exploring museum collections online: the quantitative method

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Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method Frankie Roberto, Science Museum [email protected]

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A slightly adjusted (better described) version of the presentation given at Museums and the Web 2008.

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Page 1: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Frankie Roberto, Science Museum

[email protected]

Page 2: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

It all started at a ‘Mashup workshop’ here...

Page 3: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

If you want to mashup museum object data, you’ll come across 3 problems:

Page 4: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

If you want to mashup museum object data, you’ll come across 3 problems:

1. Getting It - museum data isn’t always accessible

Page 5: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

If you want to mashup museum object data, you’ll come across 3 problems:

1. Getting It - museum data isn’t always accessible

2. Structure - the format of the data varies across museums.

Page 6: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

If you want to mashup museum object data, you’ll come across 3 problems:

1. Getting It - museum data isn’t always accessible

2. Structure - the format of the data varies across museums.

3. Dodgy Data - data is often full of errors, typos and incomplete fields.

Page 7: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

There are 3 traditionally-advocated

solutions to these problems

Page 8: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

1. Getting It = APIs

Page 9: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

1. Getting It = APIs

Page 10: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

2. Structure = Metadata standards

Page 11: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

2. Structure = Metadata standards

Page 12: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

3. Dodgy Data = Hard Work (data entry)

Page 13: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

3. Dodgy Data = Hard Work (data entry)

Page 14: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

These may be good solutions, but they’re all hypothetical, and rely on other people

doing things sometime in the future.

I’m not interested in perfection, I just want data that’s...

Page 15: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Good Enough(Assez bon)

...and I’ll return to this slide if we start to get bogged down in a search for perfection.

Page 16: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

So here are my alternative solutions to

the 3 problems...

Page 17: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

1. Getting It = Screen Scraping

Page 18: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

1. Getting It = Screen Scraping

Or...

Page 19: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

1. Getting It = making a Freedom of Information request

Page 20: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

2. Structure = Crude data mapping

A Simple Format

Museum X Museum Y

Museum Z

(some logic) (some logic)

(some logic)

Page 21: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

3. Dodgy Data = Just say...

Page 22: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

3. Dodgy Data = Just say...

Good Enough(Assez bon)

Page 23: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

I’m also interested in how we’re displaying museum collections

data online.

Page 24: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

This is the usual approach:

Page 25: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

This is the usual approach:

Page 26: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Or like this:

Page 27: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Or like this:

Page 28: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Or this...

Page 29: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Or this...

Page 30: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

...basically, an image with a description.

Page 31: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

...basically, an image with a description.

Page 32: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Which is all well and good, but doesn’t give you much of a sense of

this...

Page 33: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

The objects as a collection.

Page 34: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

So I sent an FOI request to a bunch of

museums.

Page 35: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

...and this was the response:

Page 36: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 37: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No

...and this was the response:

Page 38: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

...and this was the response:

Page 39: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 40: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

...and this was the response:

Page 41: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London

...and this was the response:

Page 42: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

...and this was the response:

Page 43: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery

...and this was the response:

Page 44: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

...and this was the response:

Page 45: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 46: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes

...and this was the response:

Page 47: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

...and this was the response:

Page 48: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool

...and this was the response:

Page 49: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No

...and this was the response:

Page 50: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

...and this was the response:

Page 51: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery

...and this was the response:

Page 52: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No

...and this was the response:

Page 53: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

...and this was the response:

Page 54: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 55: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No

...and this was the response:

Page 56: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

...and this was the response:

Page 57: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries

...and this was the response:

Page 58: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes

...and this was the response:

Page 59: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

...and this was the response:

Page 60: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 61: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes

...and this was the response:

Page 62: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

...and this was the response:

Page 63: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries

...and this was the response:

Page 64: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

...and this was the response:

Page 65: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

Victoria & Albert Museum

...and this was the response:

Page 66: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

Victoria & Albert Museum Yes

...and this was the response:

Page 67: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

Victoria & Albert Museum Yes 2.9GB XML file on DVD

...and this was the response:

Page 68: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

Victoria & Albert Museum Yes 2.9GB XML file on DVD

Wallace Collection

...and this was the response:

Page 69: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Museum Granted? Response

British Museum No “3-4 days and over £1000”

Imperial War Museum No none

Museum of London No none

National Gallery No none

National Maritime Museum Yes 50 Excel spreadsheets

National Museums Liverpool No “More than 2.5 days”

National Portrait Gallery No “Information on website”

Natural History Museum No “70m specimens”

Royal Armouries Yes 50MB CSV file

Sir John Soane’s Museum Yes Word document

Tate Galleries No none

Victoria & Albert Museum Yes 2.9GB XML file on DVD

Wallace Collection No none

...and this was the response:

Page 70: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

This is the data I was after:

Page 71: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

This is the data I was after:

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

How?

Page 72: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

This is the data I was after:

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

How?

collector/curator

object type

country of origin

year of acquisition

acquisition method

Page 73: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

And these are some examples of

the data I got...

