Collection Disclosure Research Articles

Sharing data, caring for collections. Open data on collection agents affiliated with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

Linked open data on collection agents contribute to increased discoverability, accessibility and transparency of natural history collections. Despite major efforts to digitise and open up museum and university object collections, related information is often stored in internal resources. This paper describes a project conducted at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN) contributing to its collection disclosure and development initiatives. Information on historical collectors and other collection agents was transferred from the internal MfN collector wiki to Wikidata. For a total of 600 collection agents, existing Wikidata items were enriched or new items created. Special emphasis was put on linking these people to the Museum, to document their affiliation with the MfN, its collection and its archive. Within the project, an open participatory approach was taken. Several Wikidata edit-a-thons were organised to test this collaborative and innovative format for possible future application by the Museum. By opening up institutional silos and openly sharing data on agents connected to museum holdings, these data become more widely accessible and reusable, for example, as a resource for transdisciplinary provenance research.

Scientific work of the Russian State Library: Its subjects and presentation of results

The article is devoted to the modern period of research activity of the Russian State Library ‒ one of the Russian Federation’s national libraries, which, in accordance with the current legislation, are research institutions in library science, bibliography and book studies, and methodological, scientific-information and cultural centers of federal importance, participating in development and implementation of the federal policy in the field of librarianship. The article presents the main directions and subjects of the RSL’s research work in 2015–2018. In addition to traditional areas (the history, theory and practice of librarianship, the disclosure of collections, and the study of monuments of book culture), there have also been developed some research projects aimed at solving current issues of library development in the digital environment (the formation and organization of access to electronic information resources, the creation of digital services, etc.). The article demonstrates major publications of the RSL employees, representing the research results (monographs and articles, catalogues, bibliographic indexes, manuals and reference books). The article analyzes the innovations in organizing scientific activities and the achieved results (including scientometric characteristics), which confirm the status of the Russian State Library as a leading research center in the field of library science, bibliography and book studies.

Easy Listening: Spoken Document Retrieval in CHoral

Given the enormous backlog at audiovisual archives and the generally global level of item description, collection disclosure and item access are both at risk. At the same time, archival practice is seeking to evolve from the analogue to the digital world. CHoral investigates the role automatic annotation and search technology can play in improving disclosure and access of digitized spoken word collections during and after this transfer. The core business of the CHoral project is to design and build technology for spoken document retrieval for heritage collections. In this paper, we will argue that in addition to solving technological issues, closer attention is needed for the work-flow and daily practice at audiovisual archives on the one hand, and the state-of-the-art in technology on the other. Analysis of the interplay is needed to ensure that new developments are mutually beneficial and that continuing cooperation can indeed bring envisioned advancements.