The document outlines the development and implementation of an Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, detailing its structure, processes, and the integration of various digital platforms and media. It highlights the challenges faced during the project phases, the significance of technology in storytelling and audience engagement, and the outcome of establishing a scalable and efficient data management system. Ultimately, the project aims to enhance accessibility, preservation, and dynamic presentation of information and artifacts.

1. ALM + CMS
Corey Timpson
Director, Exhibitions and Digital Media
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
corey.timpson@humanrights.ca
@coreytimpson
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

2. I CONTEXT
II APPROACH + RATIONALE
III ECMS
IV THE ROAD (CMHR EXPERIENCE)
V RESULTS & IMPACTS
Chapters

4. FABRIC OF THE EXHIBITION
. 100 hours of video
4 x feature films (x 2)
1 x IME
1 x 360° film
26 small format films (x 2)
37 large scale linear media projections
512 video clips (x 2)
CMHR Context

5. FABRIC OF THE EXHIBITION
. 100 hours of video
. 2543 images in gallery
. 2 soundscapes
. 18 mixed media immersive environments
. 100,000 printed words
. 300 objects/artefacts
. 1 Enterprise Web site
. 1 Mobile App (2 platforms, scalable)
. Twitter (2), FB (2), YouTube (2), Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr +
CMHR Context

6. COLLECTIONS
Reference Centre
. Library
. Archives
Museum Collections & Loan Program
Art Commissioning
Oral History Program
. 300 Oral Histories
. longest is over 8 hours
CMHR Context

7. MY PURVIEW
. Exhibitions
. Digital Platforms
. Design & Production
. Collections
CMHR Context

8. MY PURVIEW
. Exhibitions
. Digital Platforms
. Design & Production
. Collections
PRE-CMHR
. CHIN
. 3100 Museums in Canada
CMHR Context

9. “Legacy”
The worst word in the English language.
Words

10. “Legacy”
The worst word in the English language.
“Technology”
Solution Provider
Words

12. “Legacy”
The worst word in the English language.
“Technology”
Solution Provider
“Technology”
Golden Handcuffs
Words

15. Intangible Subject Matter.
A concept that attempts to describe human behaviour.
CMHR

16. Intangible Subject Matter.
A concept that attempts to describe human behaviour.
Implication:
Changeable
CMHR

17. Encourage reflection and dialogue.
CMHR

18. Encourage reflection and dialogue.
Implication:
Reciprocal. Interactive. (dialogic, participative)
CMHR

19. Story Telling
CMHR

20. Story Telling
Implication:
Media delivery, use of technology
CMHR

22. LEGACY
Preserve, manage, find, present information in scalable, efficient, and
dynamic ways.
Opportunity

24. ECMS

25. ENTERPRISE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
ECMS

26. STRATEGIC PREREQUESITES
. strict separation of content from presentation
. store content once and reference often
. dynamically deliver content
. be able to do “anything”
. allow the creation of business rules to constrain the system
. be completely modular and scalable
. standards compliance
ECMS

27. ENTERPRISE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
ECMS

28. ENTERPRISE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
. DAM — Digital Asset Management System
. ALM — Archives, library, collections management system
. CMS — Content Management System
. Enterprise Search
. Thesauri & Vocabulary Management
. Copyright Management
ECMS

29. ENTERPRISE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
. DAM — Digital Asset Management System
. ALM — Archives, library, collections management system
. CMS — Content Management System
. Enterprise Search
. Thesauri & Vocabulary Management
. Copyright Management
FUNCTION:
. Catalogue, Preserve, Aggregate, Manage: All information
. Feed all digital endpoints with dynamic content.
ECMS

30. ECMS
SEPARATION OF CONTENT FROM PRESENTATION

31. ECMS
STORE CONTENT ONCE, REFERENCE OFTEN

32. ECMS
EXAMPLE

33. ECMS
IN PRACTICE

34. ECMS
IN PRACTICE

35. ECMS
IN PRACTICE

36. ECMS
IN PRACTICE

37. ECMS
IN PRACTICE

38. STRATEGIC PREREQUESITES
. strict separation of content from presentation
. store content once and reference often
. dynamically deliver content
WHY?
ECMS

39. STRATEGIC PREREQUESITES
. strict separation of content from presentation
. store content once and reference often
. dynamically deliver content
WHY?
. 94 digital installations in gallery
. enterprise web site
. mobile program (iOS & Android)
. social media (FB, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr,
. reference centre
. digital signage
ECMS

40. AND SO…?
ECMS

41. AND SO…?
. resource management
OLD PROCESS
. content development
. acquisition
. catalogue
. design & layout
. production
. software dev
. publishing
<repeat>
ECMS

42. AND SO…?
. resource management
OLD PROCESS
. content development
. acquisition
. catalogue
. design & layout
. production
. software dev
. publishing
<repeat>
ECMS
NEW PROCESS
. content development
. acquisition
. catalogue
<published>

43. WHY?
So we can spend our resources on development, rather than on
production.
ECMS

44. ECMS

45. ECMS
WHITE BOARD : 2009

46. ECMS
PROOF OF CONCEPT : 2012

47. ECMS
LOGICAL DIAGRAM : 2014

48. Internal Network
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Exhibit CMSExhibit CMS
Alfresco
Solr
Alfresco
Solr
SAN (File Storage)SAN (File Storage)
CollectionsCollections
Integration
Services
Integration
Services
Rendition
Services
Rendition
Services
Production
Artists
Production
Artists
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Research
& Curation
Research
& Curation
Exhibits
Collections
Management
Library Management
(Koha)
Library Management
(Koha)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Database Cluster
MySQLMySQL MySQLMySQL
Alfresco Cluster
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Exhibit CMS-APIExhibit CMS-API
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
ECMS Logical Architecture Diagram
Author: Jason St. Louis
Version: 1.3
Date: October 28, 2013
CurationCuration
Web V3 (Drupal, Apache, MySQL)
CollectionsCollections

