Hi Jonathan,
there are indeed issues with an integrated approach that from my experience are political, rather than technical. Many organisations struggle with the idea of sharing software between departments as everyone wants to retain some degree of control - at least to some extent. Then there is the issue of trust. But technically, I am a great believer that it can be done (and we have proved it on the ground in quite a few instances with some of our clients).
RDF - I hear great things about it and seems like that the new XML: the one technology that will solve all communication and interoperability issues. But I am skeptical, as I haven't really seen it implements in ways that overcome the need for middleware. And isn't ultimately that approach that you describe another layer of middleware, which (in order to work and be effective) need to be integrated with each and every system that it needs to coordinate and sync?
Best regards,
Cristiano
> I am agreeing with all that is said here. A coherent knowledge
> management environment for museums, like any organisation, is an obvious
> ambition. There are however obstacles and sometimes solutions have to be
> piecemeal.
>
> What I'd like to add to the thread is the thought that RDF, whilst it
> may indeed be handled separately for each application, may point to a
> solution because at the heart of it is the notion of co-referencing.
>
> So if we have an events management system and an object location system
> and an object catalogue system, rather than attempt to share every bit
> of data in all the systems we use an appropriate level of entity
> referencing. Hold a URI for each event, move and object in shared
> (within the institution) internet space and ensure that every time an
> object for instance is moved or used in an event, the record for that
> points to that URI, whatever system the record is in. Kinda
> super-thesauri.
>
> What do we think?
>
> Jonathan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Ben Rubinstein
> Sent: 03 September 2012 10:57
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Low cost collections management solutions
>
> On 31/08/2012 10:17, Cristiano Bianchi wrote:
>> Why cannot a more modular approach and system be imagined, one which
> museums may use to take care of all of their information (a true
> museum's knowledge management system), instead of going on using
> isolated applications, which are indeed getting more and more open and
> accessible and can of course be integrated, but require considerable
> cost and effort to do so?
>
> Hi Christiano,
>
> It can certainly be imagined! But I think it is unrealistic to believe
> that this is the end point of the path that all will converge upon.
>
> I'm sure your experience like mine is that organisations as complex as
> museums have a huge job adapting to any system and migrating/bringing
> their content up to desired levels. Even just upgrading from one
> version of a collections management system to another is in many cases a
> huge job. For all ports of the organisation to make that switch to a
> single system increases the burden.
>
> There are many different offerings around for collections management,
> for managing exhibitions, transport and so on; let alone for
> development, for education, for web presence etc. That's legitimate and
> unsurprising, because different organisations have different
> requirements, resources, and priorities. In none of these areas has a
> single product turned out to be ideal for everyone. Hence, that a
> single product will turn out to be the best solution for each part of
> the same organisation is just mathematically less likely than the
> alternative.
>
> Where there's a greenfield situation I certainly strive for the simplest
> solution - but even then I think one has to consider that some solutions
> may be too simple, either because the simplicity is bought at the cost
> of a poor fit to the requirements in some areas, or because the simplest
> solution may work for now, but be insufficiently flexible for the
> future.
>
> Even when an organisation is in a position to deploy a single unified
> solution, I not convinced it's desirable. Because organisations,
> systems, technologies, possibilities - every part of the landscape - can
> change, what was a good solution for one part of the organisation two
> years ago may not be ideal in two years time. If at that point, making
> a change for that one part of the organisation will require all parts of
> the organisation to change at once, it becomes vastly more difficult.
>
> So although I always feel the lure of a single shining new solution, in
> general I think we're better off assuming a heterogeneous landscape, and
> finding good solutions for that real world, that acknowledge that
> different bits will have to "learn to get along", and the likelihood
> that in the future different bits will need to be modified or swapped
> out, at different times; rather than trying to leapfrog these imperfect
> realities.
>
> Of course, like all generalities, this is not always correct! There are
> always other situations.
