REACH Project Summary Report

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REACH Project Summary Report
December 1998
The REACH project set out to investigate whether information about museum objects could be extracted from collection management systems and made useful for research use. Museums and vendors were enlisted; together they identified the access points that would be most useful to researchers. The resulting set of data elements was to be used for exporting the data from the disparate museum collection management systems.
As part of the process, museum management software vendors were encouraged to build in export mechanisms to facilitate ongoing extraction. The intent was for a number of museums to provide information not otherwise accessible that could be assembled into a single database with a Web-based user interface. The data would be further integrated with museum information created for research access—records with and without images—and the resulting resource evaluated for its value to researchers.
What we learned
As the project got started:

Extracting data proved problematic.
Many participants had home-grown systems and no support for repurposing the data.
Vendors were being asked for similar export functionality for other element sets.

During the course of the project:

Some participants made the data available in other ways than the original plan (in RLIN or in the AMICO testbed).
RLG began receiving records from a variety of other sources and began evaluating integration using our evolving Museum Resources Web interface.
In particular, the VISION records being created in a second project would enable participants to assess object records with and without images in a single database.
The creation of the REACH Element Set for shared description of museum objects answered two important questions:

—what information do experts in the field believe necessary for basic access to cultural heritage objects? and
—what information are institutions likely to have and be willing to export for public access?

From these findings, we realized it would not be necessary to complete the REACH project phases as originally planned. In November 1998, REACH project participants, some already engaged as participants in the AMICO testbed and/or VISION projects, were contacted, and the REACH project ended.
The REACH Element Set created in this project has many commonalities with other cultural heritage data standards. It can be a useful starting point in further work at RLG and elsewhere to identify the core data needed to effectively integrate networked cultural heritage resources for the benefit of research.

Last updated 20 January 1999

This site was frozen in 2004 and is now out of date. Please go to RLG's current Web site for all information. Questions? Contact us.
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