[MCN-L] free Digital Asset Management Database for museums

[Richard Rinehart]

Hello members of the MCN community,

I'm proud to announce that, through a partnership between MCN and the 
MOAC consortium, MCN is now distributing to you, the members, a new 
free software tool for managing and sharing museum digital 
collections content. A description of the tool follows below and you 
can download it with documentation from the MCN website at:

http://www.mcn.edu/resources/index.asp?subkey=1980

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Digital Asset Management Database (DAMD)

Building on previous successful work in the areas of standards and 
online collections access, the new MOAC software tool, the Digital 
Asset Management Database (DAMD), has been developed as both a 
utilitarian tool and as a test case for exploring more general issues 
of content sharing and community tool development.

This tool has two primary functions that can be used together or 
separately: it provides basic digital asset management for simple to 
complex media objects and it easily transforms collections 
information into an extensible variety of standards-based XML 
formats, such as METS and OAI, to allow even small organizations 
without technical staff to share their collections broadly and 
participate in building a national network of culture.

DAMD was developed as an "open solution," built on FileMaker Pro 
software (8.5 or above) because of the broad base of installed users 
of FileMaker in the museum and arts communities. DAMD is available 
for free to cultural organizations. The tool, and its unique 
export/transform functions (detailed in the documentation), are 
open-ended, allowing organizations to customize the tool for 
themselves or the community to improve the tool for all.

Thanks to funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 
DAMD is now ready to be shared freely with the cultural heritage 
community.

Here you may download your own copy of the Digital Asset Management 
Database (DAMD), which works in FileMaker Pro Version 8.5 or above 
for Mac or Windows. The download includes a PDF version of the DAMD 
manual, with annotated screenshots.

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This tool was developed by the MOAC consortium and the Berkeley Art 
Museum with support from the IMLS. You can find out more about the 
project that lead up to the release of this tool, "MOAC: Community 
Toolbox", at:
http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/moac/

I'd like to thank IMLS for supporting this project and the MCN 
leadership for distributing this tool to the community. Enjoy!
-- 


Richard Rinehart
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Digital Media Director & Adjunct Curator
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
bampfa.berkeley.edu
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University of California, Berkeley
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2625 Durant Ave.
Berkeley, CA, 94720-2250
ph.510.642.5240
fx.510.642.5269