User Accounts & Permissions

Owned by Julie Wetherill
Last updated: Jun 08, 2022
8 min read

Requesting a staff account

Staff members in participating Harvard repositories should follow this procedure to request access to the ArchivesSpace staff interface. Because each participating repository has a Designated Repository Manager (DRM), and because the DRM may or may not be the same person as the Login Liaison for your library, you should also inform your DRM that you will be submitting a system access request.

All accounts in ArchivesSpace must be associated with a validly affiliated individual. No "generic" accounts can be created for use by multiple users (such as student workers)

Step 1: The repository Login Liaison prepares a Login Request Form for submission. The form must be signed by the Login Liaison and Login Approver. If the user needs permissions in multiple repositories, separate signatures and login permission details must be obtained for each repository. 

To complete the form:

  1. The Login Liaison works with the DRM to determine the appropriate repository role/group for the user on the form
  2. After the Login Liaison completes and signs the form, the Login Approver signs the form, indicating full authorization.
  3. (Optional) If the user will be working in more than one repository, the form may be sent to another repository's Login Liaison for additional permissions and signatures for that repository, or each repository can submit login request forms independently.

Step 2: The Login Liaison submits the Request Form to LTS via the LTS Support website for processing. 

  1. Confirm the form is complete and fully signed by both the Login Liaison and Login Approver.
  2. Submit the form via the LTS Support website
    1. Open a new support ticket indicating accounts need to be created for both the Prod and QA instance in the body/description field. You can attach the login form directly to the support ticket as a PDF file.
      1. When saving the PDF, click Save As Other and save as Reduced Size PDF or Optimized PDF
      2. If you opt to scan the form and submit it electronically, you do not need to send the original to LTS, though we do recommend that you keep it until you hear back that it has been received.
    2. Alternatively, you can let LTS know in the body of the message that you are planning to send the form via intercampus mail to LTS Support, 90 Mt. Auburn St. Room 122. Bear in mind this will take longer for the login request to be received and processed.

Step 3: LTS Support will review the login request form, create the account and add the approved repository permissions to the user's account.

LTS will let the DRM and user know when the ArchivesSpace account is ready for use. It can take up to one week for permissions to be updated after the form is received in LTS. Please indicate in your submission request if the account has particular urgency. 

Step 4: Subscribe to the Harvard ArchivesSpace mailing list. 

  1. Self-subscription and info page: http://calists.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/aspace-users
  2.  To post a message, send email to: aspace-users@calists.harvard.edu


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Requesting a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Account

To access ArchivesSpace, you need to be connected to the appropriate VPN tunnel for your unit.  Please review Getting Started with VPN to request an account in your department's VPN tunnel.  Then submit a support request to confirm your department's VPN tunnel is permitted to access ArchivesSpace.


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Adding a New Repository

If your repository is implementing ArchivesSpace for the first time, you will need to work with LTS to establish a repository profile in ArchivesSpace. If you are unsure whether your repository is in ArchivesSpace yet or not, contact LTS for assistance.

  1. Determine who will fill the required roles for your ArchivesSpace repository:

    • Designated Repository Manager (DRM): The DRM is an individual responsible for creating user groups and determining user group permissions, contributing to discussions of how ArchivesSpace is being locally implemented; and communicating any technical issues or concerns to LTS on behalf of your repository. The DRM may optionally serve as either the Login Liaison or Login Approver, but not both.

    • Login Liaison: The Login Liaison is an individual responsible for the logistics of completing and submitting login request forms for new ArchivesSpace user accounts and updates to existing accounts. The Login Liaison may not be the same person as the Login Approver.

    • Login Approver: The Login Approver is an individual responsible for final authorization of user account permissions. The Login Approver may not be the same person as the Login Liaison.

  2. Once determined, the DRM should submit a request to LTS for a new ArchivesSpace repository to be created. The DRM's request should include:

    • DRM full name

    • Position title

    • The name of the repository

    • The name of the parent library and campus

    • The IP address, or the range of repository IP addresses, requiring access to the system. You can get the IP address for computers needing access to ArchivesSpace by going to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ip-lookup and clicking on the “What is My IP Address” button

    • Login Liaison full name and email

    • Login Approver full name and email

  3. LTS creates the new repository in ArchivesSpace and notifies the DRM that it is ready. 
     
  4. The DRM completes a Login Request Form :
      1. The Login Liaison works with the DRM to determine the appropriate repository role/group for the user on the form
      2. After the Login Liaison completes and signs the form, the Login Approver signs the form, indicating full authorization.
      3. (Optional) If the user will be working in more than one repository, the form may be sent to another repository's Login Liaison for additional permissions and signatures for that repository, or each repository can submit login request forms independently.

