Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with database and archive

Help me crowdsource an archival project for my public radio show.

melodykramer — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:05:51 -0800

I am trying to create a search-able, browse-able archive for the public radio show I work for. I would like ask our audience to help me populate this archive, because there are many tech-savvy people in our audience -- and it seems like a project that could easily get done through crowdsourcing. I'm looking for software/websites/advice for managing a large crowdsourced project to make sure the archive is accurate. My goal is to reduce emails to the show saying things like "I remember hearing an interview with an author who did this, but I don't remember who." The archive, as envisioned, would be browse-able by year, month and week.

I have a friend who is helping me create a database populated with material from an API query for the past few years. However, many of the variables for older shows would need to be filled in by hand because they don't exist in the API or aren't fleshed out the way recent entries are. I'd like to ask our audience to help with this part, if they'd like.

I also have a dream of connecting the material somehow to other variables for guests, so that people could search our show by categories like: topic, guest birth date, show host, month of broadcast, etc. I don't know how to do this.

I am looking to connect with people/software/websites that will make this easier. I know the NYPL did something crowdsourced with menus. If you've worked on a crowdsourced project -- or something similar, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Looking for a (free) online database system

mooza — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:33:54 -0800

I am on the lookout for a free online database and would like your opinion on the options out there. I produce a radio show for a community radio station and am trying to find a cheap (free) way to maintain a database of content that we produce. I'm trying to catalogue the show's weekly content, and then on a deeper level want to establish and maintain a database for all the interviews/guests we have, and be able to tag the entries about the content for future use. It needs to be online so that other volunteers can access the information as well.

I can use Google Spreadsheets to a point but I find it clunky and the lack of a list function really bums me out. Has anyone used Grubba or FlexLists? Can you share your opinion on any other online database management systems out there? I'd really like to incorporate tagging and keywords into the system, but if Google docs is the best option, so be it. Any archivists among you who can chime in?

Please help me to figure out if any library catalog entries were lost during a file transfer from an old to a newer computer.

dancingfruitbat — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:13:33 -0800

Please help me to figure out if any library catalog entries were lost during a file transfer from an old to a newer computer. Attention please librarians, statisticians and other wonderful, helpful people. I'm doing a cataloging project in the archive for a small arts non-profit. I had been entering new books for several months into the catalog database, Athena. The very old computer that had been in use crashed without backup, but somehow revived. We (myself and two non-librarians) were able to transfer what seems like most of the files (floppy to flash in MARC) to another newer (but still old) computer, but there may still be some entries that were lost.

Another librarian I spoke with proposed that I conduct a random sample of the collection (books only) to try to determine if everything was transferred. I have no experience with random sampling other than a very brief overview in library school. I am not even sure where to start or if there may be a better solution. I don't think that there is a count of how many books are in the collection or if it I even need to know this information. Any advice or references would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Can you help a British artist choose his database software?

Chichibio — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:02:06 -0800

Do you have any experience working with art gallery-specific database systems? I'd love some advice on choosing the right software to help organize a mid-career artist and his sprawling archive. I've just started a partnership with an established artist on a specific project. I was brought into the fold via a mutual friend who was recently hired as the artist's admin, and she has the formidable task of organizing years and years of this guy's back catalog. Contacts, editions, fabrication tracking, client lists... so far everything has been run on the proverbial wing and prayer, but now that we're on board its been decided that a revamp is in order.

The artist wants to install a LAN in his Mac-based studio, and have us share access to some central database software that can keep track of all the relevant info. The problem is that none of us have used off-the-rack art gallery software before, and now we're paralyzed by the choice. We have no consistent IT support, so we want a package that will do it all for us instead of having to build our own.

So far we've found three promising database systems:

Artsystems Studio looks like the most relevant to our needs (it's also the least expensive) but would require us to run it through XP. They claim a native Mac version is on the way, but we don't really want to wait.

Artlogic has the benefit of being a British-based company, but it's a cloud-based database, with all the attendant pros and cons.