>
> best regards,
>
> Ben
>
> On 31/08/2012 10:17, Cristiano Bianchi wrote:
>> Hi Ben,
>>
>> what is the reason for resisting the idea of an integrated system,
> where all (or most) museum information would be stored and could be
> retrieved and integrated in a much easier and cost effective way than
> using APIs and middleware? Is it a practical reason (e.g. legacy systems
> that are difficult to get rid of and overcome)? Or a more ideological
> one? Or both?
>>
>> As you know, museums have been using vertical systems for years: every
> time a new need emerge, the common approach is to acquire a new
> application (sometimes checking it can be integrated with existing ones,
> but not always). Commercial organisations like yours and mine help
> museums merge these vertical applications into more integrated data
> landscapes - e.g. making collections online more accessible by creating
> narrative and interpretation through content management. For that, we
> need to extract object data from the collection management system and
> merge it with a content management system, to allow creating contextual
> information (highlights, themes, trails, exhibitions, etc) - something
> that is not always possible to do with the collection management
> software.
>>
>> The issue is: the two systems I mentioned (collection and content
> management, as well as the many more that museums use) look very
> different on the surface, but it would seem to me they all share the
> same needs in terms of data management: relational databases with
> digital asset management (I am not mentioning RDF on purpose - as that
> can be applied later). On top of that, some applications will need
> procedures and workflows, while others won't - but again, those are
> simply more modules and relational data. This applies to every other
> application a museum normally use - not simply to collection data. Of
> course I am oversimplifying the issues, but probably not too much.
>>
>> Why cannot a more modular approach and system be imagined, one which
> museums may use to take care of all of their information (a true
> museum's knowledge management system), instead of going on using
> isolated applications, which are indeed getting more and more open and
> accessible and can of course be integrated, but require considerable
> cost and effort to do so?
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Cristiano
>>
>>
>>
>> On 30 Aug 2012, at 16:20, Ben Rubinstein <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> (Getting away somewhat from the original poster's question...)
>>>
>>> On 30/08/2012 13:28, Nick Poole wrote:
>>>> I know that several larger UK museums are starting to think of their
>
>>>> 'information landscape' and how they get value to flow across
>>>> collections, documentation, digitisation, education, web and paper
>>>> publishing, retail and licensing, conservation and other functions
>>>> in as seamless and integrated a way as possible.
>>> [snip]
>>>> To put it simply, over the next 10 years, museums are going to have
>>>> to accept a lot more new data into their systems, and are going to
>>>> be asked to make it available, robustly and reliably through a lot
>>>> more output channels.
>>>
>>> I agree so far.
>>>
>>>> It seems likely that most people will follow a path from partial
>>>> integration to middleware to full systems integration and/or
>>>> refactoring. I would really love to hear from people who have either
>
>>>> found an alternative route, or are embarked on one of the approaches
>
>>>> I've described above.
>>>
>>> I'm less convinced about the end of that path.
>>>
>>> Just as there isn't a single solution for collections management, not
> least because the needs of a portrait collection differ from a general
> fine art collection differ from a natural history collection etc; so I
> don't think there will ever be a system no matter how modular that meets
> the needs of all the different parts of an organisation - and I wouldn't
> think such a monoculture would be healthy anyway.
>>>
>>> It's much more plausible to assume that data that should be shared
> outside the institution will always be managed through a variety of
> different systems; and therefore that solutions for making that data
> available will always need to involve some kind of middleware that
> retrieves, connects and aggregates data to make it available downstream.
> If not "always need to" then I'll at least go for "should" - even where
> the landscape is simple enough that you could hook two systems together
> by API, you have to assume that change is gonna come, and it's better to
> build in fire-breaks and buffers.
>>>
>>> APIs and XML and RDF and documentation standards and metadata
> exchange standards are all good and useful parts of this, that help make
> middleware solutions cheaper, more re-usable, more adaptable - but I
> just don't believe in the single, covers everything, does everything,
> integrated solution as the end point for many people's path.
>>>
>>> warm regards,
>>>
>>> Ben
>
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