Digital FrontiersSeptember 18, 2015

Jeff Downing, Lynn Johnson, Rafia Mirza and Derek Reece University of Texas at Arlington

Using Omeka as a Gateway to Digital Projects

Presenters

• Jeff Downing and Lynn Johnson• Digital Projects Librarians• Project management

• Derek Reece• Digital Projects Librarian• Challenges of embracing open source software

• Rafia Mirza, Digital Humanities Librarian• Building on these projects to offer Digital Humanities outreach in the

classroom

Introduction• As part of UT Arlington Libraries 2013 reorganization, new focus

is on digital projects and open source software. • Decision to use Omeka as both a display platform and learning

opportunity for our staff and community. • Using Omeka as our primary exhibit and outreach tool has led to

collaboration with our Special Collections, Digital Creation and Outreach & Scholarship departments.

• Our Digital Creation department is learning how to adapt to both the benefits and challenges of Omeka and open source software: • Jeff Downing and Lynn Johnson: Project management and building

relationships• Derek Reece: Challenges of embracing open source software• Rafia Mirza: Building on these projects to offer Digital Humanities

outreach in the classroom

Presenter

• Jeff Downing and Lynn Johnson• Digital Projects Librarians• Project management and building relationships

Omeka

• Omeka:• “. . . a free, flexible, and open source web-publishing

platform for the display of library, museum, archives, and scholarly collections and exhibitions” and adheres to Dublin Core standards.

• www.omeka.org

Omeka.org vs Omeka.net

Omeka.org/downloadable Omeka.netLAMP server required No server requiredFTP client required No FTP client requiredWeb-based administrative interface Web-based administrative interface

Add, edit, delete Items, Item Types, Collections, Exhibits

Add, edit, delete Items, Item Types, Collections, Exhibits

Customize themes and plugins by editing server files Configurable themes and plugins through admin interface

Storage space determined by your server and/or server administrator Storage space according to the plan you choose.

Unlimited number of plugins and themes Plugins and themes determined by the plan you chose

File size limitations, determined by your server administrator File size limitations: 64mb

One site per installation Multiple sites, depending on your plan, per user account

Free Free basic plan always available w/other options for small fee

What are the differences between the version you download and install yourself< omeka.org/download>, and getting a hosted account on Omeka.net?For a more comprehensive comparison, see http://bitly.com/compareomekas.

Berachah Home: Proof of Concept

Berachah Home: Proof of Concept

• Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls, Arlington, Texas http://library.uta.edu/berachah-home/

• 18 item records• Images, documents, line drawings, journal pages• Added each item/image from scratch• Enhanced by adding metadata• Learned a lot about Omeka that we were able to put to

use in our next phases• Project gave us confident to pursue a full-scale endeavor

The UTA Libraries Digital Gallery: Using Omeka for Large-Scale Hosting

The UTA Libraries Digital Gallery: Using Omeka for Large-Scale Hosting

• The “500” => The “10,000” => WD Smith (1940s + 1950s) => Digital Gallery http://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery/

• April 2015: 1,100 previously-scanned items were loaded into Omeka/Digital Gallery

• May 2015: Record count increased to over 10,700 in Digital Gallery• Summer 2015: 9 students were hired to scan and make TIF and JPG

derivatives from our W.D. Smith Commercial Photography Collection. Approximately 7,000 items from the 1940s were scanned and put onto the Gallery. Additional scanning equipment was purchased

• Currently: • 15,890 item records• 142 Collections

• Images, negatives• Basic information downloaded to Omeka using Special Collections data• Metadata staff are enhancing basic metadata

The UTA Libraries Digital Gallery: Building Partnerships

• Project team included members from Digital Creation, Special Collections, Access & Discovery, Marketing• DC staff developed site and managed content additions• Marketing worked with DC on site design• SPCO chose images and shared basic metadata• A&D is engaged in metadata enhancement (adhering to Dublin Core)

• Meetings and Communication• Weekly meetings of the entire group – important for info sharing and team building• As-needed meetings of subgroups• SharePoint site to store minutes, procedures, etc.• At least two articles in Library’s internal newsletter to educate Library staff on the project

• Thoughts• Management support critical to success• Loading images and metadata fairly quick and easy; plug-ins are essential• Lack of a Reports writer is problematic• Delays, though inevitable, were frustrating!• Knowledge gained with be helpful when designing/implementing new sites• Omeka is Open-Source, but needs lots of customization

Presenter

• Derek Reece• Digital Projects Librarian• Challenges of embracing open source software

Out of the box

Omeka.org=hosted on a local serverBenefits-variety of themes, professional site without customization or programming skillsTechnical skills• HTML, FTP client, Web Server, MySQL database

CustomBenefits-customization, not limited to an Omeka themeTechnical skills• HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, Web Server, MySQL• Zend Framework• Responsive design=Bootstrap

Challenges• Small development community

• Omeka forums• Omeka Developer Google Group

• Omeka website documentation is thorough and up-to-date• Flexibility in customization-web designer wasn’t limited by the

product, so the technical staff had to adapt to the design• UTA-new web team, not much background in the technical

skills required for customization

Presenter

• Rafia Mirza, Digital Humanities Librarian• Building on these projects to offer Digital Humanities outreach in the

classroom

OutreachIdeal Project vs. Current Resources

What is Omeka? • Led to discussion of

What are Databases? • Databases:

• Used to organize information in such a way that it is easily • Accessed• Managed • Updated

• http://www.faculty.umb.edu/william_holmes/databasedefinitions.htm• http://wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Database

What is Dublin Core? • What are Databases? led to discussion of What is Dublin Core?• Dublin Core is a metadata standard used by libraries and archives for digital items that consists of 15 basic

fields that can be used to describe any digital object, no matter what it is

Metadata in everyday life• “What is Dublin Core?” led to discussion of “What is metadata?”

Outreach• Discussions of

• How to enter Items and their related metadata also led to conversations around • What could they use? • What do they need permission to use?

• Led to conversations about Copyright and Permissions

• Discussions about • Ideal projects/end goal lead to conversations about grants • Eventually lead to digital preservations/archiving issues

Questions?

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Contact Information

• Jeff Downing• downing@uta.edu

• Lynn Johnson• lynnfj@uta.edu

• Rafia Mirza• rafia@uta.edu• @librarianrafia

• Derek Reece• dreece@uta.edu