Building a Gateway to Early European Cultural Heritage

Resources in Australia

Europa Inventa

Dr Toby Burrows

ARC Network for Early European Research

University of Western Australia

ActivitiesActivities Collaborative Grant Programs Symposia International conferences Co-sponsored events Postgraduate/ECR Digital agenda

ARC Network for Early European ARC Network for Early European Research (NEER)Research (NEER)

Funded 2004-2009: Australian Research Council Networks Programme Enhance the scale and focus of research Encourage more inter-disciplinary approaches Facilitate collaborative & innovative approaches to planning & undertaking research

300+ individual participants; university & industry partners Programmes for Australian participants

Symposia, conferences, events Collaborative grant programmes Postgraduate/ECR programmes

International linkages

NEER’s Digital StrategyNEER’s Digital Strategy

“The full use of innovative digital technologies, both to facilitate and promote communication between researchers and to develop and provide shared research resources”

(ARC Research Network application, 2004)

Digital InitiativesDigital Initiatives

Communication Web site, e-mail lists Collaborative working tools and

workspaces: Confluence

Shared resources Commercial databases: ProQuest (EEBO),

Brepols (5 databases) Skills and training: Brepols internships Electronic publication: Parergon / Project

Muse Research repository: PioNEER Heritage collections: Europa Inventa

NEER ConfluenceNEER Confluence Collaborative software Commercial Wiki product (Atlassian) Hosted at University of W.A.

Communication, discussion, annotation, collaborative writing

News and blogs Personal spaces & group spaces Searchable

Security and access controls Web-based Plug-ins

PioNEERPioNEER

NEER’s digital repository of research outputs Representative and retrospective Beyond “publications” – other types of outputs

and data

DigiTool software Hosted by UWA Library Available later in 2007

Links to institutional repositories Self-archiving + central deposit

Europa InventaEuropa Inventa Envisaged in the original NEER application to the ARC A gateway to all Early European items in Australian

collections Main focus would be on unique items and those with

specific associations Link from descriptive catalogue records to digitized

images held on the servers of the holding institutions, rather than storing copies of images centrally

The possibility of commissioning some digitization work in these institutions was also envisaged

Some basic questionsSome basic questions

How many Early European manuscripts, artworks, etc. are there in Australian collections?

Where are they held? Where are they listed and described? Have they been digitized? Have they been studied? What has been written about them?

Some (preliminary) answersSome (preliminary) answers How many? 250 manuscripts in Sinclair catalogue, 200

paintings in NGV and 300 in NLA. Thousands of items overall.

Where? All types of cultural institutions: galleries, museums, libraries; large and small.

Listings? Library catalogues, gallery & museum databases, printed catalogues (Sinclair, Manion & Vines)

Digitized? Some, but proportion unknown. Studied and written about? Yes, but scattered.

Some scenarios: no.1Some scenarios: no.1

An interested researcher browses the Early European items in Europa Inventa.

She has a choice of pathways, including subject-matter, type of object, period, place of origin, holding institution (and combinations of these).

For each object, she can examine a brief description and inspect a thumbnail image if available.

She can follow a link to a larger-scale image on the server of the holding institution.

She may also choose to read more a detailed description of an object, where available, and to follow links to other Web information and to writings about a particular object.

Some scenarios: no. 2Some scenarios: no. 2

A NEER participant searches Europa Inventa and calls up the record for a specific medieval manuscript which she is interested in.

She reviews the existing in-depth description from Sinclair's manuscript catalogue and chooses to add her own detailed annotation - logging in to do so.

She also reviews the existing bibliography for this object and logs in to add a pointer to her own paper in the PioNEER repository.

Some scenarios: no. 3Some scenarios: no. 3 A European researcher browses and searches

Europa Inventa in order to identify artworks in Australia relevant to his current research project.

He identifies several items which would add significantly to his existing work, which has so far been based solely on European collections.

He notes their Australian locations and begins to prepare an application for funding to travel to Australia to view the originals. 

