The myriad duties required and expected of museums and
historical societies set these organizations apart from traditional libraries
and archives. Principally, the exhibit and interpretive missions of these
organizations introduce layers of creativity and organization of knowledge,
which researchers may never realize, while the collection and preservation
missions require knowledge of standards, systems, and practices which only
subtly affect a visitor’s experience.
The crux of the matter involves organization of the
information resource under consideration. Regardless of the type of information
resource--bone awl, Finnish loom, legislative record, vintage print, or first
edition book of poetry--using and reusing the information resource requires
management of information about the resource.
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| Information management
systems advanced significantly over the past 150 years. Clockwise from top: Scan of Original Accession Register, Photo of Card Catalog, Screenshot of Advanced Search Montana Shared Catalog |
Although the format is relatively new, management of digital and digitized information resources for both online exhibit and interpretation and collection and preservation builds upon knowledge acquired through a century of information resource management. Reformatting—digitization—is a fairly straightforward technical process. However, management of the resulting digital files requires the development and management of metadata--information about the information. The result—a digital object—includes both digital images and a metadata record structured for machine readability. High quality metadata managed within an organized system allows a user to search for and discover an information resource and to locate any derivatives.
In the past twenty years, libraries and archives improved
and refined the processes involved in the management of digital information.
These information management organizations developed procedures which resulted
in organized, searchable digital collections. Researchers who enjoyed the
methods of targeted research and serendipitous discovery appreciated access to
digital collections. However, not everyone’s online information needs were met.
Despite extensive metadata records--and the idiom that a
picture is worth a thousand words--digital objects without context quickly
contributed to an overload of information. Workaround solutions included
metadata records with detailed interpretive descriptions or the use of digital
objects as captioned illustrations in “digital exhibits.” Meanwhile,
information professionals managed information about the original and digital
resources across a technological stack neither interoperable or searchable.
As an organization responsible for collecting and preserving
as well as exhibiting and interpreting, the Montana Historical Society knows
this stage of information management quite well. The professional staff of the
MHS created the first digital exhibit Encountering Montana: Lewis and Clark Under the Big Sky
in 2001 and began making information available on the precursor of the Montana Memory Project in 2004. In the ensuing years,
nearly 50 TB of data representing a small percentage of the Museum and Research
Center’s collections have been generated and multiple digital exhibits have helped
us contextualize our digital and digitized resources.
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| Well-managed records provide enough information for items and derivatives to be located and used and reused. Clockwise from left: Screenshot of Metadata Record, Screenshot of File Manager with File, Screen Still of Photo Archives |
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| File Shown Above in File Manager Well managed information makes reusing content easier and more consistent. |
At this point, the information management needs of our
entire staff are much more advanced. These needs include electronic records
management, digital asset management, digital preservation, as well as online presentation and
interpretation. Meanwhile, the research needs and expectations of our online
visitors have also become much more sophisticated. Multiple factors contribute
to the challenges of digital information management--particularly in state
governments--yet the MHS remains committed to building on and applying over 150
years of knowledge in order to maintain the persistent link between the past,
the present, and the future.
As we advocate for our digital needs in order to
advance our mission to collect, preserve, and interpret, we invite you to share
your comments about the MHS’s online presence, role in interpreting and
analyzing digital information, and any concerns about Montana’s digital
cultural heritage.
