Having the year in the accession number makes it easier for us to sort and group objects chronologically based on the year they came in to the collection. It was much more important before we could sort electronically but it does help us organize information in a human-readable fashion since there are plenty of other documents we use (including object labels) which are not electronic. Using the year in the number probably doesn't mean much to the average museum visitor but it is very helpful for staff.
Marla Misunas Collections Information Manager Collections Information and Access San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 415-357-4186 (voice) Check out SFMOMA Collections Online www.sfmoma.org __________________________________ Past President, Museum Computer Network http://www.mcn.edu -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bas Nederveen Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 1:52 AM To: 'mcn-l at mcn.edu' Subject: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers (Bas Nederveen) Dear all, Thank you so much for your reactions so far. The trinomial accession number appears to be widespread and apparently no-one seems to experience problems with it. Our major problem is not the numeric part of the accession number, which is a (sort of) trinomial number, but the overwhelming number of inconstant prefixes we have. This is why we want to get rid of as much meaning in our accession number as possible. The examples of trinomial accession numbers I have seen so far didn't have a prefix and therefore they may work for us. However, I noticed that most accession numbers contain a year (meaning). Is this a gesture towards users or is it a necessity? Kind regards, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] Namens mcn-l-request at mcn.edu Verzonden: donderdag 7 augustus 2008 21:00 Aan: mcn-l at mcn.edu Onderwerp: mcn-l Digest, Vol 35, Issue 7 Send mcn-l mailing list submissions to mcn-l at mcn.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to mcn-l-request at mcn.edu You can reach the person managing the list at mcn-l-owner at mcn.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of mcn-l digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Low-cost digitization rig (Cherry, Rich) 2. "meaningless" inventory numbers (Bas Nederveen) 3. Re: "meaningless" inventory numbers (Robert Mason) 4. RESPONSES: Low-cost digitization rig (Christopher J. Mackie) 5. Re: "meaningless" inventory numbers (Perian Sully) 6. Re: "meaningless" inventory numbers (Misunas, Marla) 7. Re: RESPONSES: Low-cost digitization rig (Perian Sully) 8. Position Annoucement - Collection Photographer, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Stein, Marty) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 12:12:15 -0700 From: "Cherry, Rich" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Low-cost digitization rig To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <2A6CDDE8F1CB5D428E7CA6014794A582014E31EE at scc-mail.skirball.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In my experience it's the upfront labor (including impact on existing staff) and long term labor and maintenance costs that prevent large scale digitization in both small, medium and large institutions, not the initial capital costs of the hardware and software. If Mellon funded an entry level position with the package then you would see a high level of interest. Rich Rich Cherry Director of Operations Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90049 Work: (310) 440-4777 Fax: (310) 440-4595 rcherry at skirball.org -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher J. Mackie Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 3:06 PM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] Low-cost digitization rig Hi all; I'm writing today on behalf of Mellon's IT funding program (not our Museums and Art Conservation Program, which is a different entity). We're looking at an opportunity to fund a different kind of digitization project, and I wonder if I could ask for your thoughts about its likely usefulness in the museum/cultural heritage communities? What we've got in mind is a digitization rig for small or medium-sized 2D digitization projects. The project would use off-the-shelf hardware and open source software, packaged carefully to be extremely easy to set up and use, even with no prior training. It would be able to handle almost any kind of 2D material up to a certain size (books, flat pages, images) non-destructively, would OCR the results, and would then deliver the documents as special, searchable PDFs that could reformat for any display devices (i.e., the text would 'flow' so that you could, e.g., read on your iPhone without having to scroll side-to-side or flip pages). Let me emphasize that it would be built to be operated by people with no digitization training whatsoever: staff, volunteers, students, etc. The system would be easy to set up and self-calibrating; it would use pairs of consumer-grade cameras ($250-500) from any of several manufacturers. The software would run on any standard PC or laptop (Mac/Win/Lin), support one-button operation, provide automatic page de-warping, include automatic OCR, allow computer-assisted addition of metadata, and otherwise be set up to produce professional quality output even when used by complete amateurs. We anticipate the final cost of all hardware and software (including the cameras and PC or laptop to run everything), to be sub-$2,000. As you can infer from the above, this is not a system for digitizing fine art at very high resolution, but it is a curation-quality digitization system for text, whether diaries or handbills in a historical society or books in a museum library. Our goal is to bring digitization to the "Long Tail" of smaller collections out there in the world that are of potential cultural significance but where the likely audience is not large enough to attract the big, for-profit digitizers--or where the value or fragility is such that the works could not leave the institution to be scanned. Think of it as "Google Books for the Rest of Us...." :-) I'd really appreciate the thoughts of those of you who know museums and cultural heritage organizations well, on three separable questions: 1. Does anyone know of any other project, currently available or in development, that might deliver the same functionality and price-performance? 