The Cultural Gateway Project

1. The Cultural Gateway Project 

2. My apologies for not being able to attend in person today. Hopefully, this presentation should show you the main features of the project. I�ve put some additional explanatory text in italics. If you have any questions, please feel free to ring or email me. I�ll put my contact details at the end. Thanks Mike

3. Background Lincolnshire Archives using CALM cataloguing software since 2002, but not available online. National Archives pressure to put searchable catalogues online. Best Value audit inspection of Cultural Services highlighted poor online presence. Emerging Sustainable Community Strategy for Lincolnshire � themes include connections & online access.

4. Aim Create an online portal for the collections of Culture and Adult Education (CAE). = Access

5. Phase 1: Cultural Collectionshttp://culturalcollections.lincolnshire.gov.uk Website launched 1 August 2009. Cross-searchable catalogues of LCC Museums, Libraries and Archives.

6. Contents Over half a million catalogue entries: Museum and Gallery catalogues, and some images. Archive catalogues. Stamford Mercury index. Tennyson Research Centre catalogues. Non-fiction Library catalogues.

7. Some screen captures follow, which show the look and feel of the website, main search screens, hit lists, catalogue entries and images.

13. Results to Date Over 2 million web hits. Favourable comments. Increased access to catalogues. Increased visits/enquiries. However� Very much a quick fix. Not fully developed or sustainable in long run.

15. The peak was probably the result of trawling by Google. Cultural Collections has bought us time to develop something much more sophisticated�

16. Phase 2: �Lincs to the Past�

17. What is it about? Major digitisation project. Corporate funding. Builds on the existing catalogues to display selected content of our collections. Several hundred thousand images. Searchable by names, words, dates, timelines Themed on-line exhibitions/educational materials. Widening Access

18. Outline Timetable Spring-Dec 2009: research & planning. Jan 2010- : detailed design: infrastructure, website, and specs for scanning. Summer 2010: tender process. Sep-Dec 2010: on-site scanning and off site microfilm conversion, and rekeying. Feb-Mar 2011: testing. 1 April 2011: public launch.

19. Personnel Project Board: senior managers from across the County Council and our private sector partners, Mouchel. Executive Project Team: Mark McCree, Collections Manager Mike Rogers, Collections Team Leader Simon Oliver / Angela Driver, CAE projects team Peter Marshall / Elaine Atkin, Mouchel Project Team � representatives from across CAE, and corporate webteam, used late 2009 for detailed research into aspects of the project�

21. Access Model Free access to: Catalogues Watermarked images On-line exhibitions Educational content Charging model for high quality images.

22. Contents Parish Registers, 1538-(1912) [c300,000 images] Probate Inventories, 1504-1853 [c75,000 items] Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest Highlights of the Arms & Armour collection Tennyson�s �In Memoriam� and �Charge of the Light Brigade� manuscripts Proofs to Illustrations of Tennyson�s poems, 1857 Photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron Extracts from the Illustrations Index Medieval Painted Cloths Nattes Drawings (Lincolnshire Churches) Regimental Rolls Valuation Office 25� Ordnance Survey Maps, 1910 Data from the Cultural Collections and HEMSoP websites Online exhibitions (e.g. Episcopal Rolls & Registers, Asylum Case Books, Archaeology ...) Historic Environment Record data

26. Existing images: Museum Objects and Artworks

28. Considerably more ambitous than most comparable websites, given the cross-sector content. So how were we going to make all these images and catalogues available? Needed to: Combine several existing databases and datasets. Be able to export data and images to other sites.

29. It was decided not to seek a proprietary solution [webteam had problems with .exe files which ruled out DS/Axiell products]. Needed to design and link: Infrastructure to store data Web-based search engine Payments module Staff functions

30. Data Output

31. Which standards to use? The Metadata Universe

32. �Choose a standard then adapt it to your own needs� Dublin Core chosen as most suitable standard. Similar fields from component databases mapped across. Infrastructure designed around data and output.

33. The basic design for the infrastructure and functionality was mapped out by a Project Team member with an IT background. Unfortunately, he then left, but luckily we have a very capable developer on board at Mouchel who came up with�

35. Website �look and feel�: The public face of the project.

36. The preceding image is of the front page. The look and functionality of other pages has been designed but needs to be approved by the Board later this month. The main features are facetted searching, a timeline and �mega drop downs� [see the new LCC website for these].

39. Zoomify breaks down images into small fragments, and only downloads those you need to see, so it is very fast. You can navigate around the image and choose your scale. The quality of the images is excellent. Watermarks are automatically overlaid to encourage purchases and protect IPR.

40. Where are we now? Finalising the infrastructure build. Gathering together images and xml files Preparing catalogues (validation, new fields, tags) Creating online exhibitions� Ready to put it all together in the New Year.

41. The Future Even before �Lincs to the Past� is launched we are looking at what next. The infrastructure has been designed so that future projects can be added easily. Currently seeking funding for digitising: Tennyson drafts and correspondence Asylum Case Books

48. Any questions? Please contact: Mike.Rogers@lincolnshire.gov.uk Tel. 01522 567137