Project overview
Please note that ICA-AtoM is no longer actively supported by Artefactual Systems.
Visit https://www.accesstomemory.org for information about AtoM, the currently supported version.
The overall goal of the project is to pilot and test ICA-AtoM as a platform for the British Columbia Archival Union List (BCAUL). BCAUL is maintained by the Archives Association of British Columbia (AABC) and provides access to descriptions of records held at 180 publicly-accessible archives in BC.
Background
The AABC undertook initial planning for BCAUL in 1991. It launched the first database in 1993, hosted by the UBC Library and accessible via telnet. In 1996 an http version was developed and made available over the web via the UBC Library server. The AABC established its own web server in 1998-99 and migrated BCAUL to integrate it with the Association's other web resources. Around the same time the AABC began working with the Archives Society of Alberta (ASA) to establish the Canadian North West Archival Network (CaNWAN), using the AABC system to provide integrated access to descriptions of records held by archival institutions in BC and Alberta. By 2000, CaNWAN had expanded to include the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. In 2001 both BCAUL and CaNWAN were redesigned to better support archives, researchers, as well as the transfer of data from BCAUL / CaNWAN to the new national database, Archives Canada. This is the current version of BCAUL. It is a custom-built application, developed by the Vancouver-based ACT/Cinemage Group under the direction of the AABC's BC Archival Network Coordinator and the AABC Internet Committee.
- For more background information, see British Columbia Archival Union List: Background Report.