eHive Open Day

Zoë Hill (Vernon Systems), Laura Whitton & Nick Poole (Collections Trust)

Collections TrustMonday 15th November 2010London

Zoë HillUK Systems Consultant, Vernon Systems Ltd

Developers of the eHive collection management system (CMS)

CMS developers since 1985

Aims of presentation:• To provide an overview of the history of eHive – why did we decide to build it?

• To demonstrate what eHive provides for collections management and online access to collections

• To introduce Software as a Service (SaaS)

• To show our future plans for the ‘instant museum website’ using our Wordpress plugins

• To demonstrate some imaginative approaches to solving collections management software problems.

Staff in New Zealand, UK, and South AfricaVernon CMS – 160 sites worldwideFocused on collections management software

600 museums worldwide

World’s first Software as a Service CMSDeveloped as a result of research in 2005

Research

Independent focus groups: Needs of small museums

Standards: SPECTRUM, Dublin Core, WebAccessibility

Questionnaires sent to museum experts

Software: New tools emerging to speed up web developmentPhoto: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Common Themes

• Problems for small museums:

• Limited IT resources & budget

• Existing software too complex

• Publishing to the web too hard

• Run by volunteers who maywant to contribute from home

http://www.flickr.com/photos/collinmel/1450793951/

eHive collectionmanagement system

Within eHive, each contributor has their own login to create and edit object records and upload images

eHive web admin for collections management functions

eHive functions

• Object cataloguing• Acquisition tracking

eHive functions

• Communities to group content• Bulk import via XML or spreadsheet• Searching and reporting• Export in text, Excel and XML formats• Public access

Example eHive user:Champs Chapel Museum of

East Hendred, UK

About the Trust, Museum and Village

• Small volunteer run organisation• Archives, heritage objects, photographs• Looking to replace existing image database• Needed to reduce costs

eHive as a possible solution?

• Richer cataloguing functionality• Public access with tagging and commenting• Web admin functions for collections

management• Outsourcing the running of the system

East Hendred Museum on eHive

Images and data converted in July 2009

• Directory page• Search and browse over 4,000 collection images

East Hendred Museum on eHive

Records tagged with search keywords

Examples of thatch construction in East Hendred

Outcomes forEast Hendred Museum

• Reduced IT budget• Public access to collection• Access to cataloguing system for volunteers

South Georgia Museum

Where are they?

About South Georgia Museum

• Remote location• No existing CMS• Museum staff onsite during summer/autumn• Remainder of year based in UK• Needed low cost way to manage collection

from both locations

The South Georgia Museum collection

eHive forum and direct support

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2496308570/

Sharing data

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/

Sharing data • Copyright issues

• Less control of where your data ends up

• eHive - 3rd party search “opt-out” option

• Creative Commons licences

• Copyright holders only

• Other categories

• No rights reserved, copyright unknown, all rights reserved

Time for a cuppa

Current development

• Rights management, including Creative Commons licences, launched in May

• Programming interfaces for integration with other websites and products

• Support for Open Archives Initiative harvesting protocol for Culture Grid

• Wordpress plugins to enable eHive users to build their own museum websites, launched in October

• Museum and collection info driven by eHive

• Represents 400 museums

• Collection records and images from 70 museums

How did the website come about?

Redevelopment of an older directory site

Vernon Systems were the successful tender for the new site

New site to be based on eHive

2006: NZMuseums focus groups• Volunteers are key - keep it

simple• Keep costs low• It should be possible to

contribute without the Internet

• Outline benefits and address concerns

Benefits for small museums

• Reduces barriers to achieving a web presence

• Unified approach across New Zealand

• Entry point into simple collections management

• Minimal funds and expertise required

• Show it to the world!

Motueka Museum

Getting museums onboard• Electronic newsletters• Museum Development Officers in the field• Training workshops

Spreadsheet for data contributors

• Could be used without an internet connection• Stepping stone between existing systems and eHive

What’s an API and what’s it doing to my museum data?

• Application Programmable Interface• The way two websites or applications talk to each

other• Data created in one place can be repurposed

Website 1

Collection Records

. . . . .

Website 2

Collection Records Redisplayed with different presentation

. . . . .

API – “the telephone line”

Why use software as a service?

• Simplifies public access• No need to buy servers or manage software• No installation• Automatic backups• Automatic updates• Fewer compatibility issues• Access from anywhere with a web connection• Smaller ongoing costs, no initial purchase cost

eHive pricing

eHive and Wordpress

• Enables a museum to build their own site

• Start from the hundreds of free themes

• Add your own graphics

• Add generic Wordpress widgets for contact forms, Flickr image feeds, embedded videos etc

• Manage static pages and regular posts

• Embed collection info from eHive within Wordpress

eHive Wordpress plugins

• Search, Explore by Tag Cloud, Explore Recent/Popular Objects, Add Tags & Comments

• Alter the appearance and content positioningFor example:

• Change field labels

• Hide fields

• Add tag clouds to side panel for the site

The old DCGP website

Was averaging 4,000 visits per month

Key points for the DCGP

• Website is central to the project for data collection, data dissemination and public engagement

• Website is very popular; averaging 4,000 visits per month

• eHive has helped to update the site, improve functionality and appearance

Built in 2001

No content management system

(CMS), so background &

project pages have remained static

Hard to navigate

between the 3 different sections of the original website

Collection content

needed to be preserved

Decision to move to eHive• Update the website - add new caches and publications

• Fresh look and easy navigation

• New functionality - CAPTCHA, more interaction and eventually Twitter

• Vernon Systems offered good advice and understanding of museums collections

• Price - very competitive and good value!

Deliberately Concealed Garments Project (DCGP) new website

Pages using the eHive plugins can include static content and eHive functions

Example of an eHive & Wordpress site with different theme

Contact Information

Zoë Hill

zoe@vernonsystems.comwww.vernonsystems.comwww.ehive.comwww.twitter.com/ehive

Useful links

• For information on images and digitisation www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk

formerly known as the Technical Advisory Service for Images (TASI)

• The newly re-vamped Collections Link website from Collections Trust has many downloadable resources and new networks

www.collectionslink.org.uk

The eHive collections management system