ArchivesSpace Governance Board update - December 2025
Maggie Hughes
Dear ArchivesSpace members:
As the Chair of the ArchivesSpace Governance Board, I am writing to report on the group’s 2nd Quarter meeting, which was held virtually on November 12.
We discussed an operations report that highlighted the successful searches for the two newly created positions on the program team and an analysis of the program’s strong member retention over its history. We also considered some possibilities for additional support for new members.
We learned about the activities of the Technical Advisory Council and User Advisory Council and their continued work this year to add value for both ArchivesSpace and those serving on the Councils.
We reviewed the continued healthy financial position of ArchivesSpace. We approved a routine recommendation to increase the Reserve Fund in line with current expenses. (ArchivesSpace follows financial best practice for non-profits by designating an amount equal to one quarter of its annual expenses as a Reserve Fund, and we review the amount annually.)
Consultant Jess Farrell of Redstart Works joined the meeting to discuss the Lyrasis CST Interoperability Project. Funded by the Lyrasis CST Growth Fund, this project is working on building greater interoperability for the open-source applications for which Lyrasis serves as Organizational Home (ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace, DSpace, Fedora, and VIVO). The first phase of the project is focused on gathering community input and writing technical specifications about the integrations the communities consider most desirable for their needs. Later phases will focus on the development of prioritized integrations. Jess outlined plans for the current phase, and the group discussed considerations and ideas for engaging the ArchivesSpace community and across communities. More information about this project will be available soon.
During the second half of the meeting the group discussed Lyrasis’ proposed new Organizational Home cost model for Community Supported Technology (CST) programs, which would take effect for FY2026-27. As a reminder, ArchivesSpace pays Lyrasis, as its Organizational Home, to provide ArchivesSpace with general administrative services such as fiscal management, human resources, and IT support, as well as strategic support specific to open-source sustainability. Lyrasis has served as ArchivesSpace’s Organizational Home since 2012, under a renewable Organizational Home agreement signed by the Founding Partners of ArchivesSpace (New York University and the University of California San Diego).
Over the last 18 months, Lyrasis has undertaken a thorough information gathering and analysis of its Organizational Home program, involving the CST governance groups in critical steps along the way. One outcome has been the development of a new cost model which seeks to improve transparency about costs, provide its services to CST programs on a cost-neutral basis in accordance with Lyrasis’ mission, and ensure greater harmonization and predictability of services and associated costs across CST programs. This fall, Lyrasis distributed the proposed new cost model and a Service Level Agreement (SLA) detailing all the Organizational Home services and the conditions under which they will be provided for consideration by the governance groups. After extensive discussion, the ArchivesSpace board voted to make a recommendation to the ArchivesSpace Founding Partners to approve the new cost model, but to hold off on approving the SLA, as it was still under legal review and discussion. The SLA is expected to be finalized soon, and the group will consider it again at that time.
Thank you for your engagement in our community and all the good work you help us do together. As always, please feel free to reach out directly to me or to your elected representative if you have feedback you would like to share.
My best,
Maggie
Maggie Hughes
(she/her)
Manager of Special Collections Processing & Cataloging
Getty Research Institute