Data Workflow: Using EMu with IMu to Publish Collections Online Rowena Craick Collection Systems & Documentation Registrar

Transcription

1 Data Workflow: Using EMu with IMu to Publish Collections Online Rowena Craick Collection Systems & Documentation Registrar 1 st Middle Eastern EMu User Conference, Doha 2012

2 Data into EMu - Data Out to Web

3 EMu Context at Arts Centre Melbourne EMu is used by the Collections, Research and Exhibitions Department. Team of 17 staff responsible for 2 Collections; 1. State Collection of the Performing Arts (510,000) 2. Art Collection (1000 artworks) Our department uses EMu to centrally manage almost all our documentation and operations

4 Arts Centre Melbourne s visitors Melbourne s major Performing Arts Venues attract over 1.7 million visitors annually FY Million website visitors FY attracted 653,000 visitors to Exhibitions featuring the Collections

5 Performance Venues: Hamer Hall Concert Hall for symphonic, acoustic or amplified performances

6 Venues: State Theatre Venue for Australia s major Ballet, Dance and Opera Companies

7 Venues: Sidney Myer Music Bowl Outdoor performance venue for music concerts, festivals and orchestral concerts Other venues include The Playhouse, the Fairfax Studio, Gallery I, and The Spiegel Tent

8 Collections: Public Art Collection 1000 works including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, textiles Foundation Collection Works by major Australian Artists Many commissions for specific locations in foyers and grounds Contemporary Collection Collecting focus on performance Forward Surge, 1976 Sculpture by Inge KING Public Art Collection

9 Collections: Performing Arts Collection Performing Arts Museum established 1975 Collecting Subject areas: Circus, Dance, Music, Opera, Theatre Object Types: Costumes 3-Dimensional Objects Archives Photographs Artworks / Designs Programmes Audio Visual materials Costume worn by actor Geoffrey Rush in "Exit the King Gift of Malthouse Theatre, 2011 Performing Arts Collection

10 Phase 1: Data Capture Collection Documentation before EMu: 1970s 1990s - manual location systems - manual documentation and lists, non-standard EMu implemented in focus on cataloguing certain Object Types - highly detailed Catalogue Records for limited range of objects - no electronic data about the majority of the collection Very narrow focus of information limited EMu s functionality EMu Data was not comprehensive so staff continued to use old manual systems.

11 Collection Store Relocation Rapid collection growth, storage reached full-capacity Collection Store to be relocated when Hamer Hall site redeveloped Relocation posed serious risk to unregistered objects through loss of context / information How can we effectively track uncatalogued material during the store relocation? EMu Cataloguing Project was established to register all items that were not catalogued electronically and prepare collection to relocate. Seven Assistant Registrars working full time for 18 months.

12 Changed Documentation Strategy Consistent minimum data-set about everything is preferable to highly detailed records about a narrow range of objects Less information about more objects instead of more information about less objects Project designed for fast and efficient data entry workflow

13 Collection Management User Group Project designed for fast and efficient data-entry workflow Limited Modules, Tabs and Fields

14 Minimum Data-set Collection Management Records contain a consistent minimum data-set for all items: Accession Lot > link to Donor Records and Source Registration Number Classification Hierarchy (Classification-Type-Name of item) Title (Summary) Brief Description Keywords Materials Dimensions Condition Location, Item Barcode and Holder Barcodes (using MVWise) Internal Reference Image

15 Maintain efficient EMu workflow Project Results: Total of 117,000 Catalogue record in EMu Aim to maintain the efficient workflow to keep-up with new acquisition rate without the Cataloguing team Post Project: Potential acquisitions listed by Curators in import template (Object, Description, Significance) Same data-sheet is used and enhanced at each step of the acquisition process; Acquisition proposal spread sheet Accession & Registration data added Imported to EMu as a Skeleton Record

16 Phase 2: Data Enhancement in EMu Comprehensive coverage of objects in Catalogue Module made EMu more efficient for all other collection management tasks! Improved effectiveness of EMu enabled registration and administration processes to be streamlined; pre-acquisition proposals and accessioning receipting Loan Agreements Locations / object movements (Wi-Fi Barcode Scanners) condition reporting / conservation treatment Exhibition list management Touring / Crate List management

17 Exhibition list

18 Ongoing Strategy: Enhancing records Basic Skeleton Record imported into Catalogue Record enhanced during exhibitions, loans, research Targeted collections Published online Basic Records enhanced during day to day operations when objects are accessed for loans, exhibitions, conservation. Compiling Exhibition content lists in EMu gives a focus to record enhancement Enhancing our records in batches when they are being displayed, add quality photographs, add detailed research and labels Aim to centralise all object data in EMu

19 Improving Access to our data Demonstrate results of the Cataloguing Project : developed Intranet site publishing (almost) all Catalogue data internally, using the new IMu. Intranet site helped our department consider a shift in approach to web publishing Should we publish basic Collection Management records on the web or only the comprehensive enhanced records? Researcher expectation that Collections are discoverable online. Findings of British Study [1] : Users prefer to initially discover basics about a collection online, with detailed follow up to find the precise information they need for their research. [1] Keene, Suzanne Collections for People: Museums Stored Collections as a Public Resource. Published by UCL Institute of Archaeology, 2008.

