Exhibition Index Re-Launch, New Collection Features and Tagging Update

The most exciting thing we’ve got going online this week is the re-launch of our Exhibition Index. The original index (below, left) has been online for some time, but had been limited to a listing format linking to basic pages on our Library server. With the recent launch of our Collection online, the time seemed right to grab this exhibition data and migrate it fully into the online Collection.

ex_library.png ex_collection.png

The re-launch (above, right) allows this resource the same features as our Collection including a more visual layout, community-driven comments and Posse favs—yay! I get to favorite Click!. Some records may seem a little sparse at times—especially for the older exhibitions dating back to the 1840’s where we don’t always have photos or complete dates, but we will be working with Angie Park in our Archives Department to scan and OCR historical press releases. Over the next several months, we hope to add these to exhibition records to fill-out information and give some additional context.

In addition to the exhibitions, we have a few new features going into the collection this week. Related audio and video can now be embedded right into the collection interface (example). We’ve just implemented a way to add related links to display on any object record (example). Lastly, we’ve established a method to display gallery label copy on records (example), which provides some nice context for objects (thank you Francesca & Erin). While none of these additions are earth-shattering, all three allow us to maximize the time and effort that went into existing content and integrate all of these elements we’ve been working on for a long time.

Now for a quick update on the state of tagging (a.k.a., our Posse is awesome). The collection has been live for roughly two months and in that time we’ve seen a lot of participation. In looking at the 3,772 records with images, 76% of those objects have been tagged by Posse, while another 19% have been tagged anonymously. At this point, only 5% of our records online (again, those with images) have no tags. In terms of tagging sources, we’ve seen:

  • 7,498 tags contributed by Posse using the collection interface
  • 12,623 tags contributed by Posse using Tag! You’re It
  • 3,821 tags contributed by anonymous taggers using the collection interface

The quality of the tagging has been impressive—I’d suggest browsing the top tagger profiles to see what I’m talking about. We’ve received some great feedback worth noting, so take a look at the comments on this record and this one for examples of various conversations surrounding tagging issues.

Shelley Bernstein

Shelley Bernstein

Shelley Bernstein is the former Vice Director of Digital Engagement & Technology at the Brooklyn Museum where she spearheaded digital projects with public participation at their center. In the most recent example—ASK Brooklyn Museum—visitors ask questions using their mobile devices and experts answer in real time. She organized three award-winning projects—Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition, Split Second: Indian Paintings, GO: a community-curated open studio project—which enabled the public to participate in the exhibition process.

Shelley was named one of the 40 Under 40 in Crain's New York Business and her work on the Museum's digital strategy has been featured in the New York Times.

In 2016, Shelley joined the staff at the Barnes Foundation as the Deputy Director of Digital Initiatives and Chief Experience Officer.

Friday, September 26th, 2008
, ,
Technology