2. If we build this, will institutions come? Are there many institutions out there with collections (including museum libraries) that their leaders would like to digitize, and which have labor (in some form) available to do the work, but for which the capital costs, expertise requirements, or other challenges of the current technology are the limiting factor? 3. If institutions do take advantage of this service, will they make the resulting content freely available? (I'm not looking to rehash barriers like copyright, but rather to solicit information/thoughts that bear on the *willingness* of museums and cultural heritage organizations to publish such content freely.) Two logistical matters. First, may I ask that replies go to the list unless you really need confidentiality? I'd like to get as many different views as possible, including responses-to-responses. Second, please note that I'm soliciting feedback on these questions, not proposals or offers to be a test site. If we do move forward, I think we may indeed want to invite institutions to become test sites, but if so I'll be back in touch via the MCN list: I'm not prepared to start a wait-list today. (I'm also asking these questions of our friends in the library and arts communities, so apologies in advance for any redundancy in your inboxes :-) Thanks! --Chris Christopher J. Mackie Associate Program Officer Research in Information Technology The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation -- 282 Alexander Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540 -- 140 E. 62nd St. New York, NY 10065 -- +1 609.924.9424 (office: GMT - 5:00) +1 609.933.1877 (mobile) +1 646.274.6351 (fax) cjmackie06 @ AIM cjmackie5 @ Yahoo -- http://rit.mellon.org; http://www.mellon.org _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 12:54:28 +0200 From: Bas Nederveen <[email protected]> Subject: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers To: "'mcn-l at mcn.edu'" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <1480E15259241746B6F724AAB8F2B1497043180FD5 at AMSTERDAM1-12.rijksmuseum.in tra> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" "meaningless" inventory numbers The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is exploring the possibility to introduce "meaningless" inventory numbers, i.e. plain numbers without any references to additional information, such as for example purchase date, department or object status. We would therefore like to get in contact with institutions which have experience in this matter. Since this matter relates to database management it seemed appropriate to try MCN-L. We are particularly interested in the following: How do you catalogue related items such as services or (photo's in) photo albums? These item usually have a group record and separate object records. How do you record relations between them? Are you facing difficulties in daily practice if information can no longer be deduced from the inventory number? For example in your warehouse, while documenting etc. Are related object still easy to find (without immediate access to a computer)? What do your inventory numbers look like? Are you following any (inter)national standards? Sincerely, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent De Meesterwerken/ The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum is dagelijks open van 9-18 uur. Op vrijdag van 9-20.30 uur met speciaal avondprogramma. Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 am - 6 pm. On Friday from 9 am to 8.30 pm. www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl> _______________________________________ Rijksmuseum Postbus/PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam Nederland / The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 6747000 F +31 (0) 20 6747001 www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/> ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:04:21 -0400 From: "Robert Mason" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers To: "'mcn-l at mcn.edu'" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <489AC8A4.6BCF.0070.0 at rom.on.