New Free Platform Aims To Ease Sharing of Digital Collections

A new Web platform for publishing collections and exhibitions online got a nod of fame last week when it was referenced in The Washington Times profile of George Mason University's Center for History and New Media, which the paper called "at the forefront of the new wave of collecting history." The free, open-source platform is named Omeka, a Swahili word meaning "to display or lay out goods or wares; to speak out; to spread out; to unpack."

The goals of the development effort are to create a platform that lets users publish Web content with a system that is low-cost and easy to use; to provide a standards-based, interoperable system that allows users to share and use digital content in multiple ways; and to facilitate the building of communities around objects and primary sources.

Omeka, which is currently undergoing private beta testing, includes the following features:

  • A metadata structure and standards-based design that is accessible and interoperable.
  • Professional-looking exhibit sites that showcase collections without hiring outside designers.
  • Theme-switching for changing the look and feel of an exhibit in a few clicks.
  • Plugins for geolocation and bi-lingual sites.
  • Tagging to enable users to add keywords to items in a collection or exhibit.
  • Blogging to allow the site to keep in touch with users through timely postings about collections and events.
  • Syndicating to keep users updated about content with RSS feeds.

The Center is working with the Minnesota Historical Society to plan, design, test, evaluate and disseminate Omeka in four phases through September 2010. It will be released under General Public License, version 2.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Garners OpenAI Support

    ChatGPT creator OpenAI is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.

  • stylized illustration of an open laptop displaying the ChatGPT interface

    'Early Version' of ChatGPT Windows App Now Available to Paid Users

    OpenAI has announced the release of the ChatGPT Windows desktop app, about five months after the macOS version became available.

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • Jetstream logo

    Qualified Free Access to Advanced Compute Resources with NSF's Jetstream2 and ACCESS

    Free access to advanced computing and HPC resources for your researchers and education programs? Check out NSF's Jetstream2 and ACCESS.