Categories
Collection databases Web 2.0

OPAC2.0 – popular collection categories

In preparation for my presentation at Museums & the Web we have been busy generating a new set of user statistics from our collection database. (Which is also why the frequency of new posts has dropped!)

Objects in the collection, when ‘fully catalogued’ are assigned an object category and an object name from the Powerhouse Museum thesaurus which was first published in 1995 (ISBN 186317060X). This thesaurus is used by other museums as well.

Here are updated top 20 ‘popularity’ tables, the first by object, and the second by category. The top 20 categories indicates the broad collecting areas which receive most interest online.

Top 20 most viewed objects since launch (June 2006)

1 – (17087 views) 2005/1/1 Evening dress, beaded pink chiffon trimmed with charms, designed by Lisa Ho and made in the …
2 – (8875) 94/129/1 Evening dress, womens, `Chocolate box’, plastic / fabric, designed by Jenny Bannister for C …
3 – (7029) 95/23/1 Dress, evening, silk / polyester, designed by Jenny Bannister, Melbourne, Victoria, Australi …
4 – (6636) B1495 Aircraft, flying boat, Catalina, PB2B-2, “Frigate Bird II”, VH-ASA, metal / fabric, made by Bo …
5 – (6133) 88/4 Steam locomotive, No. 3830, iron/steel/brass, New South Wales Government Railways, Eveleigh Rai …
6 – (5504) 97/208/1 Shoes, pair, womens, ‘Super elevated gillies’, leather/ cork/ silk, Autumn/ Winter collecti …
7 – (4672) 88/5 Locomotive, full size, steam, No.1243, metal / glass, made by Davy and Company, Atlas Engineeri …
8 – (4534) 90/816 Aircraft, full-size, helicopter, Bell 206B Jetranger III, “Dick Smith Australian Explorer”, V …
9 – (4384) 2005/127/1 Clothing (9), boys, cotton / wool / metal / mother-of-pearl / plastic / paper / cardboard …
10 – (4297) 98/54/1 Bicycle, Olympic ‘Superbike’, carbon fibre / metal, Australian Institute of Sport / Royal Me …
11 – (3936) 92/405 Mantel clock, Sessions Clock Co, USA, 1905-1915 …
12 – (3557) 86/1015 Room Divider, “Carlton”, wood / plastic laminate, designed by Ettore Sottsass, made by Memph …
13 – (3481) 2006/68/1 Three piece suit, men’s, corduroy cotton, made by David Jones Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales …
14 – (3336) 2003/83/1 Chair, ‘Wiggle’, cardboard, designed by Frank Gehry, United States, 1972, made by Vitra, G …
15 – (3227) 85/1975 Armchair, `Globe’, fibreglass / aluminium / fabric / synthetic materials, designed by Eero A …
16 – (3204) 99/4/46 Model steam engine and box, donkey engine, metal / cardboard, Scorpion Superior Model / Mode …
17 – (3001) 92/305 Food safe (bush pantry), wood/ metal, unknown maker, [Queensland], Australia, c. 1925 …
18 – (2879) 7949 Locomotive, steam, No. 1, metal, hauled the first passenger train in New South Wales in 1855, m …
19 – (2798) 96/386/2 Evening dress, womens, silk, Madeleine Vionnet, Paris, France c. 1930 …
20 – (2772) L611 Aircraft, full size, Bleriot XI monoplane, wood / canvas / wire, designed by Louis Bleriot, mad …

Top 20 most popular categories* since launch (June 2006)

1 – clothing and dress (1419335 viewed objects)
2 – ceramics (1104058)
3 – numismatics (584429)
4 – pictorials (466852)
5 – textiles (394591)
6 – domestic equipment-home (320764)
7 – decorative metalwork (313593)
8 – toys (277752)
9 – arms and armour (245407)
10 – documents (235438)
11 – health and medical equipment (224492)
12 – glass (223899)
13 – jewellery (222371)
14 – models (220519)
15 – transport-land (217331)
16 – personal effects (202413)
17 – photographs (177066)
18 – musical instruments (156136)
19 – furniture (154648)
20 – juvenilia (143011)

*note – some objects belong to multiple categories

One reply on “OPAC2.0 – popular collection categories”

hi Seb,

just wanted to let you know that your paper is on-line now, at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/chan/chan.html

i’m looking forward to talking about the relationships between what you’re finding and the early analysis we’ve done for steve.museum — http://www.steve.museum — or is that desparately hoping that i’ll have a bit of free time as conference chair to talk about something other than logistics ;) maybe by the end of the week!

see you in san francisco!

/jt

Comments are closed.