[MCN-L] Fw: Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration competition
== Deadline Approaching: 2008 Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration The deadline for nominations for the 2008 Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration (MATC Awards) is April 14, 2008. The MATC Awards consist of up to ten $50,000 or $100,000 prizes, which a receiving institution can use in a variety of ways to continue its technology leadership. The awards honor not-for-profit institutions that have demonstrated exemplary leadership in the development of open source software for one or more of the constituencies served by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: the arts and humanities in higher education; research libraries, museums; performing arts organizations; and conservation biology. Awardees are selected by a distinguished committee of technology leaders, including Mitchell Baker, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, John Seely Brown, Vint Cerf, John Gage, and Tim O?Reilly. Previous winners include higher education institutions, libraries, and museums from North America, Europe, and Asia. An online nomination form and more information may be found at http://matc.mellon.org. The nominations are public: the community is invited to visit the site and comment.
[MCN-L] new media installation art
Fellow Listservers, As part of my graduate thesis I am exploring the registration of installation art, especially in reference to work with new media content (video, digital/computational components, etc.) My major concern is how to document the artist's intent so that subsequent re-installations remain true to their original ideas even when certain physical and spatial variables change. To that end, I was wondering if any of you would be willing to share anecdotes about how your museum has dealt with the registration of new media installation art. Do you use written artist questionnaires to document the artist's intent? Interviews? On-site, video-taped walk-throughs? etc. Thanks in advance and please feel free to forward this on to colleagues. Mark Schlemmer mbschlemmer at yahoo.com MA Candidate in Museum Professions Registration and Collections Management, May 2008 Seton Hall University Organizer RC-AAM Emerging Voices Forum at the Marketplace of Ideas, 2008 AAM Annual Meeting, Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
[MCN-L] user needs and APIs
Seth -- the ideal of providing many different layers of access to a museum collection isn't really a new one. it's what museums have done, all along: from access to a reading room, or storage facility for a scholar, to an exhibition with interpretation (that a visitor can 'use' or not), to a tour tailored for a particular age group. we've been doing very similar things on the web to -- trying to understand the strengths of various genres and, when a particular goal can be stated, tailoring an experience for that user community. when we created the AMICO Library, for example, we positioned it as 'raw material' for teaching and research... and consciously called it a 'library' (rather than a museum or an exhibition) to emphasize this. the same can be said of the early (1970s and 80s) national inventory projects in Canada or in France; documenting collections provided information about them, without interpretive context. Other projects have focused on providing interpretive content witha particular communications goal: For example, take a look at last years, Best of the Web exhibition winner: Rembrandt-Caravaggio Webspecial from the Rijksmuseum, The Netherlands at http://www.rembrandt-caravaggio.nl?index_en.htm there's some tension in the discourse -- if you take a very long view -- between investing in good content (documentation in text, image and multimedia), and investing in good applications (that present that content in meaningful ways). what's interesting is that the needs of user communities have changed (developed, become more sophisticated over time). The ArtsConnectEd work comes to mind here... where the target moved from providing teachers lesson plans, to providing tools to create lesson plans, to working with teachers to identify evolving needs). an api is one more way to provide a particular kind of access to a part of the content that museums make available online. i don't expect there will be a single museum api, but many, offering lower-level access to the various kinds of information museums distribute (you only have to look at the IMA dashboard to see the breadth of possible content there!). but relying on that level of access alone belies the interpretive mandate of the museum, and assumes a technological sophistication on the part of all users that may not be there. /jt At 3:21 PM +0100 3/19/08, Seth van Hooland wrote: Dear all, One of the issues I'm exploring within my phd on digitized cultural heritage, is the difficulty within our application domain to define and guess the user needs regarding digitized heritage collections and the interfaces we build around them to provide access. It's relatively easy to find examples of projects that failed due to the lack of interest for user needs when developing a project, but I am specifically looking for cases where institutions really did their best to define their audience (and their needs), but where at the end they were still surprised by different types of users and uses that showed up in practice and that they didn't think about... Please drop me a line when you think of any interesting cases and people I might contact. A recent development within this discussion is to adopt and radicalize the idea that an institution can never predict user needs, and should therefore concentrate on offering data and metadata in use-neutral manner, in combination with an API so that external parties can develop services upon your data and users can hack your data and have a standard toolkit to their disposition to fulfill their specific needs. A simple but illustrative example is the widget that the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) has launched in 2005 (see http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/widget?lang=en) . Shortly after the launch of this widget, an ICT student hacked the non-public XML stream to offer an RSS feed (see http://breyten.livejournal.com/111482.html) that is now know as the informal museumfeed of the Rijksmuseum (thank you Saskia Scheltjens for pointing out this example!). I'm sure quite some people have an opinion on this issue, so please contact me with your remark and/or links to specific projects that I could use to illustrate theses issues within my research. Thank you! ULB - Facult? de philosophie et lettres Dpt SIC - fili?re STIC Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 50 CP 123 1050 Bruxelles B?t. DC.11.203 +32 2 650 40 80 http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~svhoolan/ skype username: sethvanhooland ___ 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 -- __ J. Trantjtrant at archimuse.com Partner Principal Consultant phone: +1 416 691 2516 Archives Museum Informatics
[MCN-L] Job: Technology Director/Lead Software Engineer, Digital Antiquity
