Darrell Siebert

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The MOA Programme Did we really do that?
Darrell Siebert
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Collections Database Project

• interest dating from well before 2000
• trial installation of EMu by Fish Group (Zoology)
• 130,000 specimen records
• Loans system
• etc.
• EU tendering process, EMu selected
• budget of 1.6 million agreed

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MOA Programme (Museum Online Access)

• Integrate 5 Science departments in a single
  Collections Management System
• Implement consistent collection standards,
  policies and procedures
• Installation complete in 3 years
• Original proposal was 5 years
• On budget

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MOA Programme Programme Sponsor (Graham Higley,
Head LIS) NHM Project Manager (Marion
Raiser) Ke Software Project Manager (Andrew
Brown)
Programme Team (Project Manager Team Leaders)
Mineralogy D. Smith Project Team subject
experts testers
Entomology B. Pitkin C. Lyal A. Hine Project
Team subject experts testers
Palaeontology S. Long Project Team subject
experts testers
Zoology D. Siebert Project Team subject experts
testers
Botany S. Grant Project Team subject experts
testers
5
Mineralogy

• unified 14 separate data sources
• 400,000 specimen records
• 130,000 sites
• development of new Analysis module

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Entomology

• unified 13 different data sources
• 1 million catalogue records
• 710,000 collection index records
• 1.2 million taxonomic names
• significant extensions to Taxonomy module
• developed new Collection Index module

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Palaeontology

• unified 2 data sources
• 200,000 specimen records
• new Stratigraphy module
• new conservation modules
• Interventive Processes
• Condition Report

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Zoology

• unified 5 data sources
• over 1 million catalogue records
• 200,000 taxonomic names
• management of specimen, parts and preparations
• new Requisition module

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Botany

• unified gt 60 data sources
• 500,000 catalogue records
• 230,000 taxonomic names
• management of everything from herbarium sheets to
  field note books
• significant extensions to Sites for locality data

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General

• new museum-wide processes
• common loans system
• object entry acquisition
• integrated multimedia

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EMu Application Developments

• NHM a contributor to a global community of EMu
  users
• Mineralogy
• New Analysis module
• Entomology
• New Collection Index module, significant redesign
  of Taxonomy module
• Palaeontology
• New Stratigraphy and Conservation (2) modules
• Zoology
• New Requisition module
• Botany
• Significant extension of Sites module

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Data from 5 Science Departments

• Main data sources
• Mineralogy 14
• Entomology 13
• Palaeontology 2
• Zoology 5
• Botany gt 60

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EMu database records created

• 13.7 million records in total
• Catalogue records (3.1 million)
• Mineralogy 400,000
• Entomology 1,000,000
• Palaeontology 200,000
• Zoology 1,000,000
• Botany 500,000
• Taxonomy records (1.6 million)
• Other types of record

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Business Outcomes

• Single, fully integrated Collection Management
  system
• Reconciliation of curatorial policies,
  procedures, and activities embedded in EMu
• Under budget
• 1.525M
• Completed in just over 3 years
• As of 1st April 2008 EMu is a core NHM business
  system
• More done than in original prospectus
• Loans, etc.
• Established NHM as global leader in collection
  databasing

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Business Outcomes Future benefits

• Web access across whole Museum, and to the public
• Data provider
• Portals, GBIF, OAI (e.g. Google)?
• Data sharing
• With science partners
• On-going evolution of EMu system driven by our
  large, specialised user-base
• Standards for interaction with other systems

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Questions?
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NHM EMu Command Centre