For archivists and collection staff
Digitize once. Let the public find it without asking you.
Catalog what you scan with the fields your finding aid uses, and publish the parts that should be open.
Access is not a switch
Three tiers, not two
Most of a collection is neither fully open nor sealed. The middle tier is where the reading room actually lives.
Open
Published publicly and embedded in the library site
On request
Held internally; a form starts the request
Restricted
Visible only to the staff group that holds it
What the reading room absorbs
The same questions, about the same boxes
Published material answers the repeat question. Staff time goes to the research that genuinely needs them.
As you scan
Catalogued, not later
Collection, series, box, date on the file
Per project
Open or restricted
Publishing is a choice, never a default
Full text
On typed material
Searchable, not only browsable
- Repeat questions about open material41%
- Genuine research requests28%
- Reproduction requests18%
- Accessions and deposits13%
Sound familiar
Your week, roughly
- 01The same research request for the same three boxes
- 02A scan that nobody can find because it was named by date
- 03Access restrictions tracked in a separate spreadsheet
- 04Reproduction requests arriving by email with no form
- 05Explaining a finding aid over the phone, again
And what it costs
What you are paying for now
A digital collections platform
Priced per item, separate from your working files
Reading room staff time
Pulling the same material for the same question
Storage nobody can search
Scans sitting in folders named by scanning date
Nucleus One absorbs all three.
Both sides of the line
One system for the office and the public
Staff work the whole thing. Everyone else sees exactly what you publish to them, and nothing else.
Inside: archivists and staff
- ArchivistsEverything, catalogued and restricted as needed
- Collection staffScoped to the collections they work
- AdministrationAccession records and agreements
What crosses
- A published collectionOpen material embedded in the library site
- Research request formsArrive indexed to collection and box
- Deposit agreementsSigned and filed with the accession
Outside: public and researchers
- The publicBrowse what is open, with no account
- ResearchersRequest material through a form
- DepositorsReturn signed deposit agreements
How it works
What the archive gets
- 01
Catalog as you scan
Collection, series, box and date travel with the scan from the start.
- 02
Open what should be open
Publishing is per project, so restricted material stays restricted.
- 03
Full text on scans
Typed material becomes searchable, not just browsable.
- 04
Requests with a record
A research request becomes a task with an owner.
FAQ
Archive questions
Yes. Publishing is a setting on a project, so open material can sit in a published project while restricted material stays in one that is not.
Yes. Nucleus One processes documents so their text becomes searchable alongside the index fields you catalog them with.
Catalog one series properly
Create a free account, define your finding aid fields, and scan a box into them.
Prefer to talk? Call (863) 937-0272