Accessible Archives collections have moved to History Commons. 

Are you ready to make the move?

Background: 

On June 15, 2023, Coherent Digital acquired Accessible Archives. All collections are now migrated to History Commons.

With History Commons, your researchers will access the Accessible Archives collections on our award-winning Commons platform. Users will enjoy:

• Increased accessibility: With the migration, Accessible Archives will meet Level AA conformance in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and 2.1.

• A modern, mobile-responsive platform: The History Commons platform adapts seamlessly to various smartphones, tablets, desktops, and all browsers.

• Unprecedented discoverability: Our advanced search features, including NEAR operators, wildcard truncation, and keyword in context, will transform discoverability for Accessible Archives content, which is hand corrected for accuracy.

• Community features: Your users will be able to create lists, share, and upload content.

• Unified cross-search: Accessible Archives content will be seamlessly cross-searched alongside other collections hosted on the History Commons platform, expanding research possibilities and bringing diverse historical sources together.

Sounds great, what’s my timeline?

We’re ready when you are. All of your collections are now available to you on the History Commons platform. Your collections will also remain fully accessible on the current Accessible Archives platform through August 30.

You have until August 30th to complete the applicable migration steps in this document.  After August 30th proxied links to the www.accessible.com site will no longer reach the expected destination.

I’m ready to make the move. What do I need to do?

Please complete these steps to finalize your move to History Commons:

1. If you use EZproxy, install the History Commons EZproxy stanza 

2. Link your database menus to History Commons and update your A to Z Database List with the History Commons URLs for Accessible Archives Modules

3. Update and maintain your IP ranges at theIPregistry.org 

4. Request access to the Customer Portal via this form.

5. Download updated MARC packages for each of your Accessible Archives modules from the Customer Portal. 

6. Ask your discovery services provider to load your MARC records. Please know we are also working with them to expedite the process. See our Discovery Services page for complete information about the services that support Accessible Archives and History Commons collections. 

7. Explore your Accessible Archives collections, now called North American Collections, on History Commons.

Are my Accessible Archives legacy statistics in the Customer Portal?

The statistics from your usage on www.accessible.com will be available in the Customer Portal in September 2024. 

Until then, your COUNTER statistics for Accessible Archives usage on accessible.com will be available via the Accessible Archives statistics portal. We will continue to use the same COUNTER vendor, Scholarly iQ, through August 30. Coherent Digital will provide two years (2022, 2023 and January-August 2024) of archived usage stats from the accessible.com platform in accordance with COUNTER-compliant obligations.

After August 30, 2024, traffic to www.accessible.com is automatically redirected to history-commons.net, and usage will be captured on the History Commons platform. Coherent Digital provides COUNTER 5 usage reports through SUSHI and through the Customer Portal.

When you begin to use your Accessible Archives collections on History Commons, you will see History Commons usage reflected in your Customer Portal.  

In September 2024, your Accessible Archives statistics portal will be retired and you will see both legacy usage from accessible.com and new usage from History Commons in your Customer Portal. Statistics will be clearly tagged by platform,   “Accessible Archives” for legacy platform usage, and “History Commons” for all usage captured on the new platform.  

Wait, tell me more about the Customer Portal.

The Coherent Digital Customer Portal will provide you with access to your entitlements, MARC records, and usage data.

Okay, and my MARC records are in the portal?

Yes. We have provided updated MARC records for each Accessible Archives module in your Customer Portal, including the appropriate History Commons URL for each MARC record.

If you do not update your existing installed MARC records from Accessible Archives, the URLs in your installed MARC records will redirect to the History Commons home page on August 30.

Is there training available on the Customer Portal?

Yes.

Schedule Customer Portal training for your library here: Booking link

You’ll learn how to:

• access and navigate the portal 

• access Entitlements

• manage and download COUNTER usage reports 

• access and download MARC records 

• manage Account Settings

What about training on History Commons?

Yes. 

Schedule History Commons Onboarding training for your library here: Booking link

You’ll learn how to:

• locate your Accessible Archives collections on History Commons

• search and navigate content on History Commons 

create a User Account, curate and share Lists, and Follow content on History Commons

How does authentication work in History Commons? 

• History Commons uses five frictionless protocols for remote user authentication. 

• If you are already authenticated using TCP/IP authentication, we’ve preloaded your existing IP ranges into our system. 

• Please update and maintain your IP ranges at theIPregistry.org. More about why we use this workflow here. 

• You may also install the History Commons EZproxy stanza now and maintain the Accessible Archives stanza until August 30.

Will Accessible Archives customer access and prelog links, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and EZProxy stanza remain live on the Accessible Archives platform?  Will public libraries with barcodes and usernames/passwords still be available?

Yes, until August 30 when www.accessible.com URLs will redirect to history-commons.net. If you have changes, please contact Bob Lester and update your IP ranges at theIPregistry.org. More about why we use this workflow here.

Will permanent access and subscription purchase options still be available?

Yes

Will the current Accessible annual maintenance fee and subscription rates remain in effect in 2024?

Yes 

Will Accessible Archives licenses and license addenda remain in effect?

Yes. The former Accessible Archives licenses are transferable and will carry over to Coherent Digital. If you would like to update to a Coherent Digital license, please contact us.

What if I have other questions?

Please reach out. We’re here for you.

support@coherentdigital.net  for Accessible Archives migration support.

Bob Lester for Accessible Archives usage data and entitlements.

Fatme Makki for billing and invoicing matters.

Heather Dray for custom resource training and migration updates.

Yoomna Rahim for Customer Portal assistance.