Case Study: 6
BAM Project: Common Internet Portal
for Libraries, Archives and Museums (Germany)
Themes
Web-portal for Libraries, Archives and Museums in Germany enabling users to search the data of libraries,
archives and museums simultaneously and to navigate from search results to digital representations.
Keywords: Portal, Germany, cultural heritage information, standards (metadata, vocabularies).
Relation to wider policy agendas
e-inclusion: widen access to cultural heritage information
e-learning: research opportunities, enhanced learning planned for next stage
Demand
BAM is a follow up to the work of MusIS (Museum Information System). MusIS was initiated in
1994 by the Ministry of Science, Research and Art of Baden-Württemberg with the aim of providing
a technical and documentation infrastructure for the state museums. This involved eleven institutions
with about 500 employees and a wide range of cultural and natural history collections. None of the
museums had internet access and appropriate online presentation at that time.
Description
- to offer online access to information about cultural heritage from all domains of knowledge
(books, written documents, objects)
Products/ service:
- Basic online information about the partner institutions;
- Metadata with references to online finding aids and online catalogues.
- Full-text-retrieval throughout the different institutions and domains;
- Research in defined data fields;
- Support by authority-file-related subject headings and keywords;
- Hierarchically structured subject headings (hyperlink-list).
Barriers/constraints:
- The fact that there is currently no access for visually impaired people;
- Recognition that multilingualism should be on the agenda, but that it will complicate the
project and will require the development of solutions regarding metadata and vocabularies/standards.
Keys to success:
- The involvement of a critical mass of institutions able which are able technically and willing to participate;
- The ability to offer interesting facilities and to make available interesting information.
Impact
- BAM has contributed to the efforts of the national coordination group EUBAM and the European
coordination programme MINERVA;
- The retrieval function is of great interest to scholars and students although no user-survey has been
done as yet;
- A nationwide interest in participating in the next stage of the project.
Dissemination of lessons learned
National and international presentations
Domains involved
Museums, libraries, archives
Geographical coverage
Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Standards/Guidelines used
Dublin Core,
DLmeta,
Encoded Archival Description
In the next stage: METS and CIDOC CRM and research into the 'Schlagwortnormdatei' (SWD)
from the Deutschen Bibliothek and the MACS project (Multilingual Access to Subjects) -
coordination of the subject headings of SWD, Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the British Library.
Partnership
Bibliotheksservice-Zentrum Baden-Württemberg
Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg
Stiftung Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit in Mannheim
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Bundesarchiv
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz
(Geheimen Staatsarchiv, Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Institut für Museumskunde)
Funding sources
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft:
200.000 EURO per annum
Lifespan of project
2001-2003, April or May 2005 for 18 further months
Status of project
The first stage (2001-2003) of the BAM-project was focused on the development of a prototype of
tools to present an retrieve digitised material about literature, text documents and objects related
to the topic 'patents' and 'hydraulic power'. From 2005 BAM is hoping to receive more funding to expand
the project nationally.
Relates to
BAM Portal
Host Organisation
Bibliotheksservice-Zentrum Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Organisation type
Project organisation hosted by lead partner: BSZ
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