Items, Collections, and Dublin Core
This unit introduces you to the main organizing principle(s) of Omeka Classic: Items (and their Collections). It also introduces you to Dublin Core, the metadata standard that is the foundation of Omeka. Additionally, this unit brings to light issues and prejudices that need to be considered during item description.
Readings and Videos
Omeka:
- Omeka Classic: Managing Items
- Omeka Classic: Modifying Item Types
- Omeka Classic: Managing Collections and Tags
Dublin Core:
- Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (NISO Standard)
- Maron, D., & Feinberg, M. (2018). What does it mean to adopt a metadata standard? A case study of Omeka and the Dublin Core. Journal of Documentation, 74(4), 674–691. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2017-0095.
Description (Choose 2 or 3 to focus on):
- Adler, M. (2016). The case for taxonomic reparations. Knowledge Organization, 43(8), 630–640. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2016-8-630.
- Antracoli, A. A., Berdini, A., Bolding, K., Charlton, F., & Ferrara, A. (2019). Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist description resources. https://archivesforblacklives.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/ardr_final.pdf. CC BY 4.0.
- Bak, G., Allard, D., & Ferris, S. (2019). Knowledge organization as knowledge creation: Surfacing community participation in archival arrangement and description. Knowledge Organization, 46(7), 502–521. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2019-7-502.
- Burke, M., & Zavalina, O. L. (2020). Descriptive richness of free‐text metadata: A comparative analysis of three language archives. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 57(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.429.
- Campbell, D. G., Guimarães, J. A. C., Pinho, F. A., Martínez-Ávila, D., & Nascimento, F. A. (2017). The terminological polyhedron in LGBTQ terminology: Self-Naming as a power to empower in knowledge organization. Knowledge Organization, 44(8), 586–591. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2017-8-586.
- Hajibayova, L., & Buente, W. (2017). Representation of indigenous cultures: Considering the Hawaiian Hula. Journal of Documentation, 73(6), 1137–1148. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2017-0010.
- Olson, H. (2001). The power to name: Representation in library catalogs. Signs, 26(3), 639–668. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3175535.
- Rigby, C. (2015). Nunavut Libraries Online establish Inuit language bibliographic cataloging standards: Promoting indigenous language using a commercial ILS. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 53(5/6), 615–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2015.1008165.
- Rinn, Meghan R. (2018). Nineteenth-Century depictions of disabilities and modern metadata: A consideration of material in the P.T. Barnum Digital Collection. Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, 5, Article 1. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol5/iss1/1/.
Items and Collections in Omeka Classic: Pragmatics
The following video introduces you to the basics of adding and editing items and collections in Omeka Classic.
Describing Items in Omeka Classic: Philosophical and Theoretical Issues
As a white, cisgender, middle-class woman who can fit into heteronormative society, I don’t feel that I am the best person to speak about the prejudices and erasures in archival description. Suffice it to say that until relatively recently, archives have typically collected materials from wealthy, white, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied men—which obviously leaves gaping holes in the historical record. Inclusive archival description (and collection) is critically important to ensure that we preserve and describe records in ways that faithfully reflect and represent their creators and subjects.
In lieu of recording my own privileged thoughts on this matter, I highly encourage you to watch the following TEDx Talk.
So, all of this is to say: Be mindful, respectful, and purposeful in the ways that you approach describing items. This advice may not be directly relevant to our sandbox Omeka site, but it is important to keep in mind moving forward.
Activities
- Add a new item (or more!) to our SILS Omeka site
- (Optional) Add a new collection to our SILS Omeka site
- (Optional) Post any questions and/or comments about this unit in the forum below.
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