Nick et al
I've been grinding on far too long in this thread, so I'll bow out by agreeing with Nick's last point:
"...I'm into the idea of aggregating the process of generating folksonomies so that the
ontologies themselves become part of a distributed commonly-accessible web
service."
It sounds complex but actually it's good sense.
JP
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-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Poole [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 February 2006 10:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Electronic Museum news - Feb 2006
Dear Perry,
Funnily enough, work is afoot on the persistent identifiers issue. It wouldn't be hard at
all - there are a few common identifiers currently in use across museums (DOMUS
number, Registration Number, MDA code, possibly a couple of others...), so there is a
sound existing basis for the work.
On folksonomy, time is the thing, and if we are going to overcome the fear factor, we
do need to accept this. As we've seen with existing projects like Steve, the initial
results are pretty chaotic. It's only when you have a significant number of people
contributing from different contexts that large-scale stable patterns of classification
begin to appear.
All of which means that the results of a folksonomy-led approach would look pretty
odd for a little while before they started to make sense. I think we need to be brave nd
not try to quality-control the process while it is emerging (I want to coin a new term -
falsonomies - for what happens when people deliberately put in incorrect
classifications, just for fun).
There's an interesting implication for interoperability here. If different institutions are
using different folksonomic classifications for the same thematic groups then they
can't share semantically meaningful data, which would be kind of ironic. That's why
I'm into the idea of aggregating the process of generating folksonomies so that the
ontologies themselves become part of a distributed commonly-accessible web
service.
My head hurts, but this is a top strand!
Nick
On 3 Feb 2006 at 9:49, Bonewell, Perry wrote:
> "So the challenge for all cultural publishers, as I see it, in
> |this Web 2.0 era, is to find ways to imprint on published
> |objects at the tiniest, lowest level, metadata clues to things
> |like institutional identity, museological values and agreed
> |semantic connective terms or tags. "
>
> This process should be put into motion now. An online register or
> resource with persistent identifiers for all museums could be set up
> fairly easily I think.
>
> Plus - if we're keen on the public adding their own tags and
> folksonomies why shouldn't we be comfortable with Museums doing the
> same thing for their own collections?
>
> This would express institutional identity and while there would be
> minor variations in categorisation (if everyone were left to their own
> devices - and why not) as long as broad descriptions were enforced at
> a more general level the specifics could be left to take care of
> themselves.
>
> If the folksonomie model is going to be embraced then over time the
> public will add their own tags - museum taxonomies would become just
> another way of describing the same things (in the context of the www
> that is).
>
> As long as it can be ensured that visitors, users, aggregators or web
> applications know exactly where the information is coming from and
> that it is authentic, why worry about creating more standards?
>
> Its not as if we're asking the public to rewrite our own databases for
> us.
>
> Perry
>
> Great thread this BTW!
>
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: Jon Pratty [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> |Sent: 02 February 2006 15:49
> |To: [log in to unmask]
> |Subject: Re: Electronic Museum news - Feb 2006
> |
> |
> |Brian
> |
> |It may have been Lorcan, but it's also been one of the key
> |phrases we've used about RSS for the last three three years -
> |we're taking content out to meet the user, rather than trying
> |to attract the user towards the content.
> |As you say, Brian, this all sounds simple, but if you think
> |about the implications of it, we're now getting into a
> |situation where we are publishing 'particles' of content to be
> |discovered in search engines. This calls for new kinds of
> |marketing techniques. Yes, we need to consider how to brand
> |the content in this new digital environment. We need to
> |signify it as coming from an accredited museum or gallery
> |source; it needs to stand out in a Google search as being
> |trustworthy and 'official'.
> |
> |So the challenge for all cultural publishers, as I see it, in
> |this Web 2.0 era, is to find ways to imprint on published
> |objects at the tiniest, lowest level, metadata clues to things
> |like institutional identity, museological values and agreed
> |semantic connective terms or tags.
> |
> |Jon Pratty
> |
> |Editor
> |24 Hour Museum
> |01273 820052
> |07739 287392
> [log in to unmask]
> |
> |The National Virtual Museum
> |Britain's Best Museum and Gallery website - Web User Magazine
> |Best Educational Website, New Statesman New Media Awards, 2005
> |
> |
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: Brian Kelly [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> |Sent: 02 February 2006 13:35
> |To: [log in to unmask]
> |Subject: Re: Electronic Museum news - Feb 2006
> |
> |
> |On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 16:01:24 -0000, Jon Pratty
> |<[log in to unmask]>
> |wrote:
> |
> |>Brian, Nick, Mike et al.
> |...
> |>I'm producing a paper for Museums and the Web (yes, I know it's
> late!) |about some of the ideas raised in this thread. Have a look
> |here: http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/abstracts/prg_300000787.html |
> |Hi Jon | I like the title "The Inside Out Web Museum". Was in
> Lorcan |Dempsey who talked about "the library going to the user rather
> |than the user going to the Library" in a Web 2.0 world (soory |I
> can't find the reference). Anyway your article seems to |have some
> similarlites with that thought. | |>Worrying about whether certain
> technologies are 'stable' is important. | |But let's not forget that
> Web 2.0 isn't just about |technnologies - it's a descriptive term
> (just as terms such as |"Blairite" or "Thatcherite" aren't formal
> definitions, but may |help to provide a shared understanding). | |So
> as regards the hype over 'mashups', let;'s not get too |worried about
> whether the technologies are mature - let's |remember that the Library
> world has been working on combining |catlogues for many years and has
> a great deal of experiences |in both the technocal aspects and the
> social/human aspects |"But I'll lose my library's branding"). | |Brian
> | |>Jon Pratty |> |>Editor |>24 Hour Museum |>01273 820052 |>07739
> 287392 |>[log in to unmask] |> |>The National Virtual Museum
> |>Britain's Best Museum and Gallery website - Web User Magazine Best
> |>Educational Website, New Statesman New Media Awards, 2005 |>
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