A presentation from Rachael Rainbow of Cogapp and Matt Morgan of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Museums and the Web Conference on April 14th 2012. The presentation concentrates on the research, development and outcomes of the award winning collections section of the redeveloped www.metmuseum.org website. For the full paper accompanying this presentation please see: http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/papers/providing_accessible_online_collections

1. Providing Accessible
The Metropolitan Online Collections
Museum of Art
www.metmuseum.org
Rachael Rainbow, Cogapp
Matt Morgan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

2. Content Pre-existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

3. Section 1 Pre-existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

5. Original Online Collections Architecture for
Metmuseum.org
TMS
Data
TMS
Extract
Online
Collections
Database
(CRD)
Website
Front-end

6. Section 2 Pre-existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

7. User Research Approach
User centred design approach
46 individual user interviews
Card sorting with 14 users
Iterative user testing

8. Card Sorting
Open card sort
63 artwork cards
Order of data on
cards randomized

9. Card Sorting Findings
General visitors - strong visual
response; sorted quickly
Frequent visitors - also visual but also
used familiar curatorial departments
Researchers and academics - used data
Users wanted to explore the artworks
in their context

10. “We love the marvelous conjunctions, the
curiosity chest is more exciting. I’m
reaffirming this boring Janson* breakdown
but I’m open to new ways to explore and
see.”
- Virginia, researcher / academic
*well-known history of art textbook

11. User Goals
Important to find 1. Find a specific artwork.
an entry point that 2. Find artworks by time period.
resonates with the user 3. Research specific civilizations.
4. Search by a place or country.
5. Find artworks by genre.
6. Search for paintings by 'school.'
7. Search for types of artifacts.
8. Find out about a specific artist.

12. Search Facets
Who
the artist, maker or the culture of the work
What
the technique or material used for the artwork
Where
geographic location
When
era or date the artwork was made
In the Museum
the department in the Museum

13. Section 3 Pre-existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

14. Data Issues
Different departments have different data
Spellings vary
Preferred terms may be in other languages
Data comes from multiple sources
Departments define fields differently
Granularity of terms varies

15. The Data Processor
Automated term extraction with manual
override

16. Term Matching
1. Mapping the collections data to thesauri
2. Mapping rules set by Museum staff
Enables the Museum to:
- Set preferred terms
- Exclude terms that are not meaningful to end
users or not meaningful in a specific context
- Enable inferences to be made
- Assign priorities to terms

17. Raw Input
Who – artist’s name
(+ culture for some departments)
Where – geography
(+ culture if not included in ‘who’)
+ artist’s nationality (where available)
What – medium + classification + object name
When – date
(beginning and end dates)
In the Museum – Museum department

18. Collection Object Field Data
Raw Term Filtering
Raw Term
Mapping
Raw Terms
Source Term Extraction
Source Term
Mapping Rules
Source Terms
AAT/TGN Term
Priority Rules
Source Term Matching
AAT/TGN Term
Mapping Rules
Index Terms

19. Open card sort
63 artwork cards
Order of data on
cards randomized

20. Section 4 Pre-existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

21. Solr
- Speed
- Supports custom integration
- Faceting
- Proven track record in the web search arena
- Scalable
- Commercial support available

22. Original Online Collections Architecture for
Metmuseum.org (simplified view)
TMS
Data
TMS
Extract
Online
Collections
Database
(CRD)
Website
Front-end

23. Online Collections Architecture for
Metmuseum.org - revised
TMS
Data
Online
TMS Collections
Extract Database
(CRD)
Thesauruses
AAT
TGN
Thesauruses
Knowledge Data
Knowledge
Bases Processor
Bases
Rules etc...
Website
Solr Front-end

24. Pros & Cons
Data processor Effort needed to create the mapping rules
for the data processor
Better result for end users
Reassures the curators
Solr Solr is simple yet powerful
Additional component in the system
Is performing well and returning
relevant results

25. Section 5 Existing online collection
User research
Collections data issues
The search system
Accessing the collections

26. Suggested Searches

27. Free text searches

28. Faceted search

30. Onward journeys

31. Onward journeys

32. Repeat visits, time on site, pages and visits
are all well above the earlier site’s average

33. Thank you
The Metropolitan
Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org
www.cogapp.com