Coding at the Bar Larry Gall -- Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Coding at the Bar

Larry Gall -- Peabody Museum of Natural History

Coding at the Bar

Coding at the Bar

Notes on how barcoding got incoroporated into a multi-collection move

Peabody CollectionsCounts & Functional Cataloguing Unit

• Anthropology 325,000 Lot• Botany 350,000 Individual• Entomology 1,000,000 Lot / Individual• Invertebrate Paleontology 300,000 Lot• Invertebrate Zoology 300,000 Lot• Mineralogy 35,000 Individual• Paleobotany 150,000 Individual• Scientific Instruments 4,000 Individual• Vertebrate Paleontology 125,000 Individual• Vertebrate Zoology 185,000 Lot / Individual

2.7 million database-able units => ~11 million items

Peabody CollectionsFunctional Units Databased

• Anthropology 325,000 90 %• Botany 350,000 1 %• Entomology 1,000,000 4 %• Invertebrate Paleontology 300,000 65 %• Invertebrate Zoology 300,000 25 %• Mineralogy 35,000 85 %• Paleobotany 150,000 60 %• Scientific Instruments 4,000 100 %• Vertebrate Paleontology 125,000 60 %• Vertebrate Zoology 185,000 95 %

1,010,000 of 2.7 million => 38 % overall

“Science Hill”

ESC - 2001

1998-2002 Move

ENT, IZ, PB, VZ

ORN, VZ, IZ

ANT

1998-2002 Move

ENT, IP, IZ, PB, VZ

ENT, ORN, VZ, IP, IZ

ANT

BOT

2006-2007

Yale “West Campus”

Bayer Pharmaceutical

135 acresWest Haven

purchased 2007buildings = 1.6 million square feet

A21

A19

Peabody MuseumYale Art Gallery

British Art CenterMudd Library

Manuscripts & ArchivesCenter for Media Initiatives

etc., etc., etc.

Manufacturing Building A21

Warehouse A19

Osteology = 15,000 Anthropology = 200,000 Instruments = 4,000

• 16 months, vacating 8 rooms in 2 buildings

• 1.5 million objects (230,000 EMu records)

• Find, document, conserve, pack, move

• Simple barcoding functionality for EMu

• Cannot slow down physical workflow

Western Bottom Line

• 16 months, vacating 8 rooms in 2 buildings

• 1.5 million objects (230,000 EMu records)

• Find, document, conserve, pack, move

• Simplified barcoding functionality w/EMu

• Did not slow down physical workflow

Western Bottom Line

Barcoding Desiderata


• Tethered/wireless, batch/realtime

• Software implementationContract work with KE

Integrate 3rd party product

Roll-your-own

• TexxmlserverDedicate an additional license

Direct API to EMu

• Texpress utilitiesNo additional license

Use another interface to EMu


Web server builtin as partof Solaris OS on server

Barcodes scanned into a web page

CGI script parses scans, decides on action

Input passed to secondary processing script

Processing script calling texpress utilities



Packing decisions that simplifed barcodingDrawer of objects in a cabinet – put objects into a new Delta drawer

Objects in a tray on a shelf – put objects into a new Delta drawer

Free objects – put objects into customized packing boxes

Think in terms of independently moveable itemsDo not conceptualize the moving on an object-centric basis

First scan is into a “package,” an EMu holderSingle object in box, multiple objects in box, Delta drawer = all packages

Next scans are into progressively larger holdersCabinets, cases, pallets… moving truck = top of hierarchy

Unwind scanning hierarchy as required out WestMinimally, scan the large holders from truck into “swingspace” holder



=>ANT.PKG.01342HSI.PKG.00046VZ.PKG.00987

VZ.PAL.0292 ANT.CAB.0075 TRUCK.WC

Holder nomenclature

Existing drawer location barcode( multiple objects already attached in EMu )

Object barcode

Packagebarcode

Yale Art Gallery Peabody

Zebra TLP-3844Z printer, tethered scan gun

Symbol MC3090R wireless barcode scanner

Windows CE 5.0 Pro

EMu doesn’t run on CE

Source Scan & Target Scan

CGIscript

Texql barcode values from elocations file

Identify types (holder vs. location)

Check if move is logically consistent

Check holder hierarchy of implied move

If all ok, hand off to processing script

Return to see what user wants next

CGIscript

Object, Holder, Location combinations:

Holder to Holder okHolder to Location okHolder to Object invalidLocation to Holder okLocation to Location invalidLocation to Object invalidObject to Holder ok *Object to Location ok **Object to Object invalid

* = only if Holder is a PKG** = same as EMu relocate function

CGIscript

Most common combinations for Processing Script:

Object to Holder texload target holder into single object LocCurrentLocationRef

Location to Holder texload target holder into many object LocCurrentLocationRef

Holder to Holder texload target holder into source LocHolderLocationRef

Holder to Location texload target location into source LocHolderLocationRef

texload a custom timestamp into the respective NotNotes or LocMovementNotes; if a Holder to Holder move is involved, also timestamp all PKG holders within the source, to force an update of the einternal histories for all the objects

A Coding “Gotcha”

an EMu data directory

texload –g{gram} –d{data} –vdata {module}

Westward Ho !

Finding, labeling, cataloging

Cleaning, conserving, packing

Taking digital photos if unimaged

Pallet & cabinet assembly

Hauling stuff to new digs

Spring 2008

Assemble barcoding equipment

Spring 2008

West renovations, buy packing materials

Spring 2008

Learn to drive, configure A21 swingspace

Spring 2008

HSI – reclaim squirreled away cabinetry

Spring 2008

VZ - clean, catalog the uncataloged

Spring 2008

ANT - clean, make boxes, stage new drawers

June 2008

ANT – vanquish the Phys Ant lab, convert to “packing central”

June 2008

ANT – hire moving experts

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – pipeline one: objects with photos incoming…

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – custom boxes and packing

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – ethafoam madness, part 1

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – ethafoam madness, part 2

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – pipeline two: objects without photos

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – automated import scripts

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – scanning into pallets, shrink-wrapping

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – scanning into cabinets, heading out the door…

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – hefting stuff on forklift

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – onto the truck

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – barcoded truck

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – soldier down

Oh %&#* …

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – soldier down

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – replacement soldier

Summer-Fall 2008

VZ – “Old Bill”… too big for a package

Summer-Fall 2008

VZ – “Old Bill” heads West

Summer-Fall 2008

VZ – “Old Bill” presiding over A21

Summer-Fall 2008

The ever-changing swingspaces

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – shipment of new Delta Cabinets

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – cabinet comes out of swingspace…

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – drawers moved & scanned into new home

Summer-Fall 2008

ANT – some statistics

So far… 11,000 newly acquired images 40,000 object records scanned to West 195,000 new einternal records total estimated einternal growth is ~ 300% barcoding now well accepted at YPM

Summer-Fall 2008

Coding at the Bar Larry Gall -- Peabody Museum of Natural History.

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Transcript of Coding at the Bar Larry Gall -- Peabody Museum of Natural History.