Integration of Collections Management and Digital Preservation
Mark Evans – History Associates
Curate Gear 2016, January 2016 Project Participants
Client:
• Trustees of Reservations
Project Team:
• History Associates
• Preservica Key Objectives
• Bring more of the ARC’s resources to an even wider audience than we currently reach through online access to our museum collections catalog
• Offer enhanced internal access to institutional records, to aid staff in their roles as stewards and to contribute to future restoration efforts.
• Use technology to preserve the records that document an incredible past so that they can inform and inspire far into the future. Primary Goals
Implement a Digital Asset Management System to:
Protect and share digital assets internally • Interoperability/ Integration with PastPerfect and other systems • Implement OAIS responsibilities
Provide Online Collections Catalog • Significant step up from PastPefect public interface • Advance search and faceted browsing • Rendering of content • GPS and mapping features Desired Approach
Other Information Management Systems
Collections Management System Proposed Solution Preservica Core • Provide OAIS • Support Internal users • Accommodate multiple sources
Preservica Enhancements • Ingest PastPerfect data
Universal Access • Provide Public Access • Enhanced capabilities Key Challenges and Considerations
Metadata Model
• Past Perfect manages multiple catalogs with varying semantics
• Consider Metadata from other sources – some not yet fully defined
• Sufficient to support common access across all assets
Automate as much as possible
• Little to no internal IT support
Past perfect has no API
• Export pathways are very limited – may require custom scripts
• New SIP definition Proposed Approach
• Export content as XML where possible
• Facilitates transformation to a Preservica SIP
• Define a simple Past Perfect Package
• Guided by what we can export and what we need.
• Develop a custom package processor
• Transforms what can be exported into a Preservica SIP
• Can be incorporated into existing ingest workflows Package Definition
Defines the relationship between items and digital objects – Created by a custom PastPerfect report Descriptive Metadata created by SHA1 PastPerfect checksums for Reports each digital object Export / Ingest Workflow Example Sample PastPerfect Object Record Preservation / Technical Metadata
PastPerfect Metadata Early Lessons
Data Quality
• Never underestimate the size of this task
• Garbage in – Garbage out
Data Consistency
• Digital object naming – Significant effort in renaming files
Keep it simple
• User buy in / adoption Next Steps
Export and Ingest targeted PastPerfect content
Development of Universal access features
Explore potential use by other institutions Questions or Coffee?
Contacts: Mark Evans: [email protected] Sarah Hayes: [email protected]
URLS History Associates: http://www.historyassociates.com The Trustees: http://www.thetrustees.org Preservica: http://www.preservica.com