20 Phase 3 : IMu Website Implementation Our existing Website needed better integration between general Collection- Level information and detailed object-level records. KE Software s new product IMu would solve this using the Narratives Module. IMu Implementation Phase 1 ( ) 1.1 Intranet 1.2 Public Website 1.3 Replace the original intranet with the improved website version 1.4 Rebrand both sites refreshed style sheet IMu Implementation Phase 2 (2012) 2.1 Redesign the Browse Narratives Template for Exhibition Mini-sites 2.2 Mobile Version of Browse Narrative Template for self-guided tour

21 Using EMu & IMu to publish web content Collections now using IMu to publish most of our web content: Collection Level Descriptions Catalogue Records Exhibition Mini-sites Self-Guided Mobile Tour General Departmental Information Arts Centre Melbourne s Web CMS Umbraco (Not in EMu) Collections Department Homepage Exhibitions Homepage Research Service Enquiry Form Event Listings Subscriber enews

22 IMu Site Structure Browse Collections Search Collections My Collections Collecting Areas / Subject Narrative Hierarchy Simple Search Advanced Search Module Search Saved Sets of User Favourites Collection Level Descriptions (IRN based urls) Link View Results: List View Lightbox View Details View

23 Browse Collections: Narrative Hierarchy Collections Home Performing Arts Collection Public Art Collection Music Dance Opera Theatre Circus Bands & Performers Venues & Events Ballet Classical Opera Drama Nick Cave Anne Fraser link to Cat Records The Beatles

24 Browse Narratives Structured Hierarchy of records Click through Narratives to explore the collection See Also suggested Narratives

25 In Narratives A single Narrative Record can appear under multiple Sections of the Narrative Hierarchy

26 Collection Level Description A Collection Level Narrative can be very brief

27 Collection Level Description or more detailed

28 Search Collections : Multiple Query Tabs Simple Search box appears on header of every page

29 Search Results List View (Default)

30 Search Results Lightbox View

31 Search Results Details View Item History & Subjects fields are not part of a basic Collection Management Record Subjects marked as hyperlinks to facilitate browsing

32 Homepage Arts Centre s main web CMS contains our Department s homepage used as a launch-pad to anywhere in the Narratives hierarchy. Quick Links - useful for raising profile of topical items than may be low in the hierarchy

33 Exhibition Micro-sites Micro-sites in IMu use the Browse Narratives page template Can be object & image rich or contain lots of text depending on the exhibition Web Banner visually unifies the Exhibition content within the Narrative hierarchy

34 New Browse Narratives Page Structure Web Banner Current Narrative s Multimedia (audio, video or image) Current Narratives Text (Expandable) Associated Object & Image Associated Object & Image Associated Object & Image Sub Narratives & Preview Image (Crop) Sub Narratives & Preview Image (Crop) Associated Narratives Associated Narratives Associated Narratives

35 Flexible Segments 1. Optional segments create some flexibility and variability to page appearance; Web Multimedia (Banner) 2. Current Narrative s Multimedia 3. Current Narrative 4. Associated Objects 5. Sub-Narrative (not shown here) 6. Associated Narratives 4. 6.

36 Part 4 : Mobile Optimised Website Hamer Hall reopened July 2012 after 2 year redevelopment Art Collection to be displayed in foyers with several major new commissions Developed a concept plan to create a Self-Guided Tour of the Artworks Initially idea to create a Smartphone Application; solution chosen was a mobileoptimised website instead

37 Operating environment Foyers not a normal gallery space, lends itself to a self-guided tour Cater for unplanned visits Need to provide visitors with more context about the Collections on display

38 Mobile Tour uses Narrative Hierarchy Work 1 (Narrative + MM) Work 1 s Catalogue Record Level 5 Map (Sub-Narrative) Related Object (Associated Narrative)

39 Navigation in the Mobile Site

40 Structure of the Mobile Tour Flexible: Content can be arranged by Level / Location, Work, or Genre maps and links to artworks nearby help visitors discover what is around them Different designs are sometimes required for optimal viewing on mobile / desktop

41 Accessing the mobile site Single QR code on Marketing to redirect people to a very long url QR code provides web analytics - providing insights into how people are accessing the site

42 Supplementary Multimedia Audio file + preview image Video + still image in the Sub-Narrative view Store multiple formats of videos to get the appropriate web encoding used by the browser Store version or an image or web banner that is more suitable for viewing in Mobile Store a more appropriate crop default auto crop is excellent for standardising images but is not always appropriate

43

44 Conclusion: key lessons learnt Capture data once and consistently Streamline your documentation practices By centralising basic data in EMu, records will enhanced during normal operations Build flexibility into the web design Use a graphic designer to refine concepts thoroughly before webpage build Test all browsers thoroughly. Not all web browsers display data consistently!