Standards & efficient content creation: providing access to Te Papa’s collections & knowledge Adrian Kingston Acting Manager Collections Information Services Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Introduction Background Collections Problems Changes –Thesauri –Conceptual framework Results Still to do

Background Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Wellington, New Zealand National Museum (established 1865) National Art Gallery (established 1913) Merged in 1992, under the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act Shorter brand name is “Te Papa” New building opened 14 February 1998

Te Papa Tongarewa image

Collections Humanities Collections –Art –Photography –New Zealand History –Täonga Mäori –Pacific Cultures –International History –Archives

Collections Natural Environment Collections –Plants –Birds –Molluscs and marine invertebrates –Fish –Insects –Crustacea –Marine Mammals –Land Mammals –Reptiles

Wellington Harbour, 1894, James Nairn Wellington Harbour, 1894, James Nairn Oil on panel Gift of Miss Mary Newton, 1939

Milford Sound, 1883Milford Sound, 1883, Burton Brothers Black and white gelatin glass negative

Mere pounamu (greenstone hand club)Mere pounamu (greenstone hand club), Unknown maker kawakawa, inanga, muka

Cloak, Unknown maker, Circa 1870 Cloak, Unknown maker, Circa 1870 wool, plant fibre Gift of Te Aia Mataiapo, 1872

Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris)

land snail (Allodiscus kakano B. Marshall & Barker, 2008; holotype) land snail (Allodiscus kakano B. Marshall & Barker, 2008; holotype) collected by Alan Beu, 1957

Single crape fern (Leptopteris hymenophylloides (A.Rich.) C.Presl) Single crape fern (Leptopteris hymenophylloides (A.Rich.) C.Presl) Collected by Joseph Banks, Daniel Solander, 1769

The issues: 2005 Collections Information System needed replacement Information and media being managed in multiple ways, multiple places Lack of consistent documentation standards Very few digital images of our collection objects No access to our collections on the web Many traditional “barriers” in place of releasing content, and some misunderstanding of the internet

Centralising information Implemented new Collections Information System (KE Emu) Designed to manage all collection related information and processes, in a single system All collection related media managed (both digital and analogue), with long-term access and preservation in mind Rights and licences managed in Collections Information System, not externally Where possible, consistent description across collections Looking for existing content stored elsewhere that could be added and reused The ability for curators to records stories related to the collections and objects

Digital imaging Issue: Have a small imaging team (five staff) Their high quality images can be time intensive, and usually require moving the objects to the studio Have a large collection (three hundred thousand humanities objects, up to two million specimens) Solution: Now have a centralised system where staff could add and manage the images, including security and rights management Imaging team trained the Collection Managers and curators Basic lighting setups, and good but easy to use equipment in most collection stores Imaging is now part of audit and acquisition processes Similar concept to rapid capture Alan Newman previously discussed 13,500 images taken by collections staff in 2010 (in addition to 19,000 images taken by the Imaging Team same year)

Staff digital imaging

Information standards Previous system very “free text”, meant no consistent descriptors means no ability to search and retrieve consistently New system deliberately implemented with lots of controlled vocabulary fields; lookups, drop downs and thesauri Initially not popular with staff, felt it was too complicated and restrictive Training, tools and systems put in place to help streamline data entry

Thesaurus We use: Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) Getty Thesaurus of Geographic names (TGN) Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials, Subjects (TGMI) Because: It already existed and being used all over the world Provides hierarchical browsing, “alternates” and “used for” terms, scope notes, and lots of other content we didn’t have to create However: Thesaurus management in CIS not perfect, took development work with us and the vendor Put much effort into migrating and normalising existing data as starting point Has taken five years of cataloguing to get content to the richness it currently has But 100 years of backlog cataloguing still to expand on, so a long way to go

Local thesauri Mäori and Pacific terms not covered well in AAT Sometimes the western understanding of a concept is different to that under Mätaranga Mäori (Mäori knowledge) Need to catalogue in English and indigenous languages for appropriate description and ease of access and understanding Inserting new terms into existing AAT structure Can contribute back to AAT, possibly improving the description of Täonga Mäori (treasures) in collections around the world

Local thesaurus terms Mäori specific Nephrite (AAT), bowenite (AAT) –Pounamu (Mäori name)Pounamu Kawakawa Inanga Kahurangi Tangiwai