  5. LTS assigns repository permissions for the DRM user account so that the DRM can begin maintaining the repository. 


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Changing User Preferences

ASpace provides User Preference settings that allow you to customize default displays in the staff interface. To manage preferences, navigate to the top right corner of the staff interface, click the down arrow next to the user name in the top right corner and select either Global Preferences, Repository Preferences, or User Preferences.

  • Global Preferences can only be changed by those with administrator privileges (in LTS). These values can be overridden by repository default or by your own preferences for a repository. 
  • Repository Preferences can be changed by those with administrator privileges or repository manager privileges. These values can be overridden by user preferences. 
  • User Preferences can be changed by the individual staff user for the current repository. These values cannot be overridden. 

DRMs have additional user preference settings that affect the display of all the users of a particular repository. These include:

  1. Under General Settings, select the Show Suppressed check box if you want users to be able to see records that have been suppressed.

  2. Under General Settings, select the Publish check box if you want new records for the repository to be set to publish by default.

More details are available in the Setting Preferences section of core ASpace documentation.

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Creating and Editing User Groups

For each repository, the Digital Repository Manager (DRM) can create user groups that comprise specific sets of individual user permissions, thus allowing users to be given all the permissions they need for their particular role at once by assigning them to the appropriate group.

  • User groups are specific to each repository, and user groups with the same name in two different repositories may not have the same permission definitions. 
  • The DRM for a repository can make changes to existing user group permissions at any time, and changes will immediately affect the permissions of all users currently assigned to that user group.

The below chart gives an example of how a DRM might set up user groups for the repository. (Note: This is just an example. Your repository may not match these groups/permissions!)

Example: Role Definitions and User Groups

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A la carte ArchivesSpace permissionsUser Groups
Viewer


Basic
Data Entry
(Interns and
Volunteers)


Archivist
(Permanent
Staff)
Advanced
Data Entry
(Temporary/
Grant Staff)
Manager
(Designated
Repository
Managers)
Project Manager

Create/Update Accessions

NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

Create/Update Digital Objects

NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

Create/Update Event Records

NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
Create/Update Resources
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

Create/Update/Delete Agents Records

NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES

Create/Update/Delete Subject Records

NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES

Create/Update/Delete Vocabulary Records

NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
Delete the major record types in the repository
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
Initiate import jobs
NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
Manage the repository
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES

Manage rde_templates

NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
NO

Merge Agent/Subject records

NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES

Suppress the major record types in the repository

NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES

View records

YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

A list of Login Liaisons and Approvers for repositories currently using ArchivesSpace is available here. Login Liaisons are responsible for the logistics of completing and submitting login request forms on behalf of users. Login Approvers (usually the Digital Repository Manager or another repository manager) oversee and authorize appropriate permissions for users of a particular repository.

Example: Creating a digitization specialist group and assigning users

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Below is an example of how to create a user group for staff in your repository and assign users to it. This example covers creation of a "Digitization Specialist" group tasked solely with digitization work. Many of the digitization projects at Harvard use specialized staff who may operate in other units to create and/or link digital objects to archival descriptions. In order to provide access for this type of user, a repository may want to establish a group with limited powers in ArchivesSpace.

To manage user groups, the person logged in to ArchivesSpace must be a Repository Administrator.  In addition, you will need to know the ArchivesSpace user name of any staff member you wish to add to a user group.  These instructions presume that the staff already has an ArchivesSpace account.  If the staffer needs an ASpace account, see the section (above) System Access and User Accounts. 

Begin

Log in to ArchivesSpace.

Create a new group

1. Click on the down arrow next to the gear symbol.
2. Select “Manage groups” from the drop-down menu.

3. Click on the "Create group" button.

4. Type text into the required fields. The “Description” field is the one that will be visible to you in the steps that follow.

5. Click in the checkboxes next to the privileges that you want the digitization staff to have.  In order to perform imports (including use of the Excel spreadsheet import), the digitization specialist must have permission to

  • Create/update resources in this repository
  • Create/update digital objects in this repository
  • View the records in this repository
  • Initiate import jobs
  • Cancel import jobs
  • Create and run a background job
  • Cancel a background job

6. Click on “Create group.”

Assign users to the group

1. Once again, select “Manage groups” from the drop-down menu

2. Click the “Edit” button next to the “Digitization Specialist” group you just created.

3. Key the user name of the staff member in the box next to “Members”

4. Click on the “Add” button

The User name will be added to the members list. 

5. Key in any additional user names and click on “Add” for each one

6. Click the “Save” button. 








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