EmbARK is apparently the go-to DB for heavy-duty museums, which might be overkill for our needs.

All three systems have impressive client lists, making it hard to differentiate utility by reputation. Have you used one of these databases and are able to sing its praises/deficiencies? Are we exaggerating the problems of running Windows software through a Mac, or using cloud databases? Is there another DB that would provide a better option? This previous question does have some relevant answers (including Artbase which I'll have to look into) but I'm hoping for some opinions on the programs listed above.

All hail the hive mind in its infinite wisdom!

Make an online list of books I've read?

CelebrenIthil — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:04:35 -0800

Do you know some sort of online database of books where you can make a profile and compile a list of what you've read? (more explanation) Maybe you know of websites like anime-planet or even last.fm? Both offer means to create some sort of personal listing of anime you've watched/songs you've listened to. (or if you speak French, the website allociné does this for movies and tv series (I'm sure there is an English equivalent, IMDB maybe... anyways))
As a corollary, they also offer different nice perks like suggestions of other anime/musical groups you might like based on your tastes, reviews and the such.

I don't really need the latter features but I'd really love if there was some website I could build a list of the books I've read. I read an awful lot and I can't remember all those books after a while, but I'd really want to. I've tried noting them on papers and the such but it always gets lost and it's not easy to refer to them quickly afterward.
I just recently found one such a list during spring cleaning, a very old list with lots of stuff I had forgotten I had read! I decided I really had to find a proper way to list my readings!

A website like this is awfully convenient as you can share your list easily with friends, and I imagine the website would hold a big database of books so you can browse it and find stuff you had forgotten the title of, maybe even see the covers for those with a visual memory, and so on.

Now, as a final note, in case there is such a website, but it's a "specialized" one (listing only one or a few genres), I'm mainly a reader of Fantasy and Sci-Fi so I'd be looking forward something holding those genres in their list.

Thanks a lot, and I hope I'm making sense!

What blogs/books should I read before creating an archival database?

melodykramer — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:39:04 -0800

I'm making an archival database (in Excel) with about 10,000 rows and 6-7 columns for each row. I'm doing this so the information will be easy to cross-reference and search. I've never done anything like this before and am looking for books, blogs, etc. for tips, suggestions, and anything that will make my life and this project easier.

CMS for a university research project website?

oulipian — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:10:06 -0800

Deciding on a CMS for a university research project website: Wordpress, Joomla, or Drupal? I am designing and developing a website for a university research project about the natural and human history of a particular geographic area. Here is an example of a similar type of website. The website will allow searching and browsing of a media archive (historical maps, photos, documents, and so on), with features such as advanced search, guides for teachers, an interactive map, a timeline, and so on. The website will be powered by a CMS which a small team of researchers will use to add content to the website. But which CMS?

I have extensive experience developing websites that use Wordpress as a CMS, and am considering using it for this project. I think the research team would appreciate Wordpress's easy-to-use interface. However, I am wondering if there is any compelling reason why I would be better off using Joomla or Drupal for this project. I have not used either before although I learn new systems fairly easily, and have enough time to do so. I am not considering other CMSes besides these three, as if I am going to learn a new system, I want it to be Joomla or Drupal.

My main issue with Wordpress is that the built-in search is hopelessly inadequate for this project, and so far I've been unable to find any plugins which are much better.

To sum up: Can Wordpress work for this project, or should I use Joomla or Drupal?

Thanks. As a small add-on, I am also interested in finding more examples of research websites such as the one I linked to above.

Is there a cheap digital archive solution for a non-profit?

Magnakai — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:37:36 -0800

What's a good system for a non-profit to set-up and manage a digital archive of somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 text, pictures, sound and video items? It needs to be accessible by multiple people at the same time and be easily searchable. So basically I sometimes work for a neat little non-profit cultural organisation that has its roots in a relatively unique historical building. That building is approaching it's centenary, and we've got a teeny bit of funding to do some heritage work. Part of this work is making an archive of materials related to the history of our institution. This would be overseen by the heritage officer, who is a smart cookie but not super au-fait with complicated IT stuff. Information would be input by her and a team of volunteers. We have pretty much no money and we don't want it to be high-maintenance, as it's mostly an internal archive.

