Bridging the ALM Divide

An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions

Dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Director of Research and CollectionsPerian Sully, Collection Information Manager & Web Programs Strategist

The Magnes, Berkeley, CA

Presented at the American Association of Museums Annual Conference, Philadelphia, May 3, 2009

Magnes: A Collecting History

Founded in 1962

Wide range of collecting areas, including – •Jews of the American West•global Jewish Diaspora•Jews in “exotic” locations – China, North Africa, India•ceremonial objects•fine and decorative arts•music•rare books•cultural ephemera•historical documents

Three major collecting departments -•Western Jewish History Center: 500 archival collections•Blumenthal Rare Book and Manuscript Library - ~10,000 items•Permanent Museum Collection - ~15,000 items

Challenges of Hybrid Institutions

AccessCatering to a Diversified User Community

Research Across Standards

CultureMulticultural Aspects

Bridging Textual, Documental and Material Cultures

LanguageMultilingualism and the Levels of Access

Script, Transliteration, Translation

Whose Vision? One Vision!Cultural Models & Database Structure

Learning from One Another, Learning Together (The “Philosophy” of ALM Integration)

Extending Museum ModelsExtending Archive ModelsExtending Library Models

Extending Museum Models

•Authorship, Creatorship and “Parties”•Authors and co-authors•Creators and co-creators•Donors

•Accession Numbering•Tracking Movement•Locations•Containers

Extending Archive ModelsVarying Notions of “Collection”

•Facilities•Donations•Collecting Areas•Intellectual Organization of Materials

Extending Library Models

•Why MARC Still Matters•Circulation and Research

Integrating ALM

•Time – Dates and Periods•Subjects – Local and Global•Synonyms and Preferred Terms•Meta Collection

Managing Institutional Change

•Professional Standards•Global Perspectives•Interoperability of Staff Functions

– Workflow as Ping-pong

Technological Details

•System used: IDEA@ALM on MS-SQL database•Databanks•Templates •Managing Standards: EAD, MARC, ISAD •Multilingual capabilities with Unicode support•Synonym Dictionaries•Global Searches and Queries•Flexibility•Compliancy with many standards and languagesfor information sharing.

System Structure:Databanks

A databank is a virtual database into which records may be sorted and stored.

Magnes IDEA@ALM Database

ArchiveDatabank

LibraryDatabank

ExhibitionsDatabank

AdministrativeDatabank

LibraryDatabankMuseumDatabank

System Structure:Templates

The templates are organizational structures in which specified fields are displayed.

ArchiveDatabank

LibraryDatabank

MuseumDatabank

AdministrativeDatabank

Collection

Series

Sub-Series

Document

Photo

Rare Book

Manuscript

Object Individuals

Image

Location

Valuation

Condition

Ketubbah

System Structure:Templates

System Structure:Templates

System Structure:Managing Standards

Metadata Standards Applied to Magnes Installation:•EAD•MARC•ISAD

Scope and Content(Archive) EAD: <scopecontent>

MARC: 520

ISAD: 3.3.1

Description(Museum)

Abstract(Library)

System Structure:Mastering Multilingual Capabilities

•Unicode•Synonyms•Phonetic searches•Translations•Transliterations

Technological Structure:Searches

•Search across all databanks, templates, and fields•Narrow searches to specific fields, databanks, and

templates•Boolean, fuzzy, exact, phonetic searches•Synonym and preferred-term searches•Multilingual searches

Technological Structure:Flexibility

Power Users may modify: • Fields• Databanks• Templates• Layouts and structures• Which fields are displayed on internet portal

Big Picture – How We Got Here

• Evaluated our information management needs• Received support from the Executive Director and

Board• Interviewed staff & analyzed staff workflow• Worked with vendor to develop system based on

institutional needs• Determined which individual professional

processes could be rethought to support the whole• Created workflow within the system to support

information access

Struggles & What We’ve Learned

• Staff adoption has been slow, since we have been making changes along the way

• Confusion about how to use the system and adopting new practices

• Need for more, regular training to familiarize staff with system and methodology

• Took a lot longer than anticipated• Housekeeping of practices can be traumatizing

Next Steps

• Continue training staff on procedures• Analyze current records• Fine-tune magnesalm.org for public launch• Develop ongoing programs and system

modifications to enhance research

Thank you!!

Francesco Spagnolo: fspagnolo@magnes.org

Perian Sully: psully@magnes.org