Ziflow - ArchivesSpace Integration and Automation

Common Integration Use Cases Between Ziflow and ArchivesSpace

Ziflow is a creative proofing and approval platform that helps teams review, comment on, and approve visual and marketing content faster. ArchivesSpace is an archival management system used by libraries, museums, universities, and cultural institutions to describe, preserve, and provide access to archival collections. Together, they can support controlled review of digital assets, improve content governance, and streamline collaboration between creative, archival, and public-facing teams.

1. Archival asset review and approval before publication

Data flow: ArchivesSpace to Ziflow

When digitized photographs, manuscripts, exhibit graphics, or scanned records are prepared for publication, ArchivesSpace can provide the source metadata and asset references while Ziflow manages the review cycle. Archivists, curators, and communications teams can review the digital files in Ziflow, add comments, and approve them before they are published to a website, exhibit platform, or repository.

Business value: Reduces publication errors, ensures archival accuracy, and creates a controlled approval process for externally shared collection materials.

2. Metadata validation for public-facing digital collections

Data flow: Bi-directional

ArchivesSpace can supply descriptive metadata such as collection title, creator, date, and rights information to Ziflow for review alongside the asset. Reviewers can verify that captions, labels, and contextual text match the archival record. Approved corrections can then be pushed back to ArchivesSpace to keep the system of record aligned with the final published content.

Business value: Improves metadata quality, reduces manual rework, and helps ensure consistency between archival records and published materials.

3. Exhibit content review workflow for museums and cultural institutions

Data flow: ArchivesSpace to Ziflow

For digital or physical exhibits, ArchivesSpace can act as the source for selected collection items and related descriptions. Ziflow can route exhibit panels, image treatments, labels, and promotional graphics to curators, educators, legal reviewers, and marketing teams for approval. This is especially useful when exhibit content must be reviewed by multiple stakeholders before launch.

Business value: Speeds exhibit production, improves cross-functional coordination, and reduces the risk of incorrect or unapproved exhibit content.

4. Rights and usage approval for digitized archival materials

Data flow: ArchivesSpace to Ziflow

ArchivesSpace often contains rights statements, access restrictions, and donor or licensing notes. That information can be passed into Ziflow so reviewers understand whether an image, document, or recording can be used in a campaign, exhibit, or educational resource. Ziflow then becomes the approval layer for confirming that the intended use complies with the archival restrictions.

Business value: Helps prevent unauthorized use of restricted assets, supports compliance, and reduces legal and reputational risk.

5. Review of digitization derivatives and quality control outputs

Data flow: ArchivesSpace to Ziflow

When archives teams digitize materials, they often create derivative files such as cropped images, OCR outputs, thumbnails, or web-ready PDFs. These derivatives can be routed into Ziflow for quality review by archivists or digitization staff to confirm readability, image quality, and completeness before the files are linked back to the archival record.

Business value: Improves digitization quality, catches defects earlier, and ensures that public access copies meet institutional standards.

6. Approval of collection promotion and outreach content

Data flow: ArchivesSpace to Ziflow

ArchivesSpace can provide the source collection references for newsletters, social media posts, blog graphics, and event materials. Ziflow can manage the review and approval of these outreach assets by communications, development, and archival staff. This ensures that promotional content accurately represents the collection and uses approved imagery and language.

Business value: Accelerates outreach campaigns, improves brand consistency, and ensures collection-related marketing is accurate and compliant.

7. Final approval status sync back to archival records

Data flow: Ziflow to ArchivesSpace

Once a file is approved in Ziflow, the approval status, reviewer notes, version number, and final asset link can be written back to ArchivesSpace as part of the collection or digital object record. This creates a clear audit trail showing which version was approved and when, which is valuable for institutional governance and future reference.

Business value: Strengthens recordkeeping, improves traceability, and gives archivists a reliable link between the approved asset and the archival description.

8. Collaborative review for grant-funded digitization and publishing projects

Data flow: Bi-directional

For grant-funded projects that involve digitization, description, and public release of archival materials, ArchivesSpace can track the collection items and project context while Ziflow manages the review of deliverables such as finding aid graphics, digital exhibit assets, and publication-ready files. Project managers can use Ziflow approval outcomes to update ArchivesSpace with completion status and final deliverable references.

Business value: Improves project visibility, supports grant reporting, and helps teams deliver digitization initiatives on time with documented approvals.