Thanks everyone who replied to my query, it seems that most people are happy with Archive Manager and foresee no great upheavals with the changeover of owners. Also thanks to those who gave some ideas about other systems.
thanks again Leah
Hi, My IT Department at Matthew Flinders have asked me to investigate what other Archives are doing considering the recent change of Dataflair to SDS. Are people staying with Archive Manager or looking at other alternatives? Or are there other systems people are already using? We have been using Archive Manager for a few years now. Any advice re other systems or changing systems or is it better to stay with Archive Manager in the new circumstances, would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Leah Breninger
Archivist
Matthew Flinders Anglican College
ph: 0408744114,
lbreninger@mfac.edu.au
Replies
I heartily agree with Margaret Paterson and Louise Trott. We have used Archive Manager since its inception and although not user friendly, it has suited our needs very well. I am interested to read of the support that will continue, and this is in line with the careful and conscientious support David Clements has always offered our College.
Hello - I am MD of the company (SDS Group) which is taking over support of Archive Manager (Browser and Server).
We have no plans to make any substantial changes to Archive Manager in the near future, but will be making substantial improvements to the user interface for both Archive Browser and Archive Server with a view to releasing new versions of both these applications before the end of the year (IPAD and Android Friendly).
I will be emailing all existing (and lapsed) users of the Archive Manager suite of software in the next couple of weeks with a full plan of the next year's activities and proposed enhancements along with detailing the various ways of communicating with SDS.
David Clements is visiting my team and I later this month. David will continue to work with SDS during the transition, and all current users can continue to get phone support from David for the remainder of this year (2016).
SDS will be making a visit to Australia in 2017 for user group meetings/feedback/put names to faces etc
Kind Regards
Mark
I have heard that as it will be based in the UK from next year that support should continue to be available by email.
Here in the Sydney Diocesan Archives (Anglican), I have used Archive Server since 2003. It suits my needs perfectly, and I have no plans to change. My IT Department has encountered no problems with support since the transfer of ownership to the UK. I endorse and agree with Margaret Paterson's comments. The great thing about Archive Server (& Archive Manager) is that is was written in a strictly compliant manner, and it obliges you to create records according to archival theory and practice. See the diagram below which I copied from the Help page. This kind of system might not be very user-friendly for non-archivists, but it is not designed for non-archivists.
The diagram below illustrates the relationships between the main components of Archive Server.
We have been with Archive Server/Manager for many years and have been very happy with it. So far we haven't encountered any issues with the change of ownership. We plan to remain with that system unless we encounter problems. I know that David Clements who developed and owned Dataflair until just recently worked hard to find a new owner who would continue to provide good service and do justice to the product so I am hopeful that the service will continue to be just as good.
Regards
Margaret Paterson
Archivist
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School
Hello
At St Aloysius' College in Sydney we have moved to ICA AtoM. I have found it an excellent system and very versatile.
Jeff
The Grammar Archive has been using Archive Manager for a while and it has worked very well but our library is looking at changing its management system from Oliver to possibly Accessit or Infinity (still in the exploratory stage) - if the new software has a good Archive module we might consider moving over as well.
My Library uses AccessIt. I haven't seen an archives module. I would have a look at Infinity rather than AccessIt. This is completely personally. I found AccessIt not user friendly
We haven't heard that anything will change initially with the change of ownership - so at the moment I am staying with Archives Manager to see what improvements they may have in mind for the future before I look at possible alternatives.