Which Came First, the Data Structure or the Website?:Lessons Learned in Building a New Collections Website with Existing Collections DataEllice Engdahl, Digital Collections & Content ManagerMuseum Computer NetworkNovember 5, 2015

The Edison Institute, Founded 1929

Francis Jehl, Thomas Edison, President Herbert Hoover, and Henry Ford at Menlo Park Laboratory in Greenfield Village, 1929 (P.O.4556)

Five VenuesHenry Ford MuseumGreenfield VillageBenson Ford Research CenterThe Henry Ford IMAX TheaterFord Rouge Factory Tour

Henry Ford Museum, 1953 (P.B.3002)

Old Car Festival, 1959 (2005.0.9.18)

• ~250,000 objects• ~25 million archival

documents and photographs

• Historic audio and video• 200+ objects on loan to

dozens of institutions• ~21,700 artifacts on

display in Museum and Village (~5-10% of non-archives collection)

• More than 30 distinct collections storage areas totaling nearly 200,000 sq. ft.Eye Portrait, circa 1800 (61.151.40)

Our Collections:“The Bottomless Pit of Wonderfulness”

pre-2010: “Random Acts of Digitization”

2010: THF announces intent to digitize all collections holdings

2011: THF begins using EMu as its collections management system and repository of record for digital collections data and image metadata

2010-2015: Artifacts online grow from 300 to 43,000+ Factory Workers Testing Newly Manufactured Toasters, circa 2000 (

2008.122.188)

Collections Digitization at THF

Next Stop: Digital Transformation

FROM

TO

Collections Access User Types/User Goals

 

User types • Students • Educators • Researchers • Campus

visitors • Enthusiasts

High-level User goals • Understand what the

archive/THF is • Find artifacts • Use & share artifact

records • Order (images, etc.)

School's Out Target Game, 1902-1914 (00.4.5224)

New Requirement: Archival Collection Records• Display archival collection-

level records within THF’s digital collections

• Associate individual items with their collection

• Cross-search archival collections records with individual artifact records

Photo Archivist Win Sears and Co-Worker in the Ford Archives at Fair Lane, Dearborn, Michigan, 1952-1957 (P.O.6193)

Why?

• Make our collections cross-searchable

• Provide context for individual archival items already digitized

• Allow users to understand what items from a collection have and have not yet been digitized

Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan, circa 1921 (37.102.136)

Challenge #1: Define search & display for collection records• Determine what fields will be used

within our collections management system, incl. those that overlap with individual item records

• Identify useful fields to include in basic and advanced searches

• Decide metadata fields to identify collection level records and finding aid PDFs

Jigsaw Puzzle of Manhattan Island, New York, circa 1932 (41.214.1593)

Challenge #2: Create plan to populate collections records

• Determine which collections have finding aids, and which of these we have or have not digitized material from

• Determine which collections without finding aids we’ve digitized material from

• Finalize number of collections records to be created for launch

• Integrate creation and publishing of collection records into archival workflows

Providence and Worcester Canal Boat Company Schedule from Newspaper, Rhode Island, 1829 (82.129.190)

Challenge #3: Draw the line on scope• Defer desired

requirement to display digitized collections within a functional finding aid hierarchy

• Defer desired requirement to create and search transcriptions for documents

Draftsmen Working in the Lofting Division for B-24 Assembly, Willow Run Bomber Plant, 1942 (P.189.17502)

New Requirement: Online Image Delivery & Image Zoom• Allow users to zoom into high-res artifact

imagery details

• Automate previously manual delivery of high-resolution collections images

• Revise service fee structure and licensing policies

Advertising Poster, "Mother Needs a Ford, Buy It Now," circa 1925 (69.114.2.2)

Why?

