README

Overview

This project is a Django web application for providing access to and limited administration for Archival Finding Aid XML documents in the Encoded Archival Description format (EAD <http://www.loc.gov/ead/>_ ).

License

This software is distributed under the Apache 2.0 License_.

.. _Apache 2.0 License: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html

Components

fa ~~ Functionality for searching, browsing, and displaying Finding Aid objects. Includes PDF version of Finding Aid and mulitple views for complex, multi-part Finding Aids with series, subseries, and indexes. Also includes a 'preview' mode for use with the :mod:~findingaids.fa_admin component, so that unpublished documents can be previewed exactly as they will appear when published.

fa_admin

This is a custom administration component for managing Finding Aid documents
and the Finding Aids site.  Includes some user account management, but the bulk
of the functionality revolves around preparing EAD files for publication on the
main site, via the 'prep', 'preview', and 'publish' functions.

content

Functionality for displaying the few non-EAD-based pages that are part of the Finding Aids website. Includes the site home page, content pages that are populated via RSS feeds to allow leveraging existing content management tools, and some simple email forms.

System Dependencies

findingaids requires the following network resources:

• LDAP for user authentication
• A relational database for user and session information, task result status, and deleted Finding Aids
• Persistent ID manager for minting ARKs to use as permanent URLs for Finding Aid documents
• eXist-db XML database <http://exist.sourceforge.net>_ (1.4 or greater) for loading, searching, browsing, & displaying EAD Finding Aid XML documents
• RabbitMQ <http://www.rabbitmq.com/>_ for brokering asynchronous tasks
• Squid Web Cache

For more detailed information, including installation instructions and upgrade notes, see :ref:DEPLOYNOTES. For details about the features included in each release, see :ref:CHANGELOG.