Work has been going ahead behind the scenes with the MME but I’m sure it’s time we put out an update to project participants. The primary focus has been the finalisation of the MME Repository. The software is in test mode and with just a few more tweaks the first stage will be complete. The repository is the core of the project and it will be very good to have it in place.

Each participating organisation will be given a login and be able to edit and view their own records as well as view records from other contributors. The repository will enable organisations to upload their data in a variety of ways. Those with the technical capacity will be able establish an OAI interface from their collections database. There is also the ability to upload from an Excel template and lastly people can manually enter and update their records within the repository.

The roll-out of the repository will illustrate one of the aims of the project in that it will apply a standard metadata set across collection level descriptions from wide variety institutions and collections ranging from historical collections, decorative arts and archaeology. And, links to structured sites such as the MME also help improve your ranking in standard Google searches.

The MME repository will provide the OAI feed to the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) who have sponsored this project. The standard data format also provides the capacity for the MME to provide a similar feed to other services such Trove.

Image credits: Feature image – Flickr: ralphbijker Motion gears – team force CC by 2.0; Photographic print, black & white, exterior of house ‘Winrah’ by Milton Kent, Sydney, 1920-1950, Collection Powerhouse Museum