EmbARK DATABASE PROJECT Collections Management Systems at the Peabody Museum System Selection Database Development Data Dictionary and User Documentation Collections Management Systems at the Museum In January, 1995, we decided to change the direction of collections information automation. The automation of collections information progressed over a fourteen year period first from a time-sharing system to an in-house mini-computer system and now a client server networked environment. Previous systems were developed in-house and access to the system was through the system managers. In recent years, collections management systems written for museum applications have evolved to include user-friendly, graphical user interfaces that allow easy access to the information. These systems and several newer products have image management capability included in the basic package. For museums, where part of the appreciation and evaluation of the object is visually based, imaging is an essential component for both collections management (object identification) and public access to the information (from research to exhibitions to general audience queries). Access to the system increasingly proceeds without the involvement of specialized systems personnel. System Selection We decided that making information on our collections electronically available would be a high priority over the next three to five years, and felt that it would be desirable to find a collections management system with a public access component. The system that we chose is called EmbARK and is available from Digital Arts and Sciences Corporation of Alameda, CA. EmbARK was developed with museum partners such as the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Its data structure and management model reflect the way museums manage their collections in that it builds relationships between objects and agents (e.g., donor, registrar, curator) and allows all pertinent documentation on the object to be represented in the database. In addition, EmbARK has a user interface that is easy to learn. Image management is a primary component of the system, as is the public interface. EmbARK may be viewed in different ways by the public and the museum staff. Database Development Over the last year, the Office of Information Services and Technology has been converting electronic files from existing databases throughout the museum into a format compatible with EmbARK. The Peabody's inventory and catalogue have been developed over an almost twenty-year period, and due to the diverse nature of the collections, several of the individual databases have been somewhat idiosyncratic in nature. The task of the conversion project is to formulate a standard that will accommodate all the different types of data needed to be stored. Currently over 201,000 records have been transferred to the new system. The biggest challenge by far was mapping osteological collections data to the EmbARK database; a process which we completed in November of 1998. We have taken advantage of the customization features of EmbARK by renaming fields and files, and adding choice lists, in order to better accommodate the "special" types of collections at the Peabody. For instance, we have renamed all of the fields on page 5 of the object record, which was designed to hold information about editioned objects (of which the Peabody has none) to accommodate the data used to describe osteological collections. We have also renamed most of the fields in the conservation module so that it mimics the system previously used by that department, and we have developed and extensively used the authorities and bibliography modules provided in the system to record scholarly research about objects, especially those that are, or potentially are, part of a claim under NAGPRA. Data Dictionary and User Documentation Another ongoing project has been the redevelopment of the data dictionary provided with the system by changing definitions to better fit archaeological and ethnographic objects. This and other efforts to provide as much user documentation and training to our staff, has resulted in the development of the "EmbARK Users Web Site," developed by Lara Greenwood, the Web Manager for the Museum. It includes tutorials on EmbARK use, meeting notes, file and field definitions, other resources (such as links to standard resources), and is completely searchable. This has become part of an extensive intranet used by the Museum. Other efforts towards standardization have developed into projects such as the Anthropological Standards and Access Project (ASAP).
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