Presentation at the LIFE-SHARE Project's Digitisation Collaboration Colloquium, in Sheffield, March 2011. Uploaded with permission.

1. Virtual and Actual:Collaborative Digitisation at the V&A Douglas Dodds March 2011

2. Outline The V&A The Word & Image Department Documentation Systems Search the Collections The Factory Digitisation Project Related Digitisation Projects Conclusions 2

3. 3 The V&A The UK’s national museum of art and design 2.7 million objects 4 main sites: V&A at South Kensington Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green Blythe House, Olympia V&A website Curatorial departments: Asia Childhood Furniture, Textiles & Fashion Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass Theatre Word & Image

5. National Art Library

6. Prints and Drawings Study Room

7. 20th Century Gallery, in the Library 7

8. Artists’ books in the National Art Library

9. V&A Documentation Systems 9

10. V&A Digital Asset Management System

11. V&A Website

12. The William Morris Question

13. Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: OCLC Report, 2008 13

14. Beyond the Silos: V&A Attendees Word & Image Library Archives Prints, drawings and paintings Other Collections Departments Online Museum (V&A website) Collections Documentation Learning and Interpretation

15. Beyond the Silos: V&A Outcomes Enhancements to “Search the collections” Extensive discussions about new V&A website Greater focus on cataloguing Collections digitisation working party established New digitisation projects under way Existing projects expanded Greater involvement in strategic decision-making 15

16. Search the Collections (Earlier Version)

17. Search the Collections (Current Version) 17

18. Search the Collections: Lightbox 18

19. Search the Collections: Individual Record 19

20. Search the Collections: Downloading

21. Search the Collections: Downloading: the Small Print

22. Search the Collections API Application Programming Interface (API) …. Everything the API knows about is searchable by keyword. Simply pass your query string to the search interface in the q GET parameter http://www.vam.ac.uk/api/json/museumobject/search?q=wooden+door Keyword searches in specific fields You can filter your museum object search results by type, people, places. materials, techniques and categories Object Type and Title To find necklaces: http://www.vam.ac.uk/api/json/museumobject/search?objectnamesearch=necklace Or The Hay Wain: http://www.vam.ac.uk/api/json/museumobject/search?objectnamesearch=hay+wain People and Places Search on a specific artist or maker: http://www.vam.ac.uk/api/json/museumobject/search?namesearch=josiah+wedgwood ….

23. Search the Collections on the iPhone 23

24. Google Images 24

25. FABRIC Project Prototype 25 (Image of Fabric prototype screen)

26. The Factory Project

27. The Word & Image “Factory” Project Started in December 2007 Systematic digitisation and documentation of prints, drawings, paintings and photographs Using high-res cameras and large format scanner Also scanning & keying-in text from V&A publications & catalogue entries 27

28. Factory Production Lines Audit Conservation and storage Photography Cataloguing

29. Transferring Earlier Published Catalogue Entries

30. Older PDP catalogue entries

31. Public Catalogue Foundation Summary catalogue of oil paintings Provided basic images and descriptions Records could then be further enhanced Your Paintings (PCF/BBC) 31

32. National Inventory Research Project University of Glasgow Funded by Kress Foundation 2 researchers, for 10 months Enhancing records for European paintings Using data from published catalogues etc Undertaking additional research Exporting to the NIRP database 32

33. British Printed Images to 1700 33

34. Old Master Drawings 34

35. Recording Britain Watercolours 35

36. National Photographic Record 36

37. 37 Computer Art and Technocultures

38. The V&A’s Computer Art Collections 38

39. www.vam.ac.uk/computerart

40. Search the Collections 40

41. Factory Achievements to Date

42. Search the Collections: V&A Targets for 2010/11 42

43. Search the Collections: Records, by Department August 2009 January 2011

44. www.vam.ac.uk collections.vam.ac.uk 44