[MassHistPres] looking for software

[Chris Clawson]

I have struggled with this issue, as well. I believe that the software 
you ultimately choose to explore and administer your database is of 
secondary importance to understanding what kind of metadata you wish to 
collect.

I presume you have a huge number of different kinds of items to catalog. 
You will need to produce metadata for each item. Each item will 
certainly need a unique identifying number, but will also need a 
description, and possibly other categories of information like dates, 
donors or collection sources, subject, item type, etc.. This is 
metadata. Spreadsheets, which may be produced in Microsoft Office or the 
great and free Open Office, can easily be used to produce a list of your 
items which may easily include all this information. Each row of the 
spreadsheet will list an actual item and each column will be a category 
of metadata to include.

For example, let's reserve the first column for unique ID numbers for 
our database (and name this column "ID"). Our next column may be called 
"item name". Additional columns might be "description", "date", "donor", 
etc.
Some of the additional fields will also describe a link to an image file 
of the item. Many of us are easily familiar enough with spreadsheets to 
get started on this. The spreadsheet list you create now may easily be 
imported to a database program of your choosing, later. Good software 
will also allow the export of your catalog to other programs, in case 
you ever wish to change your management software, in the future.

So, I suggest you first decide what kind of metadata you wish to produce 
for your collection. The more detail you collect, the more powerful your 
database will become. Creating all this also will take a proportionally 
larger amount of time and expense. An obvious example: Compare a 
database, that just includes each item's name and type, to a database 
which also includes a photo of each item. Including photos will be much 
more expensive and time consuming to produce, but it will be a far more 
interesting and useful database than one which only lists descriptions.

Will you also include images or links to outside files? Make a list of 
each detail about an item you wish to document and realize that each of 
these detail/category "questions" will need to be answered for each of 
your 1000s of items.

There are internationally recognized metadata standards for databases. I 
suggest you explore these and decide which one is the "best fit" for 
your group. "Omeka" is based on a metadata standard, named "Dublin 
Core". Some standards may be more suited to a library of books, as 
compared to a barrel full of antique locks and keys. Choose a popular 
standard best suited to your use. It is important to try and match a 
popular standard. Your database might then easily be accessed and 
indexed by other university database engines, around the world. Don't 
worry about finding an "exact fit" to your needs. You can always add 
additional categories, which fit your personal needs, to a database 
which otherwise conforms to a popular standard.

So, first decide what information to catalog. Learn about metadata 
standards (such as Dublin Core) and decide what best suits your needs. 
Go ahead and start the work, using a spreadsheet. Once you have defined 
your needs and goals, pick the software that is best for you. Some 
packages are designed for website presentation (such as Omeka), and 
others are more focused on in-house administration, in the same manner 
of a card catalog Dewey Decimal system would be.

I have installed and tried to use Omeka. The database is normally 
installed on a website. It works well, for what it does, and offers some 
exciting features. It works with industry standard methods and files 
(very important), and has a number of tools designed to quickly create 
web exhibits. Unfortunately, it didn't seem fun or easy to browse the 
main catalog, in order to discover stuff. It is a work in progress, so 
my complaints may be addressed and eliminated over time. Many folks in 
my group didn't understand how to use it and quickly lost interest. The 
required web and computer skills may also be more demanding than the 
talent available within small volunteer groups. No matter! I still have 
my spreadsheet source files!

I hope this long winded comment is useful. I will be watching this 
thread. I, also, am still hoping to find the perfect database management 
and presentation system. I am eager to learn what others in this group 
have experienced.

Chris Clawson
Museum of Our Industrial Heritage
http://industrialhistory.org


On 2/24/2015 9:07 AM, Olivia M wrote:
> Our historial commission has a private warehouse of artifacts that 
> need to be catalogued and documented... with volunteers.....a huge 
> collection that runs from telephone booth to signs and everything in 
> between.
>
> Do you have suggestions about software that would be appropriate, user 
> friendly but not expensive. Past Perfect has been suggested. Any 
> others out there?
>
> thanks for your help
>
> Olivia Mausel
> Holyoke Historical Commission
>
>
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