The past month has gone by in a blur!
The Museum is preparing for our fundraiser, the 2011 Hall of Fame gala. This year we are honoring I. Jon Brumley, Dr. Sam Gibbs, William Kleine and the team of Mack Chase and John R. Gray. Invitations are out, thanks to some great and dedicated staff members and volunteers! The event is next Thursday night. Do you have your seat reserved?
The last week of March, I went to Austin for the Outcome Based Evaluation of the Train to Share grant program which I have participated in for the past several years. Team members from all over Texas congregated to discuss individual and organizational successes (and not-so-successes) for the grant as well as offer some reflection and insight into the program itself, with suggestions for the future.
That week also saw the installation of the new exhibit in the Davidson Gallery: Extra Virgin Petrus Oil by Mery Codigna Collet, a Venezuelan artist who uses petroleum and its by-products to highlight serious concerns. Her method is fascinating: she paints on pieces of plastic, then layers them facing the canvas. The result, in my opinion, is a high-gloss painting with depth. You must see them in person! Mery had a successful gallery talk and opening last Tuesday.
Tomorrow, the Archives Center will be undergoing some changes too. With the Train to Share grant, we have been able to purchase a networked server dedicated to the Museum's Library & Archives Center. The server will house the various files and digital objects (photographs) as well as the collection management database which all will be accessed from the computers in the Center.
Among those activities, we have been fielding requests for photographs and research materials. We are definitely staying busy! Of course, May is shaping up to be a busy month too....
Showing posts with label Train to Share. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Train to Share. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
January Wrap-Up & February Preview
I cannot believe the first month of 2011 has come and gone already! Things have been seemingly low-key at the Museum this month.
One major accomplishment for January: I completed my major project of creating an accession register for the archvies & library donations since 1965. It's nice to know what the Museum actually has! Not only did I create an electronic register (thanks to Excel), I also added most gift/donation information to our collection management database Re:Discovery. With time, and practice, every piece in our collections should be searchable in the database! That will allow us to better serve researchers, visitors and just interested people! Next step? Conducting an inventory to match up actual items (objects, books, manuscripts, etc) with the information. Wish me luck!
Now I can also turn my attention to the Train to Share project I've discussed multiple times here. We are finally ready to start uploading the digital objects and their associated metadata! Hopefully the team will be able to upload our 1000 objects!
Lately, I've also been very busy with researchers and other visitors looking for photographs. In fact, one Friday (typically a quiet day for the Archives Center) I had three appointments and a conference call scheduled. I had to schedule another researcher for the next week because I was so busy! It's great that the Library & Archives Center has had such a demand!
February will be a busy month for the Museum. On the 17th, we'll host our third Family Science Night of the [academic] year: Inventions! Come to the Museum between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. to learn and explore well-known and not-so-well-known inventions. Lemonade and cookies are provided! Then, a couple of days later, the Museum will host Read-A-Rama on Saturday, the 19th. Come explore the wonderful world of reading and literacy!
One major accomplishment for January: I completed my major project of creating an accession register for the archvies & library donations since 1965. It's nice to know what the Museum actually has! Not only did I create an electronic register (thanks to Excel), I also added most gift/donation information to our collection management database Re:Discovery. With time, and practice, every piece in our collections should be searchable in the database! That will allow us to better serve researchers, visitors and just interested people! Next step? Conducting an inventory to match up actual items (objects, books, manuscripts, etc) with the information. Wish me luck!
Now I can also turn my attention to the Train to Share project I've discussed multiple times here. We are finally ready to start uploading the digital objects and their associated metadata! Hopefully the team will be able to upload our 1000 objects!
Lately, I've also been very busy with researchers and other visitors looking for photographs. In fact, one Friday (typically a quiet day for the Archives Center) I had three appointments and a conference call scheduled. I had to schedule another researcher for the next week because I was so busy! It's great that the Library & Archives Center has had such a demand!
February will be a busy month for the Museum. On the 17th, we'll host our third Family Science Night of the [academic] year: Inventions! Come to the Museum between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. to learn and explore well-known and not-so-well-known inventions. Lemonade and cookies are provided! Then, a couple of days later, the Museum will host Read-A-Rama on Saturday, the 19th. Come explore the wonderful world of reading and literacy!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Digital Preservation Management
Last week I was in Austin for a two-day workshop on Digital Preservation Management.
I know what you're thinking ... "But aren't you really concerned with preserving 3D objects?" The short answer is yes and no. Yes, my role here at The Petroleum Museum mostly deals with the 3D objects in the Permanent Collection, as well as the 2D objects (documents, manuscripts, photographs) in the Archives and the books and periodicals in the Library.
However, with this Train to Share grant project well underway, I am increasingly concerned with the digital files created from scanning our photographs. How does an organization deal with all these digital "objects" and their relevant information? The Digital Preservation Management (DPM) workshop attempted to answer that question among others.
The biggest take-away for me from the workshop is the image of the three-legged stool. Digital Preservation relies on three elements equally: technology, organization, and resources; it cannot stand on a single leg.
If any leg is underdeveloped, or overdeveloped, and the stool is whobbly, digital preservation will not last for the long-term. DPM is something one has to carefully plan and invest in.
While The Petroleum Museum is not quite ready for long-term digital preservation, we are on our way, especially thanks to the Train to Share project. The worksthop provided tools so that our institution could invest fully in digital preservation in the future.
I know what you're thinking ... "But aren't you really concerned with preserving 3D objects?" The short answer is yes and no. Yes, my role here at The Petroleum Museum mostly deals with the 3D objects in the Permanent Collection, as well as the 2D objects (documents, manuscripts, photographs) in the Archives and the books and periodicals in the Library.