49. The Road

50. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 1 2010 — CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
. requirements definition
. environmental scans (incl. CHIN’s ALM research)
. data architect (pink sky)
. product demos
. interviews
. conferences and schmoozing
- collections teams, digital platforms team, IT, researchers, etc.
The Road

51. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 2 2011/12 — PROCUREMENT & DEVELOPMENT
. formal requirements documentation
. RFP
. award & negotiations
. development
The Road

53. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 2.5 2012 — RE-DEVELOPMENT
. proprietary solution
. it wasn’t what it claimed to be
. data was not easily extracted or accessible
The Road

54. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 2.5 2012 — RE-DEVELOPMENT
Decision:
- spend dev efforts on the front end, instead of the backend
- go open source (our culture and approach)
The Road

55. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 2.5 2012 — RE-DEVELOPMENT
Decision:
- spend dev efforts on the front end, instead of the backend
- go open source (our culture and approach)
The Road

56. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 2.5 2012 — RE-DEVELOPMENT
Keeping me awake at night:
. We were in the middle of software dev on 94 installations in gallery,
that would all be pulling data from a system we were largely starting
over on developing.
. Acquisitions had begun, because we couldn’t wait any longer.
The Road

57. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 3 2013/14 — DEVELOPMENT & INTEGRATION
. Component Integration (DAM, ALM, Search, etc.)
. API dev (and content modelling)
. full steam ahead on cataloguing
(we had begun acquisitions on spreadsheets)
. production
The Road

58. 4 PHASE PROJECT
PHASE 4 2015/? — ITERATION & “FINAL” DEV
. function elaboration
. unification of look and feel on admin sides
. module customization
The Road

59. Internal Network
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Exhibit CMSExhibit CMS
Alfresco
Solr
Alfresco
Solr
SAN (File Storage)SAN (File Storage)
CollectionsCollections
Integration
Services
Integration
Services
Rendition
Services
Rendition
Services
Production
Artists
Production
Artists
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Research
& Curation
Research
& Curation
Exhibits
Collections
Management
Library Management
(Koha)
Library Management
(Koha)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Database Cluster
MySQLMySQL MySQLMySQL
Alfresco Cluster
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Exhibit CMS-APIExhibit CMS-API
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
ECMS Logical Architecture Diagram
Author: Jason St. Louis
Version: 1.3
Date: October 28, 2013
CurationCuration
Web V3 (Drupal, Apache, MySQL)
CollectionsCollections

60. Internal Network
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Image
Copyright
Coordination
Exhibit CMSExhibit CMS
Alfresco
Solr
Alfresco
Solr
SAN (File Storage)SAN (File Storage)
CollectionsCollections
Integration
Services
Integration
Services
Rendition
Services
Rendition
Services
Production
Artists
Production
Artists
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Collections
(Archivist, Librarian,
Art & Object)
Research
& Curation
Research
& Curation
Exhibits
Collections
Management
Library Management
(Koha)
Library Management
(Koha)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Art & Object Management
(Collective Access)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Archive Management
(ICA-AtoM)
Database Cluster
MySQLMySQL MySQLMySQL
Alfresco Cluster
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Repository
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Alfresco
Search & Ingestion
Exhibit CMS-APIExhibit CMS-API
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
IQVoc
(Human Rights
Thesaurus)
ECMS Logical Architecture Diagram
Author: Jason St. Louis
Version: 1.3
Date: October 28, 2013
CurationCuration
Web V3 (Drupal, Apache, MySQL)
CollectionsCollections

61. Results & Impacts

62. ALM
. AtoM (Archives)
. Koha (Library)
. Collective Access (Museum Collections/Objects)
. iQvoc (HRT)
DAM
. Alfresco
Search
. Solr
CMS
. Drupal
Results

63. ALM
. AtoM (Archives)
. Koha (Library)
. Collective Access (Museum Collections/Objects)
. iQvoc (HRT)
Integrated and shared data through the ECMS.
Searchable/findable anywhere.
Publishable anywhere.
Results

64. AtoM (Archives)
Results

65. Koha (Library)
Results

66. Collective Access (Objects/Artefacts)
Results

67. iQvoc (HRT & Thesauri Management)
Results

68. ITERATION & “FINAL” DEVELOPMENT
. function elaboration
- EM: using numbers for positioning instead of drag & drop
. unification of look and feel on admin sides
- having a unified UI for all modules
. module customization
- CA: customizing functions around loans (incoming and outgoing)
Results

69. Results & Impacts

70. ECOSYSTEM
95 digital installations in gallery
. kiosks
. tables
. games
. immersive
. mixed media
. linear (projection, film, sound, etc.)
1 mobile app on 2 platforms (iOS, Android)
1 enterprise Web site (incl. Reference Centre catalogue)
3 instances of Digital Signage
Impacts

71. ECOSYSTEM
95 digital installations in gallery
1 mobile app on 2 platforms (iOS, Android)
1 enterprise Web site (incl. Reference Centre catalogue)
3 instances of Digital Signage
ALL PULL THEIR DATA FROM THE ECMS
Impacts

72. THE LESSON
It’s all just data.
The most important aspect of the system design and development
was thinking long-term.
Scalability, changeability, being able to use the data later in ways you
cannot imagine right now.
Impacts

73. THE LESSON
We need to preserve things, find things, and use things.
It’s all just data.
Impacts

74. Canadian Museum for Human Rights
@coreytimpson | corey.timpson@humanrights.ca
COREY TIMPSON
THX