Sharing Your Digital Projects and Data – Omeka

Later in our hands-on session, we will be using Omeka.

To participate you will need to create a new account at http://omeka.net/signup, and download the archive of files at http://digitalnomad.ie/introtoomeka.zip. Please do this as soon as possible so things are ready to go in the second half of the session. There are details on both of these at the Introduction to Omeka tutorial we will use later.

This workshop uses two Tutorials:

• An Introduction to Omeka
• Creating Exhibits with Omeka

It also uses the data files available at http://digitalnomad.ie/introtoomeka.zip.
Please download these to your desktop at your earliest convenience.

WordPress versus Omeka as Digital Object Management Systems? Hmmmmm.

Ok. An unfair match as first and foremost, these two powerful tools are not mutually exclusive and can be used together extremely effectively. However, in the context of how we explored them, what is of import to a digital humanities scholar is when the choice of one of these two over the other makes the most sense given the specific requirements of your project to collect, manage and curate your digital objects. This seminar attempted to answer this question by exploring the nature of each and looking to examples of where they are in use today.

There are a multitude of ways to share your research data. Conventionally academic research has been refined, reduced and submitted for consideration and publishing through journals and monographs. Increasingly scholars are sharing their immediate findings or raw data through social media or self-published online tools. New and alternative ways of sharing have changed the nature of engagement and collaboration between researcher and audience. Although traditional tools remain both popular and requisite, humanities scholars face a wider variety of communication avenues and choosing between them or using them in harmony raises new challenges.

WordPress is unabashedly a Content Management System (CMS), Omeka a Digital Collection Management System (DCMS). Both offer rich functionality but approach similar tasks from divergent perspectives. How can we distinguish between them and decide which is most appropriate to your needs?

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform in the world today. Current data indicates that it powers over 25% of the websites on the internet today and has evolved from being a simple means of sharing short topical posts to a more robust content management system. Omeka is an increasingly popular tool for making collections of digital objects available for public consumption by harnessing metadata and providing a structured approach to digital storytelling.

Although these two tools are dissimilar in approach, many scholars are finding new and innovative ways to utilise them for their academic use.

Advance Readings

1. ‘WordPress: Where it’s come from and where it’s going‘
2. ‘Omeka and It’s Peers‘
3. Why WordPress’ Biggest Strength Is Also Its Biggest Weakness

Resources and Readings

1. The Fleischmann Diaries (WordPress)
2. Breakout Examples:
   1. The Case of the Getty Kouros
   2. http://buildinghistory.iit.edu/about
   3. History of the US National Mall
   4. Battersea Arts Centre Archive
   5. Making History
3. Metadata Galaxy
4. Europeana
5. Digital Public Library of America
6. Gothic Past (Omeka)
7. Working with OAI-PMH: http://www.archive-it.org/oai or EuropeanaOAI
8. Mukurtu
9. Omeka.org
10. Omeka.net
11. LoCloud.eu
12. Dublin Core Builder
13. Where We are Going
14. Tutorial 1: An Introductory Tutorial
15. Tutorial 2: Creating Exhibits using Omeka Tutorial
16. Neatline Example: Digital Declaration of Independence

1. Omeka for Millenials
2. Greenfield Guide to Creating Omeka Exhibits
3. Using Omeka to Host Digital Collections: Metro Case Study
4. Santa Cruz University Library

1. The Tutorial site on Omeka.net
2. The Tutorial site on Omeka.org
3. The Tutorial site on Omeka S