ConservationSpace - Frequently Asked Questions
If you cannot find an answer on this page, please feel free to direct specific questions to this email address: [email protected]
Who is participating in ConservationSpace?The National Gallery of Art serves as lead institution in a collaboration between six other partner institutions - the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Denmark's Statens Museum for Kunst, and Yale University.
|
ConservationSpace gets better over time when more documents are added to it. Imagine a search for documents in ConservationSpace where a particular surface coating treatment was used. The system will generate a list of all the cultural objects in your collection that mentioned that coating anywhere in the text of their reports.
What functionality will be available in ConservationSpace?ConservationSpace allows users to perform examinations (single object), examinations or surveys (multiple objects), treatments (single object), treatments (multiple objects), and basic document/system management. As part of these functions, the system will also include image annotation features, email/calendar integration and task/project management.
|
What makes ConservationSpace so special?ConservationSpace is an open-source system that has taken advantage of some of the most sophisticated programming available in the world today. To describe it simply, ConservationSpace creates conservation examination and treatment text documents that are surrounded by additional descriptive data that links these documents to images and any other relevant documents.
|
What are some of the added benefits of ConservationSpace? If a user chooses to scan legacy records, those documents are incorporated into ConservationSpace and link to a cultural object. This provides long-term protection of documents related to works of art because the information in the system is stored and backed up externally. Powerful symantic search capabilities allow system users to discover relationships between documents that could not be discovered when attempting to search word processing files or images stored on a standard computer disk drive.
|
What functions are expected from the first public release of ConservationSpace?The first release of ConservationSpace will focus on: examination (single object), examination or survey (multiple objects), treatment (single object), treatment (multiple objects), and basic document/system management. As part of these functions, the system will also include image annotation features and task/project management.
|
Will ConservationSpace only work with the TMS collection management system (CMS)?ConservationSpace will work with a variety of collection management systems, including TMS. As part of the development process, the system will be tested and integrated with each of the partners’ collection management systems – TMS, CollectionSpace, Voyager (library), and KE Emu.
|
Can I customize my forms and reports in ConservationSpace?ConservationSpace is designed and being built with a maximum degree of flexibility to allow conservators to adapt forms, reports, and workflow tools to suit their context and working methods. This flexibility is a hallmark of the project and a high priority for the project partners who understand the differences that exist between conservation specialties, institutional settings, and individual conservator’s approached to documentation.
|
Is ConservationSpace intended to be used only by conservators working in large institutions?ConservationSpace is accessed via a web browser so it can be used by any and all conservators who wish to use an online system to improve their record keeping, share information within an institution and manage their documentation work. While the majority of the conservators currently engaged in this project are working in institutional contexts, everyone involved is committed to creating a flexible system that can meet the need of a sole conservator working in a private practice or a team of conservators working in an institution.
|
Will I be able to use ConservationSpace on a mobile device? Initial releases of ConservationSpace will focus on desktop computing and laptop use. The project team and its software developer are aware of a conservator’s need to be able to use ConservationSpace on mobile devices. In addition, the system will also include functionality that allows a conservator to work “off-line” from a remote location and upload the data entered or created into the system.
|
What advantages will ConservationSpace offer over other documentation systems?ConservationSpace offers the following functionalities, not currently available in other documentation systems:
|
How can I learn more about the project and stay informed of its progress?For more information on ConservationSpace and to follow its development, please visit:
You may direct specific questions to the email address: [email protected] |