New Zealand English specific –Bach, Crib alternates for “Vacation houses” Local thesaurus terms

My mother’s bach at Piha, 1930s, Eric Lee-Johnson My mother’s bach at Piha, 1930s, Eric Lee-Johnson Gelatin Silver Print Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds

New conceptual framework Semantic relationships, meaningful relationships between objects, artworks, specimens, people, places, terms, topics, taxonomy Addition of relationship types, i.e., how is a concept, person or place related to an object: e.g. “depicts”, “influenced”, “refers to” Previously hidden relationships are now visible, and browseable Cataloguing for access, not just collections management Significant conceptual change, but is now part of normal cataloguing processes All managed through the Collections Information System Based on CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model –ISO 21127:2006 –

Collection objects Topics The 1885 Industrial Exhibition On the afternoon of Saturday 1 August, 1885, in a huge building on the corner of Wellington’s Lambton Quay and Stout Street, the Governor General opened the New Zealand Industrial Exhibition. The 655 Government Buildings Government Buildings, completed in 1876, cost £39,000. They represented the change from provincial government to central government in New Zealand. The size of the structure meant that, for the first time, government ministers… Made by Refers to Worked at Died at Born at Depicts Collected at Refers to Made at Depicts Refers to Wellington Brian Brake Sir Julius Vogel People & organisations Alexander Turnbull

Sir Julius Vogel Refers to Alexander Turnbull Worked at Died at Born at Made by Depicts Collected at Refers to Made at Depicts Refers to Government Buildings Government Buildings, completed in 1876, cost £39,000. They represented the change from provincial Refers to Wellington Carte de visite - Portraits for people The carte de visite (calling-card photo) was the first type of photograph produced on paper DepictsRefers to Depicts Biography of Julius Vogel He was born in London to Albert Vogel and Phoebe Isaac. His parents separated when he was six, and Julius was brought up by Refers to Died at Auckland Brian Brake Depicts Made by Pablo Picasso Depicts India Made at Made by Made at Is type of Baskets Is type of The PlaySchool toys Blah bl;ah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Refers to James BraggeMade by Refers to Beards Depicts Hair Narrower Born at Died at Albumen prints Refers to Type of Made by 1895 Industrial Exhibition On the afternoon of Saturday 1 August, 1885, in a huge building on the corner of Wellington’s Lambton Quay and Died at Refers to

Results Example: Captain James Cook (person) A search for “cook” gives results for Cook Islands, Mount Cook, cooking utensils, and many objects that are some how related to the word “cook” But now you can find the actual person Captain James Cook You can then see the objects, places and stories related to him, and how they relate

Results Example: Christchurch (place) Uses the Thesaurus of Geographic Names Allows for additional rich content supplied by the Getty Research Institute Allows geographic browsing Takes advantage of semantic relationships

Partnerships Collections Online is a great base for exploring and learning about Te Papa’s collections, however Te Papa doesn’t hold all knowledge New Zealand is too small for institutions to be competing with each other Partnerships make our collections available from other places, and also allow the public to find information from across institutions New Zealand Virtual Herbarium Getty Research Institute, others coming up DigitalNZ –Te Papa contributes metadata –Collections Online searches the DigitalNZ repository

DigitalNZ example

Results 200,000 objects available 85,000 images Increased awareness of importance and opportunities in digital access internally Virtual visit numbers rival physical visits to the museum, which is good (as Te Papa is the most visited museum in Australasia), but needs to be better People are sharing links, and blogging, so shows a degree of satisfaction

In progress Usability/Redesign (we know, it’s kind of ugly) Mapping further mapping of the collections (e.g. for understanding species distribution, but also seeing where an artist worked over their career) Allowing re-use of images and data (depending on copyright and indigenous rights, but as open as possible)

Still to do API for external access to our collections data Other tools to help people blog and share our collections Allow other people to do the work, we concentrate on providing access to the best content we can, that is where our strength is Mobile access, other forms of access? Ongoing enhancements to functionality Ongoing improvement of the information

Summary Long path, but good framework in place now Used standards to ensure consistent description, which enables consistent and meaningful retrieval and understanding Cataloguing for access, not just Collections Management Use of thesauri and other tools to make efficient and meaningful links between collections and knowledge Make it “business as usual”, not a separate project or process Provide access to as much of the collections as possible Provide access to our research and knowledge as well the collections