Please note that our upcoming workshop, "Integrating Museum Information Systems" with Jim Blackaby has been rescheduled to February 17-18, 1997. A course description and summary follow. Please also note that there are still a couple of spaces available in "Financial Management in Cultural Organizations" January 20-29, 1997, with Pauline Thompson of Science World. Sincerely, Brenda Weatherston Cultural Resource Management Program at the University of Victoria Integrating Museum Information Systems, February 17-18, 1997 ============================================ Bringing all your varied collections, research, library, archival, multimedia, and image materials together in a single integrated data system that serves everyone's needs has been an elusive goal in most museums-until the advent of the Internet, the development of full text retrieval systems, the implementation of SGML and HTML protocols, shared protocols for multimedia materials, and increasingly powerful computers. This workshop looks at what you must consider in designing an integrated system, with special attention to: - information management challenges and objectives - uses of integrated systems and implications for data standards and structure - data and image management - planning, programming, implementation, and evaluation - budgeting, management, and office politics Instructor: Jim Blackaby is the Senior Systems Developer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, with extensive experience in the development of information management systems in museums and heritage organizations Dates: February 17-18, 1997 Please register by: January 24 Fee: $220 Canadian (approx. $154 U.S.) Travel: Victoria is easily accessible by air or ferry from both Vancouver and Seattle Accommodation: Program staff are pleased to provide you with on-campus and off-campus alternatives COURSE SUMMARY This workshop will explore the development of an increasingly rich integrated system from existing data. This process involves manipulating familiar materials in new ways in order to provide meaningful public access to museum resources. While actually building integrated systems may be beyond the reach of many museums at this point, beginning to think about museum information resources from the point of view of integration is an important and meaningful exercise. * The organization of information Thoughts on what museums know, how they discovered it, how they store and maintain it, and how they distribute it * Integrated systems - What they are: how technology can be used to help achieve them; why you might aspire to an integrated system whether you’re ready for it or not - What they are not: the problems technology presents; the limitations of integration · Examples * A practical approach to creating an integrated system - Metadata as a concept and an approach - Ways of representing metadata with some hands-on examples - The relationship between metadata and more "traditional" approaches to representing data * Representing data - Issues of representing format as well as content - Some tagging exercises to prepare materials for viewing on the World Wide Web * Manipulating data - Models, strategies, and possibilities * Building a simple integrated resource - A hands-on approach * Multimedia - Incorporating bells and whistles - Thinking about standards for multimedia - Maintaining multimedia links * Structuring integrated resources - Establishing and maintaining relationships between parts - Integration and such concepts as parent/child relationships; concepts that bridge data sources; traditional/non-integrated searches in context of integration; data structure for utility, maintenance, and longevity * Advanced tools and techniques * New directions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For more information, please contact: ====================================================== Brenda Weatherston, Program Coordinator Cultural Resource Management Program Division of Continuing Studies, University of Victoria PO Box 3030, Victoria B.C. Canada V8W 3N6 Phone (250) 721-6119 FAX (250) 721-8774 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Visit our Web Site! http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/crmp/ Distribution List: To receive bi-monthly updates, send a request to [log in to unmask] =================================================================== UPCOMING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MUSEUM & HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS =================================================================== Financial Management in Cultural Organizations - January 20-29 Managing Archaeological Resources - Feb. 5-14 Integrating Museum Information Systems - Feb. 17-18 Curatorial Care of Artifacts - Feb. 19-28 Museums on the WWW: Enhancing Your Site - Feb. 19-21 Curatorship: Issues and Practices - March 3-8 Museums in Historic Buildings - Mar. 17-22 at Colonial Williamsburg Cultural Tourism - April 21-26 On Contract - April 28-30 Inventory & Evaluation of Historic Resources May 7-16 The Multimedia & On-line Museum May 26-31 Linking Communitites & Museums June 4-6 Preserving Masonry Structures June 9-14 The Dynamic Museum: Organizational Structure & Change July 7-12 Public Relations & Marketing Strategies Sept. 22-Oct.1 Planning in Cultural Organizations Oct. 20-25