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Here at the Royal Ontario Museum we have a system in which we have the year as the first element, then a batch number, and then the unique identifier, sometimes with a further number for multiple component objects. The IT dept, however, likes to use the unique identifier from the database, which is just a number, so the curatorial types are always talking about the "Accession number" and the IT people are always talking about the "RID#". Curatorial resists this, however, as people actually remember what the numbers mean, for instance I know that accession number 988.117.32 would be an artefact from excavations in Fustat, Egypt - all the 988.117. numbers are. Similarly people can remember specific objects and their histories from the accession number. So personally, I'd have to say meaningful numbers are a good thing. On the database, however, any link to the main museum image bank, the web, etc is done through IT's RID#, so in a way, we have the both of both worlds, but as lo ng as you make sure you have a meaningful number that is unique for each object, it should work without a meaningless number. Robert Mason _____________________________________________ Dr. Robert B. J. Mason (E-mail: robm at rom.on.ca; fax (416) 586-5877) Dept of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, CANADA Associate Professor, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, 4 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1C1, CANADA web: http://www.utoronto.ca/nmc/mason/mason.html >>> Bas Nederveen <B.Nederveen at rijksmuseum.nl> 8/7/2008 6:54 AM >>> "meaningless" inventory numbers The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is exploring the possibility to introduce "meaningless" inventory numbers, i.e. plain numbers without any references to additional information, such as for example purchase date, department or object status. We would therefore like to get in contact with institutions which have experience in this matter. Since this matter relates to database management it seemed appropriate to try MCN-L. We are particularly interested in the following: How do you catalogue related items such as services or (photo's in) photo albums? These item usually have a group record and separate object records. How do you record relations between them? Are you facing difficulties in daily practice if information can no longer be deduced from the inventory number? For example in your warehouse, while documenting etc. Are related object still easy to find (without immediate access to a computer)? What do your inventory numbers look like? Are you following any (inter)national standards? Sincerely, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent De Meesterwerken/ The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum is dagelijks open van 9-18 uur. Op vrijdag van 9-20.30 uur met speciaal avondprogramma. Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 am - 6 pm. On Friday from 9 am to 8.30 pm. www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl ( http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ )> _______________________________________ Rijksmuseum Postbus/PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam Nederland / The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 6747000 F +31 (0) 20 6747001 www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 11:12:46 -0400 From: "Christopher J. Mackie" <[email protected]> Subject: [MCN-L] RESPONSES: Low-cost digitization rig To: <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <71FF3FD0C999544099745B34E94485161F9828 at ny2exch08.office.share.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Thanks to everyone who responded to my query yesterday about digitization rigs. The responses were extremely helpful, and I am most grateful. There were so many responses on and offline, some of which include several back-and-forths, that I'm not going to attempt a summary of the questions and concerns; instead, let me respond by providing what I hope will be a clearer and more comprehensive explanation of what we're talking about (with my apologies for not making all of it clearer the first time :-). 1) The focus of the project is on the software, not the hardware. We're using off-the-shelf, consumer-grade hardware so that we don't have to think about hardware at all; the whole reason to create the software now, as some of you noted, is that the hardware has reached the point where it's no longer the bottleneck. The sub-$2,000 configuration we describe will produce 600dpi output, for example--and runs fast enough that the page-turner, not the imaging hardware, is the throughput bottleneck. (For those who really want to know, it's a two-camera, stereo rig that shoots both pages of a book at once and uses the stereo plus some other tricks to dewarp and align text.) 2) The software will be, literally, one-button. Anyone who can turn a page and press a button will be able to use it--no training, no special skills required. Someone will have to assemble the rig (we anticipate a one-sheet instruction set, with room for many pictures :-), but once it's up, it will keep itself in calibration and perform all of the ancillary tasks of digitizing--dewarping, aligning, etc.--without user input. It will auto-structure the text, but there will also be opportunities for user interaction. 3) The PDF output is the only *final* output we have discussed, and it's required for the 'flowing' of text for reader device independence. But the system preserves interim formats as well, including the original scanned TIFFs and the interim hOCR format, so getting data into other formats will be relatively straightforward. 4) The metadata to be input will be at the discretion of the institution doing the digitizing, and can be applied at the level of the individual image or collection of images (e.g., the book, or even a collection of books). 5) The software is SOA and also scriptable, so it can easily be decomposed and extended (e.g., it will use the OCRopus open-source OCR system, which can itself be implemented as a set of services). We're going to build a seamless wrapper for institutions that don't have the tech capacity to do their own customization, but that won't prevent institutions that have the chops from doing whatever they want with it. As you might suspect from this, by the way, the software will be web-based and multi-user; this means that a larger institution could set up several volunteer-operated rigs, all feeding one staffer who's doing QA and adding/reviewing metadata. 