International Center of Photography
Photomuse: Integrating Photography Collections Using Distributed Query Processing
This project introduces the first distributed query database system among institutions specifically devoted to the medium of photography. It is creating a distributed database hosted on a web portal managed jointly by the International Center of Photography and the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. The partners are using this platform to develop methodologies to increase understanding of the photographic image. This accessible, information-rich, multi-institutional framework addresses the specific needs of the project partners, the cultural heritage field, and the general public worldwide. Anticipated results include online access to each institution's collections database, ability to search across collections, and development of best cataloging practices among photographic institutions. The project is seeking other institutional partners.
Project URL:
http://www.photomuse.org
New Jersey Institute of Technology
IntLib: Integrated Library Project
In partnership with the Newark Public Library, the New Jersey Institute of Technology is integrating relevant resources for library users in a single user-friendly interface through a sustainable infrastructure that brings together all of the online collections and services offered by the two libraries. The project links three commercial databases, the online catalog systems of both libraries, and the New Jersey Digital Highway—an integrated statewide digital resource also funded by IMLS—and is testing methodologies for extending the model framework to libraries nationwide.
Project URL:
http://www.is.njit.edu/integral
Exit Art/The First World
Exit Art Digital Archive
Exit Art, a 25 year old visionary contemporary arts organization based in the New York City, is developing a digital archive that will make accessible documentation of the conceptual, multimedia, performance art and other non-traditional artworks that have been presented at the gallery over the past two decades. The Exit Art Digital Archive Project reflects current thinking in the museum and library field, which holds that specialized collections of interest to a large public are best served by the creation of digital surrogates. To date, however, most digitization projects in the museum field have been large-scale projects undertaken by large institutions with more general collections, because those are the institutions that have traditionally had the resources and motivation to invest in digitization on a large scale. Smaller art organizations like Exit Art, despite the fact that their archives hold information that is not duplicated elsewhere, have only recently started implementing digitization projects that will meet the demands for this information. The goal of the Exit Art Digital Archive is to increase public access to, knowledge about, and usefulness of the unique cultural materials in Exit Art's archives. It will also serve as a test case for the national and international digitization, cataloguing and description standards being developed by consortiums like CIAO (Conceptual and Intermedia Arts Online) and the New York Art Spaces Archive Project (ASAP) to preserve and disseminate the art of the last decades, that often depend on archival materials for their historical existence. The end result will be an open access, interoperable, searchable, cross-referenced networked databases that will centralize and facilitate public access to Exit Art's holdings. The database, digitization plan, and metadata schema will be made available to other organizations.
Project URL:
http://www.exitart.org
Florida International University Libraries
Andean Amazon Geographic Information Systems Portal
This portal links geospatial data, biodiversity collections, charts, and other material in diverse formats relating to the Andean Amazon region in a scalable, highly adaptable, uniform data framework and geospatial data collection system. Project partners are the Florida International University Library Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Center, Library Latin America and Caribbean Information Center, Environmental Studies Department and Center for Ethnobiology and Natural Products, and the Docente Escuela Politecnica Nacional of Equador.
Project URL:
http://gislab.fiu.edu
Indiana University Libraries
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana
This project builds on an earlier IMLS-funded project, Indiana University Sheet Music
http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/s/sheetmusic
This project is a collaborative cataloging and digitization effort that includes the Indiana State Library, the Indiana Historical Society, and the Indiana State Museum. A major goal of the project is to aggregate metadata and to create a cataloging tool for the partners who have not yet cataloged their sheet music. During the first phase, the project team focused on development of the cataloging interface. Three partners have now used the interface and contributed data. The demonstration will illustrate use of the cataloging interface and describe the cataloging guidelines as well as the collaborative development and implementation of the metadata model to meet the varied needs of the partnering institutions.
Project URL:
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/inharmony
Institut für Museumskunde
MICHAEL: Multilingual Inventory of Cultural Heritage in Europe
This project, supported by the European Commission, aims to open up worldwide access to the European cultural heritage. Its goal is to provide simple, multilingual and quick access to the digital collections of museums, libraries, and archives from a number of European countries. Project partners include the ministries of culture of France and Italy; the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council of the UK; and other public bodies. By 2007, the platform will be able to retrieve digital collections that are dispersed across Europe. The services will support research, education, cultural tourism, the creative industries, and other interests.
Project URL:
http://www.michael-culture.org