Museum Collections Management: Possibilities for Access and Use with Linked Data and Public-Facing Collections Management Systems
Carly Bogen completed a practicum at a museum where she worked on their collections management system, wrote grants, and assisted with strategic planning. She discusses how modern collection management systems can link objects and their associated data. However, much of this data is not publicly available due to issues like copyright and data sensitivity. Linked open data could help make more museum collection data accessible by standardizing its structure and linking it across institutions. However, barriers include a lack of resources and fears about data accuracy and control. Integrating linked open data with collection management software could help lower these barriers. A few museums have begun publishing linked open data to make their collections more discoverable and connectable with others.
Museum Collections Management: Possibilities for Access and Use with Linked Data and Public-Facing Collections Management Systems
- 1. Carly Bogen Practicum: Fall 2011 Museum Collections Management: Possibilities for Access and Use with Linked Data and Public-Facing Collections Management Systems
- 2. Work Site: What I Did: -CollectionSpace (CMS) development -Registrar (managing physical objects and their information) -Development (grant-writing) -Strategic Planning (five-year-plan)
- 3. Collections Management System (CMS) Instrument of physical and intellectual control over the objects in a museum Cataloging Loans Location Donor Sort of like a combination of a library catalog and a finding aid Modern versions create relationships between objects and procedures Other examples: The Museum System CollectiveAccess EmbARK ...etc
- 5. A museum CMS contains a wealth of information, much of which is not available to the public, such as donor information, conservation information, etc. Copyright issues Incomplete or imperfect data Data sensitivity Technology issues Often has to be done by exporting data to external applications such as Omeka or eMuseums
- 8. Linked open data can open up possibilities for staff, researchers, and the public to contextualize and use museum collections data.
- 9. What is Linked Open Data? Allows linkages between data sets from varying institutions and companies Structured data published in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) Published as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Can be used by anyone to create an Application Programming Interface (API)
- 10. Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/
- 11. Why should museums publish linked open data? Contextualize museum data Eliminate silos Encourage collaboration Maximize opportunities for public access and use
- 12. Roadblocks to Linked Open Data in Museums Lack of resources Fear of publishing inaccurate or incomplete data Fear losing control over data Fear losing visitors, unique place in market Many think it's "all or nothing"
- 13. Linked Open Data is not "All or Nothing". Every little bit helps: (http://inkdroid.org/journal/2010/06/04/the-5-stars-of-open-linked-data).
- 14. How can we make this happen? If we integrate linked open data publishing with museum collections management software, it would decrease barriers to implementation. New applications being created to help ease the process for cultural heritage institutions, such as FreeYourMetadata.org
- 17. Linked Open Data is still an emerging initiative, but a few examples in Cultural Heritage have begun. The British Museum has published their catalog in linked data format.
- 20. This allows websites such as CultureGrid to integrate and relate their collections with others.
- 22. Because the Museum is the lead institution on the CollectionSpace collections management system development project, it is in a unique position to promote linked museum data and connect it in a user-friendly manner with open-source CMS.