6) The system will include automated open archiving online (i.e., not at institutional expense) for both the raw images and the finished outputs (perhaps also the interim formats), with a stable, permanent URL; institutions that want to host locally will be able to do that instead/in addition. To respond in particular to Joe's point about Internet Archive; we've talked with IA already. I don't want to speak for them, but it's safe to say that we've taken their views into account and I think they'll be very pleased by what's delivered, should we move forward. 7) The model we're thinking about is a "Long Tail" model; while it's entirely possible that even 'big' digitizers might benefit from the software, our primary purpose is to extend the capability to small institutions with small collections. In the model we envision, these smaller institutions won't be devoting staff--or anyone--full-time to the project, but will be digitizing using opportunistic labor (volunteers, interns, min-wage teens, etc.) as available. Staff will most likely only engage in small quantities, for QA and metadata purposes. This model trades time for money: it removes the labor bottleneck by allowing an institution to pay nearly nothing as long as it's willing to wait a while for the output, instead of getting results quickly but paying a lot for them. In short, we're envisioning a very different kind of 'scalability' than the one(s) that many of you mentioned. 8) Several people inquired about the flowing PDFs. The technology will be fully open-source, so it will also be usable by projects other than this. 9) One thing nobody mentioned, because I didn't mention it in the first place: because this project will use OCRopus, it has the potential to be used for texts in many languages (including math and chem formulae), not just English. How quickly and well that capability emerges will depend on how big and multi-lingual a community forms around OCRopus, but at least, unlike many commercial OCR products, there's hope.... As for the questions I asked originally, here's what I think I heard: 1) Setting aside the concerns about whether/how the technology will work, many of you feel that this is likely to be quite valuable. Of those who do, most of you think that small institutions will be willing to publish most of the materials openly, provided they are supported (with hosting, etc.) in doing so. 2) Quite a few of you remain skeptical that even a low-cost rig will enable small institutions to digitize, because you believe that labor remains the true bottleneck. I'd be interested to know if that remains true even in the context of the "Long Tail" model I described in (7), above, or whether you were thinking implicitly about a 'big' digitization project on fixed timelines. Again, thanks *very* much to everyone who took the trouble to respond. We're still quite a ways from a final decision, so if you think of anything else you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to get in touch. All best, --Chris Christopher J. Mackie Associate Program Officer Research in Information Technology The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation -- 282 Alexander Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540 -- 140 E. 62nd St. New York, NY 10065 -- +1 609.924.9424 (office: GMT - 5:00) +1 609.933.1877 (mobile) +1 646.274.6351 (fax) cjmackie06 @ AIM cjmackie5 @ Yahoo -- http://rit.mellon.org; http://www.mellon.org ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 09:07:35 -0700 From: "Perian Sully" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <AD775DE5635C2042BF1DCB7EED36A83B471D95 at jlm-net.jlm.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I second Robert. One of the beautiful things about accession numbers is that they are meaningful and useful at a glance. We also use the classic trinomial accession number method, with some extra complications (if you're interested, I'd be happy to forward the descriptions of each part of the number. It can get quite complex for us, but it works). For things like photos in photo albums, if the photo comes out of the album for separate display, that one photograph might become something like 2008.12.3a <- the "a" refers to the photograph itself, because it is a part of the whole album. For artist portfolios, which have sheets which are designed to come out and be displayed separately, the number could be as large as 2008.12.4.1-15 (for a portfolio with 13 prints, plus a colophon and a hard cover - 15 pieces total) In our CMS, we have fields which pertain to Other Numbers. These could be temporary numbers, numbers the donor assigned to the piece before we received it, incorrect numbers (there might be paperwork floating around referencing the incorrect number), etc. I would caution against labeling the works themselves with a "meaningless" number. We were just discussing this ourselves, and realized that while the RID# is unique to each record, there is the chance that if we ever migrate the system again. As each software package and database structure is different, a new database may not be able to import the RID# of the previous system. There are some cases in which we will use the RID# - temporary loans for exhibition, for example - but for our collections, we'll stick with the standard. Hope this helps! Perian Sully Collection Information and New Media Coordinator Judah L. Magnes