Presentation to the KE Emu User Group about the possibility of developing Museum content as Cloud-based linked data.

1. INTO THE CLOUD: NETWORKING MUSEUM INFORMATION 04.06.09

2. Contents Re-introducing the Collections Trust Cultural Publishing – the last decade Beyond your website – aggregation & syndication What is the Cloud? Collections Management as a Service Semantics and Linked Data Challenges and Opportunities

4. Collections Law Commerce Technology Knowledge Consumers Collections Trust

5. 10 years in development... 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

6. 10 years in development... 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 The transition from manual systems towards electronic documentation well advanced. Structural and procedural standards beginning to emerge

7. 10 years in development... 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Early development of museum ‘brochureware’ websites Some innovative work presenting virtual experiences based on collections The heyday of digitisation begins

8. 10 years in development... 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Increasingly sophisticated and complex interactive websites Collections data increasingly integrated into the user experience Starting to blur the boundaries via federated search, RSS feeds, mobile platforms

9. 10 years in development... 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Less and less about ‘your’ website and increasingly about multi-platform, multi-channel content Reaching a larger and non-traditional audience by syndicating content to media partners Moving from content proliferation to content on-demand, and scalable economic models

10. Beyond your Website: Aggregation and Syndication The underlying principle of Content Management Publish once, re-use many times That re-use is no longer limited to your website Enables us to move from being single-channel to multi-channel BUT You no longer control the context in which users consume your information Puts us in the same competitive environment as publishers and broadcasters

11. Mass-market audiences Mass-market services Grid Cultural databases Sector-specific services Sector-specific audiences

12. What is the Cloud? The Internet Your organisation Infrastructure Storage Software

13. What is the Cloud? The Internet Your organisation Infrastructure Storage Software

14. Collections Management as a Service Based on the principle of Software as a Service Buy disk & install software Install on a server and roll out via a network Purchase and download software online Access and use software via the Web

15. Collections Management as a Service...from this... Museum A Museum B Museum C Museum D Museum E Procedures Procedures Procedures Procedures Procedures CMS CMS CMS CMS CMS Content Content Content Content Content

16. To this... Museum A Museum B Museum C Museum D Museum E Procedures Procedures Procedures Procedures Procedures CMS (as a hosted application) Content Content Content Content Content

17. Potential benefits... Cheaper software (because of reduced support costs) Features developed for one client can cascade to all Smoother upgrade path & version control Less demand for technical maintenance on the client side Inherently interoperable systems and data Access to shared resources such as terminology & help Data hosted remotely & outside Local Authority domains

18. Potential risks... Perceived loss of ‘ownership’ Depends on good, consistent connectivity Localised/individual development is harder Local Authority firewalls

19. Semantics and Linked Data The Internet is dumb about its own content But all the information it needs is there in the web pages and PDFs Linked data is the next evolution of metadata Metadata is data within your system which describes your information Linked data is data within many other systems which can describe your information

20. Semantics and Linked Data Your Database A record On the 2 nd June 2009, Nick Poole spoke at the KE Emu User Group meeting in Bristol

24. Challenges These developments are all about the trade off between relinquishing control now in the belief that it will drive greater usage of your content in the future. Website statistics are a blunt instrument, but at least they exist. The world of aggregation and syndication is very light on evidence. There is a belief among funders that the value of investment in ‘digital culture’ is locked away in storage (sound familiar?). Aggregation and syndication are regarded as the way to unlock this value. These developments always raise issues of organisational change, including lack of trust, loss of confidence, perceived loss of connection to the ‘real’ stuff. The pace at which we have moved from ‘stock control’ to ‘content’ is faster than our ability to keep up – with the result that much of our content isn’t ready to be aggregated

25. Opportunities Reach a lot more people Reduce the operational overhead on information creation and management Reduce the operational overhead on maintenance and infrastructure Open up new sources of funding and new partnerships The potential to explore a Web 2.0 style collaborative approach to meaning

26. Shameless plug... Come and find out more about our work, the state-of-the-art in CMS development and see the KE team at Collect, the free Collections Management trade fair Date: 26 th June 2009 Venue: Commonwealth Club, London Time: 10.00 – 16.00 Register at: http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/collect

27. Thank you! Nick Poole Chief Executive Collections Trust www.collectionstrust.org.uk www.collectionslink.org.uk http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk Twitter: www.twitter.com/collectiontrust (#collectionstrust)