However, with this Train to Share grant project well underway, I am increasingly concerned with the digital files created from scanning our photographs. How does an organization deal with all these digital "objects" and their relevant information? The Digital Preservation Management (DPM) workshop attempted to answer that question among others.
The biggest take-away for me from the workshop is the image of the three-legged stool. Digital Preservation relies on three elements equally: technology, organization, and resources; it cannot stand on a single leg.
If any leg is underdeveloped, or overdeveloped, and the stool is whobbly, digital preservation will not last for the long-term. DPM is something one has to carefully plan and invest in.While The Petroleum Museum is not quite ready for long-term digital preservation, we are on our way, especially thanks to the Train to Share project. The worksthop provided tools so that our institution could invest fully in digital preservation in the future.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Digitization
As promised, I bring you the second half of my TLA Digitization Expo presentation, already in progress ...
Shortly after I started at The Petroleum Museum, the Development Director Luanne Thornton forwarded an email to me with an invitation to apply to the Rescuing Texas History grant. UNT's Portal to Texas History would offer mini-grants (ranging from $25 to $2500) to organizations with at-risk local history materials. According to the email announcement:
I have previously mentioned the Portal to Texas History on this blog here.
Through this grant, the Museum received enough funding to digitize 368 images (with UNT responsible for metadata). We sent several small collections of photographic prints and negatives from the Museum's Library & Archives Center, all dealing with Texas from the late 1890s through the 1950s. Peruse the Museum's collection of images at UNT's Portal to Texas History here under the Recent Additions tab.
The purpose of the Portal to Texas History is to make materials available to the public, from academic university researchers to report-writing fourth graders to the amateur history enthusiast. This, in turn, is the purpose of museums, libraries and archives. These organizations are here for the public's benefit.
Soon after receiving the Rescuing Texas History grant, the Museum was recruited to participate in the Train to Share grant program, a project administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Learn more about the project here.
The Petroleum Museum has partnered with the Confederate Reunion Grounds in Mexia, Texas, and the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. As a state-wide team, we will attend a series of 5 workshops to learn how to plan, create and complete a digitization project. Then we'll digitize and make accessible 1000 digital objects. Our project title is "Earth, Wind, and Fire: Texas Energy Resources." The grant covers workshop expenses plus $3000 (over the 3-year timeframe) per team. (I actually just returned from the fourth workshop, Principles of Controlled Vocabulary and Theasurus Design, in Lubbock, Texas.)
This partnership has allowed even further collaboration. You see, the online module of The Petroleum Museum's collection managment database was cost prohibitive. So, the Museum has signed a Memo of Understanding with Texas Tech. The University will provide storage and access to their online module (DSpace) while the Museum will enter data and create the digital objects.
With the fifth workshop around the corner, things are getting in gear to get the project off the ground. As of now, I have identified three small photographic collections to include in the project. Those images have been catalogued and scanned. I will be trained on how to use DSpace in June. After training, I'll start posting those images online. Also, with the grant monies, I plan to purchase a network server for the Library & Archives Center for image storage and database access.
So that encompasses the digitization efforts at The Petroleum Museum. I am very excited about sharing images from the Museum's collections with the public online. Leave a comment to share what you think!
Shortly after I started at The Petroleum Museum, the Development Director Luanne Thornton forwarded an email to me with an invitation to apply to the Rescuing Texas History grant. UNT's Portal to Texas History would offer mini-grants (ranging from $25 to $2500) to organizations with at-risk local history materials. According to the email announcement:
This project promises immeasurable benefit to cultural heritage institutions by preserving at-risk historical materials. These items are in danger of being lost forever, but with the generous support of the Summerlee Foundation, UNT proposes a solution that will help prevent damage from continued handling, while making these valuable historical materials widely accessible to all Texans.
I have previously mentioned the Portal to Texas History on this blog here.
Through this grant, the Museum received enough funding to digitize 368 images (with UNT responsible for metadata). We sent several small collections of photographic prints and negatives from the Museum's Library & Archives Center, all dealing with Texas from the late 1890s through the 1950s. Peruse the Museum's collection of images at UNT's Portal to Texas History here under the Recent Additions tab.
The purpose of the Portal to Texas History is to make materials available to the public, from academic university researchers to report-writing fourth graders to the amateur history enthusiast. This, in turn, is the purpose of museums, libraries and archives. These organizations are here for the public's benefit.
Soon after receiving the Rescuing Texas History grant, the Museum was recruited to participate in the Train to Share grant program, a project administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Learn more about the project here.
The Petroleum Museum has partnered with the Confederate Reunion Grounds in Mexia, Texas, and the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. As a state-wide team, we will attend a series of 5 workshops to learn how to plan, create and complete a digitization project. Then we'll digitize and make accessible 1000 digital objects. Our project title is "Earth, Wind, and Fire: Texas Energy Resources." The grant covers workshop expenses plus $3000 (over the 3-year timeframe) per team. (I actually just returned from the fourth workshop, Principles of Controlled Vocabulary and Theasurus Design, in Lubbock, Texas.)
This partnership has allowed even further collaboration. You see, the online module of The Petroleum Museum's collection managment database was cost prohibitive. So, the Museum has signed a Memo of Understanding with Texas Tech. The University will provide storage and access to their online module (DSpace) while the Museum will enter data and create the digital objects.
With the fifth workshop around the corner, things are getting in gear to get the project off the ground. As of now, I have identified three small photographic collections to include in the project. Those images have been catalogued and scanned. I will be trained on how to use DSpace in June. After training, I'll start posting those images online. Also, with the grant monies, I plan to purchase a network server for the Library & Archives Center for image storage and database access.
So that encompasses the digitization efforts at The Petroleum Museum. I am very excited about sharing images from the Museum's collections with the public online. Leave a comment to share what you think!
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