Museum -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robert Mason Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 7:04 AM To: 'mcn-l at mcn.edu' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers Here at the Royal Ontario Museum we have a system in which we have the year as the first element, then a batch number, and then the unique identifier, sometimes with a further number for multiple component objects. The IT dept, however, likes to use the unique identifier from the database, which is just a number, so the curatorial types are always talking about the "Accession number" and the IT people are always talking about the "RID#". Curatorial resists this, however, as people actually remember what the numbers mean, for instance I know that accession number 988.117.32 would be an artefact from excavations in Fustat, Egypt - all the 988.117. numbers are. Similarly people can remember specific objects and their histories from the accession number. So personally, I'd have to say meaningful numbers are a good thing. On the database, however, any link to the main museum image bank, the web, etc is done through IT's RID#, so in a way, we have the both of both worlds, but as lo ng as you make sure you have a meaningful number that is unique for each object, it should work without a meaningless number. Robert Mason _____________________________________________ Dr. Robert B. J. Mason (E-mail: robm at rom.on.ca; fax (416) 586-5877) Dept of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, CANADA Associate Professor, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, 4 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1C1, CANADA web: http://www.utoronto.ca/nmc/mason/mason.html >>> Bas Nederveen <B.Nederveen at rijksmuseum.nl> 8/7/2008 6:54 AM >>> "meaningless" inventory numbers The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is exploring the possibility to introduce "meaningless" inventory numbers, i.e. plain numbers without any references to additional information, such as for example purchase date, department or object status. We would therefore like to get in contact with institutions which have experience in this matter. Since this matter relates to database management it seemed appropriate to try MCN-L. We are particularly interested in the following: How do you catalogue related items such as services or (photo's in) photo albums? These item usually have a group record and separate object records. How do you record relations between them? Are you facing difficulties in daily practice if information can no longer be deduced from the inventory number? For example in your warehouse, while documenting etc. Are related object still easy to find (without immediate access to a computer)? What do your inventory numbers look like? Are you following any (inter)national standards? Sincerely, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent De Meesterwerken/ The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum is dagelijks open van 9-18 uur. Op vrijdag van 9-20.30 uur met speciaal avondprogramma. Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 am - 6 pm. On Friday from 9 am to 8.30 pm. www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl ( http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ )> _______________________________________ Rijksmuseum Postbus/PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam Nederland / The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 6747000 F +31 (0) 20 6747001 www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 09:24:34 -0700 From: "Misunas, Marla" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <45058F8692E66640955EC9882C7C48430434C680 at monet.SFMOMA.ORG> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" SFMOMA uses a similar typical system but we no longer use the "batch" method which had--for us--formerly referred to a group of objects given by a single donor. We have local variations that group objects that need to be shown together like a multi-part sculpture (we use a letter series: 2000.19.A-F) or prints in a portfolio, which can be taken apart and shown separately (2000.20.1-99). Our digital asset management system displays the accession number for each object, but it links behind the scenes based on the CMS' internal ID number. That way the Media Library doesn't get confused if something changes--it always links back to EmbARK's internal ID number. For those of us who don't think in binary code, we like seeing the "human readable" number, which is meaningful to us; and we let the machine deal with the internal numbers. This seems to be universal throughout our staff, whether they are curators, info management, or IT--we all use the same vocabulary. Sounds like we are on the same page with you guys, Robert. Marla Misunas Collections Information Manager Collections Information and Access San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 415-357-4186 (voice) Check out SFMOMA Collections Online www.sfmoma.org __________________________________ Past President, Museum Computer Network http://www.mcn.edu -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robert Mason Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 7:04 AM To: 'mcn-l at mcn.edu' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers Here at the Royal Ontario Museum we have a system in which we have the year as the first element, then a batch number, and then the unique identifier, sometimes with a further number for multiple component objects. The IT dept, however, likes to use the unique identifier from the database, which is just a number, so the curatorial