Technology Director/Lead Software Engineer, Digital Antiquity at Arizona State University http://digitalantiquity.org Tempe, AZ 85287 Digital Antiquity, a national initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, seeks a Technology Director/Lead Software Engineer to lead the technical development of a ?start-up? national digital repository for archaeological documents and data. This exciting cyberinfrastructure initiative provides an excellent career opportunity in informatics and software development in the stimulating environment of a major research university. The repository, the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), has a conceptual design focusing on preservation and access with user-initiated ingest of data, documents, and associated metadata. The repository has been developed through planning grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Mellon Foundation. Key components have been prototyped with substantial funding from NSF. We seek an individual with expertise in data management and software development. The individual must have experience in project management that will enable her or him to lead the technical development of a state-of-the-art, sustainable digital repository. The project presents challenges related to heterogeneous data and knowledge management; user-centric information system design; scalable and sustainable system design and engineering; and access control and rights management. Under the general direction of Digital Antiquity?s Executive Director and Board of Directors, the Digital Antiquity Technology Director/Lead Software Engineer will guide the transition from prototype to the full implementation of a trusted digital repository. The incumbent will supervise the software team, manage the development process, and contribute to the effective functioning of the user support staff. The candidate should be committed to the success of the project and must have inter-disciplinary communications skills to work effectively with domain experts to ensure that the repository is highly responsive to user needs. A Master?s degree in information science, computer science, informatics, or a closely related field is required. The position requires demonstrated expertise in software development with an emphasis on data management, web application development, and object-oriented programming. Experience designing sustainable technical infrastructures and familiarity with digital repository systems is desirable. The digital repository prototype currently utilizes an open-source JEE software stack (Spring, Hibernate, Struts 2) and the Fedora digital repository platform; direct experience with these technologies is preferred. This multi-institutional effort is based at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The software lead will hold the title of Associate Research Professional (an Academic Professional position) at ASU and will report to Digital Antiquity's Executive Director. This is a 12 month, renewable appointment with excellent benefits. The salary range is $75,000 - $90,000, depending on qualifications and experience. The position requires relocation to the Tempe/Phoenix area of central Arizona. Review of applications will begin 03/10/2010 and will continue until the search is closed. Interested individuals should submit, in electronic form, a letter of application (including descriptions of relevant expertise and experience in managing technical staff and overseeing software development projects and user support systems), a r?sum? or curriculum vitae, and names and contact information (phone and email) for three references to Executive Director, Digital Antiquity, SHESC, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (digitalantiquity at asu.edu). For more information please see http://DigitalAntiquity.org. A background check is required for employment. ASU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to excellence through diversity. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply, for more information, please seehttps://www.asu.edu/titleIX/. Interested? Submit, in electronic form, a letter of application, a r?sum? or curriculum vitae, and names and contact information (phone and email) for three references to Executive Director, Digital Antiquity at digitalantiquity at asu.edu.
[MCN-L] Museum of Video Games and Virtual Worlds?
For those bored with the same old Baroque paintings, installation art, and historical photographs, and looking for new challenges or even a new museum to create: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/pac-rat/7911/ Thousands of [games] are at risk of disappearing completely, stuck on decaying disks and locked behind a confusing hedgerow of copyrights and ownership disputes. In response, two years ago Maryland, Stanford, Illinois, and the Rochester Institute of Technology teamed up with the Library of Congress and Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life, in a $2.15 million program to develop standards for preserving video games and virtual worlds-that is, online multiplayer systems like EverQuest and World of Warcraft. The Video Game Archive at the University of Texas collects memos, beta versions, and other paraphernalia documenting the game-making process. Stanford, Michigan, and Berlin's Computer Game Museum have amassed thousands of old games and consoles. And thousands of private collectors post source code online for so-called abandonware-games that no longer are published or supported by the companies that created them. Amalyah Keshet Head of Image Resources Copyright Management The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Chair, MCN IP SIG
[MCN-L] Call for proposals to Code4Lib Journal
Call for Papers (and apologies for cross-posting): Do you want to expand on your Code4Lib conference presentation in written form? Did the recent Code4Lib conference give you ideas or renewed enthusiasm for a ?project that you would like to share with the Code4Lib Community. Why not submit a proposal to the Code4Lib journal? The Code4Lib Journal (C4LJ) exists to foster community and share information among those interested in the intersection of libraries, technology, and the future. The Code4Lib Journal is now accepting proposals for publication in its 10th issue. Don't miss out on this opportunity to share your ideas and experiences. To be included in the 10th issue, which is scheduled for publication in late June 2010, please submit articles, abstracts, or proposals at http://journal.code4lib.org/submit-proposal or to c4lj-articles at googlegroups.com by Friday, March 20, 2010. When submitting, please include the title or subject of the proposal in the subject line of the email message. C4LJ encourages creativity and flexibility, and the editors welcome submissions across a broad variety of topics that support the mission of the journal. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: ?* Practical applications of library technology (both actual and hypothetical) ?* Technology projects (failed, successful, or proposed), including how they were done and challenges faced ?* Case studies ?* Best practices ?* Reviews ?* Comparisons of third party software or libraries ?* Analyses of library metadata for use with technology ?* Project management and communication within the library environment ?* Assessment and user studies C4LJ strives to promote professional communication by minimizing the barriers to publication. While articles should be of a high quality, they need not follow any formal structure. Writers should aim for the middle ground between blog posts and articles in traditional refereed journals. Where appropriate, we encourage authors to submit code samples, algorithms, and pseudo-code. For more information, visit C4LJ's Article Guidelines or browse articles from the first 8 issues published on our website: http://journal.code4lib.org You want to share. ?Your colleagues want to hear about it. ?We're looking for proposals. ?Go for it!