The heritage officer has asked me, as the defacto computer person, to look into how we should do this. We could get a very cheap copy of Access through CTXchange and use that, but I'm hesitant to wrap up what's meant to be a long-term archive in proprietary technology. I also have no idea how to get started with it, and it seems very unfriendly at first poke.

My first thought was to create an SQL/XML/something else open database and somehow convince someone to write an HTML/PHP front end. That would let multiple people connect to the site and input data at once. We could then plug in some sort of search program to do comprehensive searches. The main problem I have is that editing fields seems inaccessible for the heritage officer and her volunteers. I'd also want the locations of the media to be linked from the front-end, and pictures to be embedded and visible.

Right now we've got four PCs hooked into a Windows 2008 server. I'm supremely unsure about what to do from here. Options would be to do an IIS server and host a database on the server, or just have it on our file server portion of the 2008 server.

Any ideas would be welcome, especially something pre-built!

Powerful, Web-friendly media indexing?

mykescipark — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:36:51 -0800

I work on the production team for a long-running public radio program. We have a massive archive of shows in digital format (MP3 and AIFF) which we need to collate into a powerful and highly flexible database - something like iTunes, but much more advanced. Does a program exist to do this? The program should meet the following criteria:

- Simple interface (usable by audio pros and administrative staff alike)
- Resides on a server (audio files can be shared and accessed on-demand by multiple users)
- Web-interfaceable (outside users can log on and access database via the Web)
- Streaming and preview capability (users can listen to files before pulling from server)
- Flexible indexing and search (can be searched or sorted by media type, artist, show name, etc.)
- Permissions capabilities (files are "read-only" to most, but read/write to certain key staff)
- Supports (and, preferably, generates) ID3 and other media tags

At the moment, it is strictly for internal use only, but there is some possiblity that we will convert it into a storefront in the future so folks can buy archived shows directly from the database ... but I'm not worried about that right now.

Is there a really high-powered media indexing program that can do all of these things? Or at least a significant subset of them?

Cataloging Music CD Collection

B_Sovereign — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 09:43:30 -0800

What's a good low-cost software that will archive my music cd information? I have a moderate-sized CD collection (about 600) that I want to catalog on my PC (I'm moving the discs and booklets to sleeves from the plastic cases). I'm looking for a piece of software that will lookup the information (like most media player software does) and put it into a database. Since the only sw I can find online cost $40 and up, I am looking for alternatives, or at least recommendations.

internet archives other than archive.org

aladfar — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:45:41 -0800

Where archive.org fails: I'd like to research the development of news websites - specifically those established by traditional media companies (CNN, The New York Times, etc). While archive.org is a valuable resource, many of the sites I'd like to look at block the automated scripts (robots) that make archiving possible. What's more, some of the sites archived are woefully incomplete and are missing images, etc. Is there an alternative to archive.org or another resource that I might use? I've given some thought to looking at design books from the early 90's in the hopes that they contain screenshots. While this is a more laborious way to go about the research, it might work. Any suggestions on that front would be welcome.

What I'm trying to do is trace the design evolution of online news - how it's adjusted to changing screen resolutions, coding languages, audience demands, etc. While I can find old copies of newspapers at the library, finding old versions of websites has proven extremely difficult.

Setting up a document archive of text files and links.

johnnydark — Sat, 04 Sep 2004 06:02:11 -0800

I need to set up a database-driven document archive of mostly text files and links. I want the archive to have a tree structure and allow the public to browse it without logging in. I want each file to have a description. I prefer PHP or Perl and need to use it on a shared hosting account. I would think something open source like this would be out there, but I can't find it. Any advice?