types are always talking about the "Accession number" and the IT people are always talking about the "RID#". Curatorial resists this, however, as people actually remember what the numbers mean, for instance I know that accession number 988.117.32 would be an artefact from excavations in Fustat, Egypt - all the 988.117. numbers are. Similarly people can remember specific objects and their histories from the accession number. So personally, I'd have to say meaningful numbers are a good thing. On the database, however, any link to the main museum image bank, the web, etc is done through IT's RID#, so in a way, we have the both of both worlds, but as lo ng as you make sure you have a meaningful number that is unique for each object, it should work without a meaningless number. Robert Mason _____________________________________________ Dr. Robert B. J. Mason (E-mail: robm at rom.on.ca; fax (416) 586-5877) Dept of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, CANADA Associate Professor, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, 4 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1C1, CANADA web: http://www.utoronto.ca/nmc/mason/mason.html >>> Bas Nederveen <B.Nederveen at rijksmuseum.nl> 8/7/2008 6:54 AM >>> "meaningless" inventory numbers The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is exploring the possibility to introduce "meaningless" inventory numbers, i.e. plain numbers without any references to additional information, such as for example purchase date, department or object status. We would therefore like to get in contact with institutions which have experience in this matter. Since this matter relates to database management it seemed appropriate to try MCN-L. We are particularly interested in the following: How do you catalogue related items such as services or (photo's in) photo albums? These item usually have a group record and separate object records. How do you record relations between them? Are you facing difficulties in daily practice if information can no longer be deduced from the inventory number? For example in your warehouse, while documenting etc. Are related object still easy to find (without immediate access to a computer)? What do your inventory numbers look like? Are you following any (inter)national standards? Sincerely, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent De Meesterwerken/ The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum is dagelijks open van 9-18 uur. Op vrijdag van 9-20.30 uur met speciaal avondprogramma. Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 am - 6 pm. On Friday from 9 am to 8.30 pm. www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl ( http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ )> _______________________________________ Rijksmuseum Postbus/PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam Nederland / The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 6747000 F +31 (0) 20 6747001 www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The information contained in this electronic mail message (including any attachments) is confidential information that may be covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC Sections 2510-2521, intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above, and may be privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify me and delete the original message. Thank you ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 09:30:25 -0700 From: "Perian Sully" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] RESPONSES: Low-cost digitization rig To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Message-ID: <AD775DE5635C2042BF1DCB7EED36A83B471D9C at jlm-net.jlm.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear Chris: Fantastic discussion. Thank you. Small and mid-sized institutions have three major problems: 1) staff 2) funding and 3) expertise. Many of them are definitely feeling the pressure to digitize and image their collections, and some strides have certainly been made, but some of the common questions which come up have to do with the setup, equipment, and standards. Having a reliable, easy-to-use, and flexible system would certainly be of interest to many smaller historical institutions. We at the Magnes recently received a donation which will allow us to purchase the BookSnap system for our rare book collection: http://booksnap.atiz.com/ The rig itself is $1909.60, with all the shipping and tax and software, and it requires two Canon cameras (we opted for two Canon Powershot G9 cameras for $449 each) and a Windows OS. The Windows requirement is a bit of a problem, since the lab it is going into will be running iMacs (since it's a public lab, we're not going to use virtualization software on those machines, as far as I know). Have you considered putting the question to the RCAAM or SAA listservs? I suspect that many folks on those listservs would be willing to provide "lively" feedback about what their specific needs might be, especially since it's likely that they'll be the ones manning the rig. I'd be happy to forward to RCAAM, if you would like. Best, Perian Sully Collection Information Manager Judah L. Magnes Museum -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher J. Mackie Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 8:13 AM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] RESPONSES: Low-cost digitization rig Thanks to everyone who responded to my query yesterday about digitization rigs. The responses were extremely helpful, and I am most grateful. There were so many responses on and offline, some of which include several back-and-forths, that I'm not going to attempt a summary of the questions and concerns; instead, let me respond by providing what I hope will be a clearer and more comprehensive explanation of what we're talking about (with my apologies for not making all of it clearer the first time :-). 