JISC

Start date: 1 August 2002

End date: 31 July 2004

Funding programme: Focus on Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR) programme

Project website: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/htf/

JISC theme(s): Information environment

Introduction

Since 1997 the Fitzwilliam Museum has been working to create, and provide access to, a unified electronic database of object records and images for the collections in the care of its five curatorial departments:

• antiquities
• applied arts
• coins and medals
• illuminated and music manuscripts, and rare printed books
• paintings, drawings and prints

In 1999, the Museum received funding from Re:source (The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries) for the retrospective accessioning of prints and coins and the creation of complete records for all paintings. By January 2001 nearly 56,000 records were held electronically, although not yet all on a single database.  By January 2002, in excess of 60,000 records were held centrally on ‘Adlib Museum’ – the chosen software system for the Fitzwilliam Museum’s unified object catalogue. Many of the 60,000 records have associated images. The Online Public Access Catalogue, which provides web based access to the Adlib catalogue, was made available via the Museum’s website in February 2002. 

During 2001–2002 approximately 20,000 objects were packed for storage in preparation for a major building extension to the Museum during 2002-2003.  Many digital photographs of decanted objects were taken during this period. 

In parallel to the documentation work described, the Museum is developing A Museum for All, an electronic public information resource offering enhanced interpretation of a selection of key objects. This project complements the Documentation and JISC-FAIR projects. It will offer the user additional information, providing context and creating links between a selection of 300 objects over time, by themes, iconography, artists, materials and methods.  It will encourage exploration of the collections and offer education and enjoyment both remotely and within the Museum when the project is complete in 2004. 

The Joint Information Steering Committee’s Focus on Access to Information Resources programme offers the opportunity to further enhance access to the Museum’s electronic object catalogue.  Metadata (information about data generally, and information about objects in the Museum context specifically) for 100,000 Museum objects will be made available for ‘harvesting’, by the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS), through the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).  In addition, two specific databases – Corpus of Early Mediaeval Coins Finds (EMC) and Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles (SCBI) – will be made available for OAI harvesting by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS). 

The project, in line with the FAIR programmes objectives, will pilot and provide public access to information about selected Fitzwilliam Museum objects.  This information will also be available in conjunction with other collections data held or harvested by the AHDS and ADS.

Aims and Objectives

The JISC-FAIR ‘Harvesting the Fitzwilliam’ project (JISC-HTF) aims to prepare digital records and, provide access to their metadata through the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) and Archaeological Data Service (ADS). Harvesting by AHDS and ADS will be implemented using OAI-PMH.

The project’s main objectives are:

• The preparation of digital records by the Fitzwilliam Museum in order that their metadata can be made available via the Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), and possibly other protocols;
• The establishment of an OAI compliant data provider service(s) by the Fitzwilliam Museum for access by AHDS/ADS;
• The establishment of an OAI compliant data harvester(s) by the Art and Humanities Data Service and Archaeological Data Service as ‘service provider(s)’.

Related Project Outcomes

It is expected that records’ metadata prepared for this project will also be made available to CIMI, and through the Fitzwilliam Museum’s online public access catalogue. 

The experience of defining and establishing such a service will provide expertise and experience to the project team, and the JISC-FAIR programme, in the use of number of technologies and standards within the Museum context, namely: ADLIB/OAI,  Spectrum, Spectrum-XML, OAI-PMH and Dublin Core.

Related Projects

This project has strategic and operational relationships with:

• the JISC FAIR programme,
• AHDS/ADS on-going projects, and
• the Fitzwilliam Museum’s ongoing ‘Documentation’ and ‘A Museum for All’ projects.

Overall Approach

The project aims to increase access to the Fitzwilliam Museum’s electronic catalogue of objects through partnership with the Art and Humanities Data Service (AHDS), the Archaeological Data Service (ADS), and the University of Cambridge.  The overall approach is that:

• The Fitzwilliam Museum will prepare the records and systems for metadata harvesting;
• The AHDS/ADS will harvest records and make them available publicly via their website(s);
• The University of Cambridge will continue their support of this (and other) Fitzwilliam Museum project(s) by providing staffing and Information Technology infrastructure; and
• JISC, AHDS, ADS, and The University of Cambridge and the Fitzwilliam Museum will work together to establish, promote and disseminate information about the project.

Project Management will be carried out by the Fitzwilliam Museum in accordance with the JISC IE project management protocol.  Technically the project enhances current infrastructure, enhances current software systems, and will comply with the JISC Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) Standards and Guidelines.  The DNER Standards and Guidelines include references to interoperability standards relevant to the HTF project such as SPECTRUM and Open Archives Initiative – Metadata Harvesting Protocol (OAI-PMH).  Scalability will be monitored during the development of the project to gain an understanding of how the service can be scaled as the amount of information provided, and usage, increases. 

From the projects perspective as a ‘data-provider’ our targeted clients are initially:

• the harvester organisation (AHDS in this case)
• an academic audience, and
• a general audience.

AHDS/ADS will be an active member of the project consortium and therefore communication will be on-going.   Feedback from the academic audience will be sought by carrying out 'peer review' involving academics from departments within the University of Cambridge as a representative group.  Feedback from the general audience will be encouraged through one-to-one feedback and feedback forms provided at the point of web service(s). 

Sustainability is addressed through both the AHDS/ADS and Fitzwilliam Museum’s commitment to continuing to provide, and improve the service, after successful completion of the project.  In the current funding climate we are constantly concerned about the sustainability of our work.  This is addressed by the ‘twin-headed’ policy of progress by project, where innovation is the aim, and by continuous improvements in operational areas, such as:  curatorial, teaching, public interest, and access. 

Overall, we are eager to move ahead, whilst being careful to make steady progress - building our projects with careful, well-supported steps, of lasting value, supports this aim.

Project Consortium

The Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) and Archaeological Data Service (ADS) will harvest the OAI metadata resulting from this project, for exposure through their website. 

The University of Cambridge has been the major partner in our Documentation database projects to date.  Since 1997, the University has provided the Museum’s local area network, hardware and software.  It also supports the salaries of museum staff involved in these projects.  The University’s commitment to a rolling programme of computer upgrades is currently at £20,000 per annum.  At the completion of this project the Fitzwilliam Museum hopes that salary support for a Documentation Manager and a second Computer Officer will be taken on by the University.

The partners have agreed to implement the project in accordance with this plan.  A consortium agreement, required contracts and licencing documents will be developed in support of the project.