Functional desiderataFunctional desiderata

Browse by subject, name, type of object, holding institution, place of origin (and by combinations of these characteristics)

Search the database and browse the results using various facets

Link to more detailed descriptions Link to works about the objects Link to digitized versions Add information about the objects

Processes for buildingProcesses for building

Import catalogue records from libraries, galleries, museums, archives

Normalize these records into a consistent structure Apply a consistent “names and concepts” framework Make the database available for searching and browsing Make the database available for annotation by researchers Augment and enrich the records with links to more detailed

descriptions and to secondary works

Scope of the serviceScope of the service Which forms of material should be included?

Focus initially is on unique objects (especially artworks, manuscripts) Could expand later to cover incunabula, early printed books, early

printed maps, prints and engravings

What date range should be covered? The initial cut-off date is 1800 Could expand later to cover 1801-1850

Any limits on the geographical origin of material? Focus on material relating to or produced in Western Europe

Current statusCurrent status

Record formats and standards: CDWA Lite for artworks, MODS for textual materials

Artworks database has been set up Gathering records from gallery/museum/library

catalogues (in a variety of formats) About to set up database for manuscripts and

texts (collaboration with IVRLA)

Sample records: 1 (NGV)Sample records: 1 (NGV)

Giovanni Battista TIEPOLO Italian 1696–1770 worked in Venice (1740s), Würzburg 1751–53, Venice 1753–62, Madrid 1762–70 The banquet of Cleopatra (1743–44) oil on canvas250.3 x 357.0 cm

Felton Bequest, 1933

Sample records: 2 (NGA)Sample records: 2 (NGA)

Peter Paul RUBENS

Germany (Westphalia) 1577 – Belgium (Flanders) 1640

also worked in Spain

Self-portrait 1623 oil on canvas 91.3 (h) x 70.8 (w) cm

original canvas 94.0 (h) x 70.8 (w) cm

sight 83.5 (h) x 61.8 (w) cm

frame 112 (h) x 89 (w) x 12 (d) cm

not signed, not dated Purchased 1983 NGA 1983.53

Provenance• the artist until August 1628; • to Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580-1637), Belgentier,

near Toulon, and Aix-en-Provence, June 1630

Sample records: 3 (SLV)Sample records: 3 (SLV)

Author: Boethius, d. 524.

Title: [De musica of Boethius : and Musica enchiriadis: an abridgment. ms. on vellum].

Notes: [late 10th cent.].

Indexed in: Sinclair (1969) p. 381-382 Manion & Vines 35

Status: Available

Location:

RARES Call Number: 091 B63

Sample records: 4 (NLA)Sample records: 4 (NLA)Author: Cook, James, 1728-1779.

Title: Journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, 1768-1771 [manuscript].

Online Resources: http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms1

Publisher: 1768-1771.

Description: 753 p. fol.

Summary: Holograph journal of the voyage of H.M.S. Endeavour during which Cook discovered Eastern Australia and circumnavigated New Zealand…

Biography/History: Explorer.

Notes: Manuscript reference no. : NLA MS 1.

Subjects: Cook, James, 1728-1779 --Archives. Endeavour (Ship). Explorers -- Great Britain --Archives. Voyages around the world. Scurvy. Australia -- Discovery and exploration. New Zealand -- Discovery and exploration.

Occupation: Explorers.

Other Authors: Hutchinson, John. Wallis, Samuel, 1728-1795.

Sample records: 5 (SLNSW)Sample records: 5 (SLNSW)Title : Sir Joseph Banks - Papers, 1767-1822. Includes some papers of Sarah Sophia Banks, 1766,

1773-1774, 1779; and Dorothea, Lady Banks, 1817-1822. Creator : Banks, Joseph, Sir, 1743-1820Date of Work :1767-1822Type of Material : ManuscriptsPhysical Description : Collection comprises

Textual records Drawings Textual records - (printed)

Language : English French Latin SpanishAdmin / Biog Notes : Joseph Banks was born in London on 13 February 1743. He was educated

at Harrow and Eton Schools and Oxford University. In 1767 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1778 he was elected President of the Royal Society, a position which he held until his death in 1820.

Next stepsNext steps

Export records in XML Load to software environment based on

MuseumFinland Develop and apply ontologies for describing Early

European objects, concepts, places and events Establish framework for contributors to annotate and

expand “People of Early Europe” service? A service for Europe?

Further information

• NEER Web site http://www.neer.arts.uwa.edu.au/

• Confluence http://confluence.arts.uwa.edu.au/

• Toby Burrows tburrows@library.uwa.edu.au