Bridging The ALM Divide: An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions

Bridging the ALM Divide An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions Dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Director of Research and Collections Perian Sully, Collection Information Manager & Web Programs Strategist The Magnes, Berkeley, CA Presented at the American Association of Museums Annual Conference, Philadelphia, May 3, 2009

Magnes: A Collecting History
Founded in 1962
Wide range of collecting areas, including –
Jews of the American West
global Jewish Diaspora
Jews in “exotic” locations – China, North Africa, India
ceremonial objects
fine and decorative arts
music
rare books
cultural ephemera
historical documents
Three major collecting departments -
Western Jewish History Center: 500 archival collections
Blumenthal Rare Book and Manuscript Library - ~10,000 items
Permanent Museum Collection - ~15,000 items

Challenges of Hybrid Institutions Access Catering to a Diversified User Community Research Across Standards Culture Multicultural Aspects Bridging Textual, Documental and Material Cultures Language Multilingualism and the Levels of Access Script, Transliteration, Translation Whose Vision? One Vision! Cultural Models & Database Structure

Learning from One Another, Learning Together (The “Philosophy” of ALM Integration)
Extending Museum Models
Extending Archive Models
Extending Library Models

Extending Museum Models
Authorship, Creatorship and “Parties”
Authors and co-authors
Creators and co-creators
Donors
Accession Numbering
Tracking Movement
Locations
Containers

Extending Archive Models Varying Notions of “Collection”
Facilities
Donations
Collecting Areas
Intellectual Organization of Materials

Extending Library Models
Why MARC Still Matters
Circulation and Research

Integrating ALM
Time – Dates and Periods
Subjects – Local and Global
Synonyms and Preferred Terms
Meta Collection

Managing Institutional Change
Professional Standards
Global Perspectives
Interoperability of Staff Functions
– Workflow as Ping-pong

Technological Details
System used: IDEA@ALM on MS-SQL database
Databanks
Templates
Managing Standards: EAD, MARC, ISAD
Multilingual capabilities with Unicode support
Synonym Dictionaries
Global Searches and Queries
Flexibility
Compliancy with many standards and languages
for information sharing.

System Structure: Databanks
A databank is a virtual database into which records may be sorted and stored.
Magnes IDEA@ALM Database Archive Databank Library Databank Exhibitions Databank Administrative Databank Library Databank Museum Databank

System Structure: Templates
The templates are organizational structures in which specified fields are displayed.
Archive Databank Library Databank Museum Databank Administrative Databank Collection Series Sub-Series Document Photo Rare Book Manuscript Object Individuals Image Location Valuation Condition Ketubbah

System Structure: Templates

System Structure: Managing Standards
Metadata Standards Applied to Magnes Installation:
EAD
MARC
ISAD
Scope and Content (Archive) ‏ EAD: <scopecontent> MARC: 520 ISAD: 3.3.1 Description (Museum) ‏ Abstract (Library) ‏

System Structure: Mastering Multilingual Capabilities
Unicode
Synonyms
Phonetic searches
Translations
Transliterations

Technological Structure: Searches
Search across all databanks, templates, and fields
Narrow searches to specific fields, databanks, and templates
Boolean, fuzzy, exact, phonetic searches
Synonym and preferred-term searches
Multilingual searches

Technological Structure: Flexibility
Power Users may modify:
Fields
Databanks
Templates
Layouts and structures
Which fields are displayed on internet portal

Big Picture – How We Got Here
Evaluated our information management needs
Received support from the Executive Director and Board
Interviewed staff & analyzed staff workflow
Worked with vendor to develop system based on institutional needs
Determined which individual professional processes could be rethought to support the whole
Created workflow within the system to support information access

Struggles & What We’ve Learned
Staff adoption has been slow, since we have been making changes along the way
Confusion about how to use the system and adopting new practices
Need for more, regular training to familiarize staff with system and methodology
Took a lot longer than anticipated
Housekeeping of practices can be traumatizing

Next Steps
Continue training staff on procedures
Analyze current records
Fine-tune magnesalm.org for public launch
Develop ongoing programs and system modifications to enhance research

Thank you!!
Francesco Spagnolo: fspagnolo@magnes.org
Perian Sully: [email_address]

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Bridging The ALM Divide: An Integrated Archive-Library-Museum Approach for Hybrid Institutions

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