Dear all
This has been a really interesting thread.
From my point of view one of the problems in persuading management of
the value of putting collections records on-line is the lack of
published, well founded studies showing that Internet users want access
to museum collections records, what sort of users want that access and
what they want to do with the information. (I must admit I haven't
looked for them for a while so I would be pleased to be proved wrong).
There would still be technical obsticals, we don't have any in-house
staff with technical web-programming skills. There is also the
corporate firewall to work across.
An example of techinical issues (quoting from David Dawson):
<once the OAI gateway (effectively
a type of API) is configured (fairly easy technically, rather more
tricky to get mappings right)>
This is the bit that sounds really simple but turns out not to be!
Looking at the two organisations and collectiosn I work with can anyone
give me step by step instructions on how to set up an OAI gateway for:
(a) PastPerfect running on a Laptop under Windows XP and connected to
the Internet via a domestic ASDL broadband link (but not always
connected).
(b) MimsyXG running on a Windows2000 server on a network that is always
connected to the Internet but inside a corporate firewall.
Trevor Reynolds
Collections Registrar
English Heritage 3 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8YZ
postal address English Heritage 1 Waterhouse Square, 138 Holborn, London
EC1N 2ST
Telephone +44 (0) 207 973 3482
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