Actors inside Logan County Courthouse, Greenfield Village, 1983 (EI.1929.880)

• Institutional revenue funds the deployment of our digital repository and content

• We want to make our collections as accessible as possible

• Rights are complex and we are not lawyers

• Free up additional digitization bandwidth through automation and less rights-checking

Challenge #1: Using High-Res Images Online for the First Time

• Standardize & resolve issues with storage for master image files

• Populate collections management system records for images with filepaths to network storage location of master image files

• Create mechanisms for access, selection, FTP of files

Handmade Tape Recording Featuring Live Performance of Jim Croce, 1976-1977 (96.12.10)

Challenge #2: Guidelines for Online Delivery of Images

• Move away from misapplied Creative Commons statements on individual artifacts to general policies encouraging legal use

• Develop brief, simple guidelines for staff to determine when images can be downloaded

• Populate download status of images within collections management system

Star Wars Action Figure, Stormtrooper, 1978-1985 (2000.84.2)

Challenge #3: Automate Manual Image Delivery• Develop new

workflows to minimize staff time delivering image files & processing payments

• Create basic metadata standards in order to get new records online quickly for online order fulfillmentStarwood Hotel Card Key, 2010 (2011.88.1)

New Requirement: Enhance Online Artifact Data• Create & display links

to related content & artifacts

• Display and/or search “new” fields from collections mgmt. system

• Make collections mgmt. system changes in conjunction with website changes

First Ford Model T Production Card, September 27, 1908 (64.167.641.2)

Why?• Share as much as we can of what

we know about our collection

• Help users find out more from us (or others)

• Make our data as granular as possible to enable internal and external future use

World War II Poster, "Keep Your Machinery in the Fight, Share with Neighbors," 1943 (94.5.2)

Challenge #1: Previously Internal Data Becomes Public• Clean up data (measurement notes,

technique, color, inscriptions)

• Review our cataloging practices and vocabularies with an eye toward users

• Ensure internal consistency in the fields and terms used

Computer Perfection Game, 1979-1985 (99.224.1)

Challenge #2: Populate New Fields• Move titles of works from general

subject field to title-specific subject field

• Move names of events from general subject field to event-specific subject field

• Time switchover to avoid duplication

Racing Poster, Race Cars at Le Mans, "24 Heures du Mans," 1966 (89.1.1734.120)

Challenge #3: Develop Rules & Delivery Strategies• Related content

delivered dually—via algorithms in website CMS or through collections mgmt. system

• Related objects populated within collections mgmt. system Henry Ford Posing with Painting by C. Bennett Linder, circa 1930 (

P.O.6684)

Oh, and…• Define fields to be included in simple search• Define fields to be included in advanced

search• Implement ability to shift default image from

first sequential image for archival material• Migrate 800+ oral history video clips to

digital collections• Determine how to handle objects with large

numbers of multimedia• Add “Other Names” as searchable (but not

display) field)• Release constraint requiring creation of

duplicate multimedia records when attached to more than one catalog record

• Discuss (and reject) idea of “short title” field• Develop plan, formats, metadata, data

structure to support 360-degree artifact multimedia credit field

• Support geotagging data (for future app development

• Rethink existing “set” concept & consider delivery mechanism

• Capture collections-related metadata & narratives from existing microsites before they sunset, & digitize as many of these objects as possible

• Develop or modify systems & processes to support delivery of data via daily XML export from our collections management system & FTP for automated loading into indexing tool

• Modify existing or create new workflows for approving & tracking harvested records, deleting records, error handling

• Develop most useful possible requirements for supporting date searching, given limitations of our existing data (e.g. formats, ranges, “circa” dates, unknown dates, subject vs. creation date, etc.)

• Clean up miscellaneous video formats (WMV vs. MP4)

• Locate and reload videos that cannot be reprocessed/optimized through 3rd-party video platform

Lessons Learned• Until you use any piece of

data, you cannot be sure how consistent you’ve been with it

• Your data is never “done”

• It’s a challenge to find a balance between planning for future needs and the number of hours in the day

• Building a system is a related but distinct task from populating that system

Students in a Classroom at Henry Ford Institute of Agricultural Engineering, England, 1939 (P.188.26304)

Sneak Peek

Thank you!Ellice EngdahlDigital Collections & Content Manager, The Henry Ford

@ErisuEEE