Collections-level Description: A National Perspective

Susi Woodhouse, Senior Network AdviserNick Poole, ICT AdviserResource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries

Who are we…?

• Susi Woodhouse – Senior Network Adviser

• Nick Poole – ICT Adviser

Agenda

• Resource and CLDs

• Building from EnrichUK

• Cornucopia – cultural sector collections

• Cecilia – music collections map

• New directions

• Next steps

Resource and CLDs

• Fundamental basis for advocacy: the riches of the cultural sector reaching out to all

• An instrument to inform strategic planning locally, regionally and nationally

• Learning and Access

• Levering economic advantage

Resource and CLDs

• Publicity and promotion

• Collection management

• Workforce development

• Financial planning

EnrichUK

• Provides a mechanism across the programme to enable:

– Seamless, user-focused access to materials– resource discovery at project and programme

level of relevance to users– resource discovery across NOF projects and

other bodies of digital materials– resource discovery across NOF projects and

CLDs of “traditional” materials (books, papers, artefacts)

Building from EnrichUK• Largest body of digital materials available:

huge potential

• Cross-sectoral in nature (cultural, education, voluntary, health, leisure)

• Informs direction for:– Framework for the Future– Common Information Environment– Curriculum Online– Empowering the Learning Community– 24 Hour Museum

EnrichUK and F4F

• Digital Citizenship

• Moving Peoples Network from Project to Product– Exploring Sense of Place– Building Virtual Exhibitions– Learning Journeys– The books and reading/ICT interface

Cornucopia

• UK-wide database of collections

• 1884 basic records, over 2500 collections

• Four English regions remaining

• Great range and depth of information

Cornucopia

• Technology and terminology dated from before the RSLP schema – need to implement the lessons learned from the CD Focus

• Considering new technologies and approaches to service delivery

• Developing solutions for interoperability – enabling cross-searching of Cornucopia CLDs – 24 Hour Museum Metasearch pilot project

Cornucopia

• Incorporates data from the LASER survey of special library collections

• Deep-links to ARCHON database of archival collections

• Will link to subject portals (eg. Archaeology, Natural Sciences etc.)

• http://www.cornucopia.org.uk

Exemplar project - Cecilia

• High-level map of national music resources of international significance

• A starting point for users to explore further

• A key piece of the cultural sector jig-saw

• A focus for other music projects: Encore, Ensemble, MLO, RISM et al

• The foundation stone for IAML(UK & Irl) strategic planning

Cecilia – Scope of the project

• Cross domain: museums, libraries, archives, stately homes, churches, specialist societies, concert halls, choirs, orchestras...

• Cross sectoral: cultural, commercial, education, voluntary, health

• Stage one: 1500 collections from 500 institutions

• …the tip of the iceberg...

Cecilia – types of resources

• Printed and manuscript music

• recordings

• instruments and musical furniture

• archival materials

• papers, programmes, ephemera

• iconographical materials

Cecilia – Data gathering

• Format: RSLP schema for collection descriptions

• Information collated from:– questionnaire returns– re-use of existing data: e.g backstage,

A2A, CIMCIM (with permission!)– extrapolation from wider sources

Cecilia – Access to information

• Identifying what’s out there (already revealed previously unknown resources!)

• Online searchable database

• working copy available at http://www.cecilia-uk.org

• Data to be housed by PADS

Cecilia – Exploring potential

• How to reach a wider audience?

• How to maximise awareness of the resources?

• How to avoid unnecessary duplication of data through imaginative application of technology?

• Experimenting in partnership with Cornucopia...

Crossroads

• Crossroads – pilot project in the West Midlands

• Funded by Resource’s Cross-domainChallenge Fund

• Collections-level descriptions for museums, archives and libraries

Crossroads

• Developed by Orangeleaf Systems

• Open-source software – PHP & MySQL

• Real exemplar of the RSLP structure

• Need to take the lessons learned from these pilot projects and make use of them

• http://www.crossroads-wm.org.uk

New Directions

• Exploit the capital gained from these projects: learning what works and what doesn’t

• Identifying models for true cross-sectorality based around CLDs

• Developing stable and scalable systems to be implemented Nationally

New directions (cont.)

• A Google for collections

• A National service relying on distributed editorship of CLDs delivered to the user through a single conduit

• Opens up lots of other things:– Collections mapping tool for the National Trust– Access maps of resources in archives, libraries and

museums– Adult Learning and Basic Skills– Etc…

General issues• Need to ensure programme-level and

project level mesh consistently

• Both use and inform CLD Focus work

• Implications for RSLP schema and digital collections

• How to reach a view of collections strengths and audience levels (variety of orgs involved)

• Terminology, terminology, teminology

Next steps

• Collections-level Descriptions are seenas central to the networked, interoperable environment

• New issues arising from cross-sectorality, but lots of useful experience out there already

• Consultation and intelligence-gathering with key players

Contact

Susi Woodhouse - Senior Network AdviserNick Poole - ICT Adviser

Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Librarieshttp://www.resource.gov.ukhttp://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk

Tel: 020 7273 1444