Attendees:

Anna-Maria, Tim, Felix, Jane, Arran, Kunika, Alex, Jamie, Nina

Agenda:

Museum online catalogues-as-data

catalogues-as-data_Candidate investigation template-2.docx

Notes:

Museum catalogues as data - initially started as an archival investigation aiming to trace the histories of museum documentation processes. Difficult to acquire historical data on previous approaches to data - no historical data exports etc. And looking at the physical catalogues quite similar to Tim’s investigation. Also didn’t feel that approach fitted in with the emerging appraoch of the project post-digital turn.

Discussed with John Stack and Jamie Unwin to get a better sense of what might be most useful. Has some linkage to the original investigation, but now it is more focused on online museum catalogues as data. There is already research out there on collections as data, but this focused specifically on online catalogues.

Areas of interest: how are we using online catalogues, what metadata there is, what assets are used, and what the infrastructures around it are. A lot of work on cataloguing, catalogue functionality, generous interfaces. Missing link in how we can enhance connectability between online catalogues. Always seems to go back to there being obstacles in the creation of the museum catalogues. Additionally, some museums have been allowing researchers to access and use their data, but there isn’t often a reflection on the biases in the data.

Close research on the cataloguing systems being used. Some TaNC reports on catalogues, data and collections information. What is the functionality and what are user needs of online collections. (TaNC reports are often quite useful - AMS to provide small summaries of the really important ones for the project and post on Notion).

More data driven exploration of standards and existing catalogue data that looks at why the data cannot be connected easily. Potentially a survey, connected to this investigation, that looks at ideas of bias and understanding of it in amongst the partner collections.

We took a deeper look at the categories field on the online catalogue and in Mimsy. Jamie highlighted that there is an AAT import, but they are not linked using AAT IDs or URLs and there is a lack of hierarchy in it. Picked up on an example of ‘plates’ and highlighted that there is no clarity over whether it is a plate as part of a dinner set or a photographic plate etc. The idea is to map this and begin to suggest ways of of fixing it to make collections data more connectable.

What are the technical issues / constraints that led to the piecemeal cataloguing, code or shorthand - the kind of things that make things less connectable.

If we are going to make this more generalisable, we’ll need to look beyond just SMG. Potential to look at the V&A, but it would also be useful to look at another non-national museum or even an archival collection. Potentially BIM.

There needs to be a clearer sequence of what questions are being asked and what are the bigger questions that the SMG data can prompt?