Page 74: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Who?

Page 75: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Who?

hoped-for data: “Henry Wellcome”, “curator x”

Page 76: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Who?

actual response: no data

hoped-for data: “Henry Wellcome”, “curator x”

Page 77: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

What?

Page 78: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

What?

target data: tag-style descriptors in the form of this is an x

Page 79: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

What?

target data: tag-style descriptors in the form of this is an x

actual data: categories in the style of‘Horological Instruments’,

‘Coins & Commemorative Medals’,‘Jewellery’

Page 80: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

What?Mapping process

‘Firearm’‘Edged weapon’

‘Furniture’‘Glass’

‘Merchant Ship Plans’‘Miscellaneous Antiques’

firearmweaponitem of furniturepiece of glasswareship planantique

Category Object-type tag

Page 81: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

What?Mapping process

‘Firearm’‘Edged weapon’

‘Furniture’‘Glass’

‘Merchant Ship Plans’‘Miscellaneous Antiques’

firearmweaponitem of furniturepiece of glasswareship planantique

Would it be better to try and parse the title?

Category Object-type tag

Page 82: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where?target data: country-level location

(list of countries from ISO website)

Page 83: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where?

“Netherlands”

“Clydebank, Cumbria, England”

“Barrow, Cumbria, England:

“Germany”

“Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland”

“Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England”

“Birkenhead, Merseyside, England”

“France”

“Sheernet Dockyard, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England”

“Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England”

“England”

“Dockyard, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England”

“Dockyard, Devonport, Devon, England”

“London, England”

0 750 1,500 2,250Number of objects

Page 84: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where?

“Netherlands”

“Clydebank, Cumbria, England”

“Barrow, Cumbria, England:

“Germany”

“Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland”

“Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England”

“Birkenhead, Merseyside, England”

“France”

“Sheernet Dockyard, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England”

“Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England”

“England”

“Dockyard, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England”

“Dockyard, Devonport, Devon, England”

“London, England”

0 750 1,500 2,250Number of objects

Some examples of the actual data:

Page 85: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where?National Maritme Museum: 1,496 unique place_made strings

Tricky cases:

“probably Germany”“Asia”

“possibly: Chatham Dockyard”“USSR”

“Far East”“Continental Europe”

“Arabia”“Italy or England”

“Persia”“Czechoslovakia”

Page 86: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Good Enough(Assez bon)

Page 87: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Good Enough(Assez bon)

This is where you have to ignore some data and say...

Page 88: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

When?

19051935-0412/09/0613/04/0928/06/96

190519352006 (possibly)1909 (probably)1996? 1986?

Page 89: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

When?target data: year of acquisition

19051935-0412/09/0613/04/0928/06/96

190519352006 (possibly)1909 (probably)1996? 1986?

Page 90: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

When?target data: year of acquisition

(this should be easy)

19051935-0412/09/0613/04/0928/06/96

190519352006 (possibly)1909 (probably)1996? 1986?

Page 91: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

When?target data: year of acquisition

(this should be easy)

actual data:

19051935-0412/09/0613/04/0928/06/96

190519352006 (possibly)1909 (probably)1996? 1986?

Page 92: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

How?

Page 93: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

How?

anticipated: donation / purchase / loan

Page 94: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

How?

anticipated: donation / purchase / loan

real data: gift / purchase / bequest / transfer / transfer from MOD / transfer; gift / purchase; transfer / loan / Sale / deposit / Acceptance in Lieu of Tax / Acquisition / Exchange / presented / museum copy / Allocated by the Naval War Trophies Committee

Page 96: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Lessons from politics

This site uses publicly-available House of Commons data. Would someone create a MuseumsCollectForYou.com?

Page 97: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Lessons from politics

This site uses publicly-available House of Commons data. Would someone create a MuseumsCollectForYou.com?

Page 98: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Issues

Page 99: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Issues

• All objects are counted equally.

Page 100: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Issues

• All objects are counted equally.

• How can we add photographs?

Page 101: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Issues

• All objects are counted equally.

• How can we add photographs?

• Should we incorporate user interactions and annotations?

Page 102: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

Page 103: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

• Prototype site online: http://www.museum-collections.org

Page 104: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

• Prototype site online: http://www.museum-collections.org

• Get data from more museums?

Page 105: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

• Prototype site online: http://www.museum-collections.org

• Get data from more museums?

• I’m happy to share the data

Page 106: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

• Prototype site online: http://www.museum-collections.org

• Get data from more museums?

• I’m happy to share the data

• Who’s role is it to do this stuff?

Page 107: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Where next?

• Prototype site online: http://www.museum-collections.org

• Get data from more museums?

• I’m happy to share the data

• Who’s role is it to do this stuff?

• Would it also work for private collections (eBay addicts)?

Page 108: Exploring Museum Collections Online: The Quantitative Method

Thanks!(presentation originally given at

Museums and the Web 2008, Montreal)

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/papers/roberto/roberto.htmlSee also my written paper: