adding new ones, removing unused ones, or editing existing terms (for more information, see: Terms). Any new term added to the Levels of description taxonomy will show up in the Inventory settings page the next time an administrator returns to the settings page.

When you have selected the levels of description you want included in the Inventory list, remember to click the “Save” button located in the button block at the bottom of the page.

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Digital object derivatives¶

This setting will affect the digital object derivatives generated by AtoM when uploading multi-page content, such as a PDF.

Whenever a digital object is linked to an archival description, AtoM will generate two derivative copies from the master digital object (e.g. the original) - a reference display copy, used on the archival description view page, and a thumbnail, used in search and browse results, and in the digital object carousel. By default, AtoM will use the first page of multi-page content (such as a PDF) when generating the derivative images.

However, with multi-page content such as PDFs, the first page may not be useful to users browsing the content - it may be an institutional cover page used on all digitized content, a blank cover page, etc.

This setting will allow users to set a page number that should be used when generating the derivative copies. It will work for both locally uploaded content, and for PDFs linked via URL. If a system administrator runs the derivatives regeneration task, AtoM will use the setting value when regenerating PDF derivatives.

If you make changes, remember to click the “Save” button in the button block.

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DIP upload¶

This setting is for users who are uploading content from a linked Archivematica instance. Archivematica is an open-source digital preservation system developed by Artefactual Systems, the same creators of AtoM. For more information, see: https://www.archivematica.org

Archivematica can be used to manage and prepare digital content for long-term preservation, and can generate a Dissemination Information Package (DIP) with access-copy derivatives of your master digital object files processed in Archivematica, for upload into AtoM.

If no additional metadata is provided with the content during preparation, then when uploaded to AtoM, AtoM will use the file names as the default titles for the associated information objects (a.k.a. descriptions) generated, to which the digital objects in the DIP will be attached. However, this might produce descriptions with titles like my-picture.jpg, or my.document.pdf.

When this setting is set to “Yes,” AtoM will automatically strip the file extensions from the information object names automatically generated during the DIP upload process - from the examples above, this setting would lead to information object titles such as my-picture or my.document. Users can still edit the description title after DIP upload to customize them as desired.

Note that the setting will not retroactively affect existing uploads/information objects, only new information objects created during the DIP upload process from Archivematica. Similarly, the uploaded file itself is not affected (the extension is not stripped from the digital object) - only the title of the description generated so the digital object can be attached and uploaded.

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