Bridging The ALM Divide - An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions
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Bridging the ALM Divide An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions Dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Director of Research and Collections Perian Sully, Collection Information Manager & Web Programs Strategist The Magnes, Berkeley, CA Presented at the American Association of Museums Annual Conference, Philadelphia, May 3, 2009
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This session presented a case study of how the Magnes is using new, innovative technology to make their archive, library, and museum information compatible in one centralized collection management system. This project is designed to facilitate research, sharing, and collection management by making all material types searchable and linkable to one another, while using shared metadata sets (eg. some of the Magnes’ museum fields are able to be exported to EAD and MARC; some MARC-enabled fields are also exportable into EAD. Many fields are also ISAD-compliant and the Magnes also used CDWA for some data-entry standards and Getty’s ULAN for the creators and artists).
Transcript of Bridging The ALM Divide - An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions
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locations – China, North Africa, India•ceremonial objects•fine and decorative arts•music•rare books•cultural ephemera•historical documents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