1) The focus of the project is on the software, not the hardware. We're using off-the-shelf, consumer-grade hardware so that we don't have to think about hardware at all; the whole reason to create the software now, as some of you noted, is that the hardware has reached the point where it's no longer the bottleneck. The sub-$2,000 configuration we describe will produce 600dpi output, for example--and runs fast enough that the page-turner, not the imaging hardware, is the throughput bottleneck. (For those who really want to know, it's a two-camera, stereo rig that shoots both pages of a book at once and uses the stereo plus some other tricks to dewarp and align text.) 2) The software will be, literally, one-button. Anyone who can turn a page and press a button will be able to use it--no training, no special skills required. Someone will have to assemble the rig (we anticipate a one-sheet instruction set, with room for many pictures :-), but once it's up, it will keep itself in calibration and perform all of the ancillary tasks of digitizing--dewarping, aligning, etc.--without user input. It will auto-structure the text, but there will also be opportunities for user interaction. 3) The PDF output is the only *final* output we have discussed, and it's required for the 'flowing' of text for reader device independence. But the system preserves interim formats as well, including the original scanned TIFFs and the interim hOCR format, so getting data into other formats will be relatively straightforward. 4) The metadata to be input will be at the discretion of the institution doing the digitizing, and can be applied at the level of the individual image or collection of images (e.g., the book, or even a collection of books). 5) The software is SOA and also scriptable, so it can easily be decomposed and extended (e.g., it will use the OCRopus open-source OCR system, which can itself be implemented as a set of services). We're going to build a seamless wrapper for institutions that don't have the tech capacity to do their own customization, but that won't prevent institutions that have the chops from doing whatever they want with it. As you might suspect from this, by the way, the software will be web-based and multi-user; this means that a larger institution could set up several volunteer-operated rigs, all feeding one staffer who's doing QA and adding/reviewing metadata. 6) The system will include automated open archiving online (i.e., not at institutional expense) for both the raw images and the finished outputs (perhaps also the interim formats), with a stable, permanent URL; institutions that want to host locally will be able to do that instead/in addition. To respond in particular to Joe's point about Internet Archive; we've talked with IA already. I don't want to speak for them, but it's safe to say that we've taken their views into account and I think they'll be very pleased by what's delivered, should we move forward. 7) The model we're thinking about is a "Long Tail" model; while it's entirely possible that even 'big' digitizers might benefit from the software, our primary purpose is to extend the capability to small institutions with small collections. In the model we envision, these smaller institutions won't be devoting staff--or anyone--full-time to the project, but will be digitizing using opportunistic labor (volunteers, interns, min-wage teens, etc.) as available. Staff will most likely only engage in small quantities, for QA and metadata purposes. This model trades time for money: it removes the labor bottleneck by allowing an institution to pay nearly nothing as long as it's willing to wait a while for the output, instead of getting results quickly but paying a lot for them. In short, we're envisioning a very different kind of 'scalability' than the one(s) that many of you mentioned. 8) Several people inquired about the flowing PDFs. The technology will be fully open-source, so it will also be usable by projects other than this. 9) One thing nobody mentioned, because I didn't mention it in the first place: because this project will use OCRopus, it has the potential to be used for texts in many languages (including math and chem formulae), not just English. How quickly and well that capability emerges will depend on how big and multi-lingual a community forms around OCRopus, but at least, unlike many commercial OCR products, there's hope.... As for the questions I asked originally, here's what I think I heard: 1) Setting aside the concerns about whether/how the technology will work, many of you feel that this is likely to be quite valuable. Of those who do, most of you think that small institutions will be willing to publish most of the materials openly, provided they are supported (with hosting, etc.) in doing so. 2) Quite a few of you remain skeptical that even a low-cost rig will enable small institutions to digitize, because you believe that labor remains the true bottleneck. I'd be interested to know if that remains true even in the context of the "Long Tail" model I described in (7), above, or whether you were thinking implicitly about a 'big' digitization project on fixed timelines. Again, thanks *very* much to everyone who took the trouble to respond. We're still quite a ways from a final decision, so if you think of anything else