Another of the many incremental changes slowly being added to the Museum’s collection database went live today – Wikipedia citation code. You can now find this at the bottom of each object record (for example this Lawrence Hargrave Photographic Print) and if you happen to be editing an article in Wikipedia and need to reference [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Collection databases'
Actual use data from integrating collection objects into Digital NZ
October 31st, 2010 1 Comment
Two months ago the New Zealand cultural aggregator Digital NZ ingested metadata from roughly 250 NZ-related objects from the Powerhouse collection and started serving them through their network. When our objects were ingested into Digital NZ they became accessible not just through the Digital NZ site but also through all manner of widgets, mashups and [...]
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Launch of the Powerhouse Museum Collection API v1 at Amped
October 18th, 2010 7 Comments
This weekend just gone we launched the Powerhouse Collection API v1. For the uninitiated the API provides programmatic access to the collection records for objects that are on the Powerhouse website. For the technically minded, Version 1 returns JSON, JSONP, YAML and XML through a RESTful interface – chosen mainly so that interested people can [...]
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Crossing the ditch – integrating our New Zealand objects with Digital NZ
August 26th, 2010 2 Comments
If you use to regularly read this blog then it probably seems like it has been quiet here but in fact we’re still in one of the busiest periods ever. Today, though, some light through the clouds. Our friends at Digital NZ (run by the National Library of New Zealand) switched on New Zealand-related Powerhouse [...]
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Full screen zooms and image tweaks in our collection
August 26th, 2010 4 Comments
If you are a regular user of our collection database you might have noticed some very minor tweaks recently. One of the most obvious is a change to how we show object images. For objects with small and low-quality images we’ve turned off zooming (example). Instead these images now explain why they are not available [...]
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Malcolm Tredinnick on some problems with working with our collection dataset
July 5th, 2010 Comments Off
Down at the recent Pycon we were excited to hear that Malcolm Tredinnick had taken the downloadable collection dataset from the Powerhouse and was using it to demonstrate some of the issues with working with (semi-)open datasets. His presentation reveals what every museum knows – the datasets that exist in our collection databases are inherently [...]
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Will schools use collection content? The Learning Federation Pilot Report
July 15th, 2009 Comments Off
Over the last 12 months the Powerhouse, along with the National Museum of Australia and Museum Victoria, has been involved in supplying collection data to joint pilot project between the Le@rning Federation (TLF) and the Council of Australasian Museum Directors (CAMD) from March 2008 to May 2009 Museums have always had difficulty preparing material to [...]
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Another OPAC discovery – the Gambey dip circle (or the value of minimal tombstone data)
April 27th, 2009 1 Comment
New discoveries as a result of putting our incomplete collection database online are pretty common place – almost every week we are advised of corrections – but here’s another lovely story of an object whose provenance has been significantly enhanced by a member of the public. … If your organisation is still having doubts about the value of making available un-edited, un-verified, ageing tombstone data then it is worth showing examples like these.
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Australian Dress Register
December 14th, 2008 Comments Off
One of the side projects the team launched recently was the Australian Dress Register. The Australian Dress Register will document significant and well provenanced men’s, women’s and children’s dress in New South Wales dating up to 1945. It aims to assist museums and private collectors to recognise and research their dress collections and support better [...]
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