you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to get in touch. All best, --Chris Christopher J. Mackie Associate Program Officer Research in Information Technology The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation -- 282 Alexander Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540 -- 140 E. 62nd St. New York, NY 10065 -- +1 609.924.9424 (office: GMT - 5:00) +1 609.933.1877 (mobile) +1 646.274.6351 (fax) cjmackie06 @ AIM cjmackie5 @ Yahoo -- http://rit.mellon.org; http://www.mellon.org _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 11:44:37 -0500 From: "Stein, Marty" <[email protected]> Subject: [MCN-L] Position Annoucement - Collection Photographer, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu>, <RCAAM at SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU>, <VRA-L at listserv.uark.edu> Message-ID: <128692D10E069046A3158305E82EDE1C012F0BC5 at mfah-exmail.mfah.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello, Please accept my apologies for cross-posting. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has a new position opening for a Collection Photographer. If you would like more information, please contact me at mstein at mfah.org or go to our website: www.mfah.org/employment. Thank you and have a wonderful day! Marty Stein Marcia (Marty) Stein Photographic and Imaging Services Manager The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston PO Box 6826 Houston, Texas 77265-6826 Phone: (713) 639-7525 Fax: (713) 639-7557 Email: mstein at mfah.org Position Available Title: Collection Photographer Reports To: Photographic and Imaging Services Manager Date Needed: September 2008 Pay Type: Salaried, Nonexempt, Full Time, 35 hours/week Salary: Commensurate with Experience and Education Benefits: Group Medical and Dental Insurance, Life and Long Term Disability Insurance, Pension Plan, Credit Union, Flexible Compensation Plan, Paid Time Off, Reserve Time Off, and Holiday Pay Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Work Location: Beck Building, a non-smoking facility Responsibilities: * Photograph objects from the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, including Bayou Bend and Rienzi * Photograph, as needed, objects on loan to the MFAH for exhibition and research * Photograph installations of exhibitions at MFAH, Bayou Bend, Rienzi and Glassell School of Art * Photograph interior and exterior views of MFAH architecture * Photograph, as needed, after-hours MFAH events * Coordinate photography schedule with Chief Registrar, Photographic and Imaging Services Manager, and Assistant Registrar * Consult with museum staff including curators, registrars, preparators, conservators, and designers to gather information to determine how objects should be photographed for specific projects * Coordinate movement of artworks with preparators and moves objects within photography studio * Stay apprised of the applications for new technology and advise supervisor of the applications for new technology * Other tasks as assigned Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:: * Must posses a broad knowledge of film-based and digital photographic processes, methods and new technologies * Must be able to work with a variety of museum staff and function within a team-oriented department * Must have command of a variety of professional cameras and equipment including large format, medium format, 35mm, copystand, electronic strobe, continuous lighting, and diffusers * Must be able to maintain photographic equipment and lenses in accordance with accepted policies of the department * Must have the ability to judge and correct digital proofs, color, contrast, and density when compared to original objects * Must have knowledge of specialized software applications (Photoshop, Bridge, Capture One, Eye One) used to manipulate, print and save images * Must have the ability to use cross platform computers, operating systems and applications * Must be able to organize time and schedules efficiently in the absence of direct supervision * Must posses knowledge of museum and art handling procedures Education and Experience: * BFA in photography and knowledge of art history preferred * A combination of experience gathered from technical photography school study, apprenticeship and on-the-job training * Minimum of five years work experience in photography * Experience utilizing professional digital camera systems * Demonstrated ability to discriminate and adjust fine tonal variations and color fidelity of digital reproductions against original objects * A portfolio of work required How to Apply: Send resume to Human Resources, Job 022, P.O. Box 6826, Houston TX 77265-6826; Fax 713-639-7597 or email: jobs at mfah.org or apply at www.mfah.org/employment Marcia (Marty) Stein Photographic Services Manager The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston PO Box 6826 Houston, Texas 77265-6826 Phone: (713) 639-7525 Fax: (713) 639-7557 Email: mstein at mfah.org ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ mcn-l mailing list mcn-l at mcn.edu http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l End of mcn-l Digest, Vol 35, Issue 7 ************************************ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The information contained in this electronic mail message (including any attachments) is confidential information that may be covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC Sections 2510-2521, intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above, and may be privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify me and delete the original message. Thank you
