dla rozwoju Mazowsza

"Digitization and sharing digital collections and the development of IT infrastructure of the digital repository and digitization studio of the National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw"

The project is co-financed by the European Union from the resources of the European Regional Development Fund under the Regional Operational Programme of the Mazovia Province 2007-2013 and from the budget of the Mazovia Province.
The value of the project is: 724,999.99 PLN
ERDF funding: PLN 593,858.47 (85% of eligible costs)
Funding from Mazovia Province: 106 230 PLN (15% of eligible costs)
Completion date of the project: 01/10/2014 - 30/09/2015

Source information on the Regional Operational Project for the Mazovia Province 2007-2013 are available at: www.mazowia.eu

The National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw received, by order of the Board of the Mazovia Province, EU funding for the project entitled: "Digitization and sharing digital collections and the development of IT infrastructure of the digital repository and digitization studio of the National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw". The project was implemented under the Regional Operational Programme for the Mazovia Province 2007-2013 - Priority VI .: The use of natural and cultural resources for the development of tourism and recreation. Action 6.1. Culture.

Project execution agreement was signed by the Marshal of the Mazovia Province Adam Struzik and the Director of the Museum, Wojciech Brzezinski Ph. D. on 14 April 2015.



foto. Michał Słaby

About the project

About the project The project consisted of the following activities.

1. There were prepared and made available online free digital copies of 30 000 scientific papers in the scope of the conservator’s care on the archaeological relics. The digitization covered belonging to the National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw (PMA), created in the period 1911-1982 manuscripts of research papers, notes, lists and registers of archaeological relics, reports, drawings, film and photographic prints, press clippings, correspondence, opinions on the excavation works and findings , originating from the scientific legacy of three great archaeologists: Stefan Krukowski (1890-1983), Michał Drewko (1887-1964) and Roman Jakimowicz (1889-1951). The archival documents are associated with the history of the collections of the National Archaeological Museum (PMA) and therefore are of great importance for the further research in various fields of science and ongoing management of the museum artifacts for the purposes of protecting and promoting the heritage of prehistoric and early-historic Poland and the Central Europe.

Making available the digital images of the documents is executed in the AtoM system, taking into account the standards recommended by the ICA - International Council on Archives for the elaboration of the archival documents, which is a major innovation in the Polish museum sicences. The International Council on Archives provides ICA-AtoM software under the open source license.

2. The website www.pma.pl has been extended with a new feature of presentation of archaeological relics under the name of Cyfrowe Zbiory PMA (Digital Collections of PMA). Through the Internet will be made available in chronological order, the collections of each of the department of the Museum, thematic presentations of the selected categories of the relics, forming a sort of their directories and at the same time being their digital displays, and also the territorial catalogue of the archaeological sites. Open to the external user databases will be gradually developed in the coming years. At the start in Cyfrowe Zbiory PMA (Digital Collections of PMA) there will be exhibited presentations of the Treasures of the Middle Ages from the Polish territory and the Early medieval finds of coins from Mazovia region. Whereas, the first of shared catalogues of the archaeological sites concerns the area of Warsaw and its surrounding areas.
Each of the museum artifacts has a published photograph and a set of information, which allows for its unambiguous identification and location in the archaeological context, what will help the user to understand the original function and appearance of the artifact.

3. The existing technical infrastructure of PMA was expanded, providing security for the digital assets created and the stored in the repository. Servers were purchased working in Fibre Channel network, which together with an automated tape library creates storage space with a capacity of approx. 100 Tb. The room prepared for the digitization works and the previous equipment of the photographic and digitization studio has been enriched with the purchased photographic equipment and software. It has been established a specialized computer workstation for graphic processing of files, and a computer workstation to expand the databases.

4. There was expanded the existing in PMA database system, which supports the digitization of the collection and management of digital objects. A great facilitation of digitization work enable such functions of the system as: - sharing and exchanging data with used by the Museum Fibula original program, which supports the management and records of archaeological collections of PMA, including automatic linking the data included in the Fibula program with the digital objects. - automatic processing the digital image files with changing resolution (matrix, an index print, miniature) and format for saving the files (eg. tiff, jpg) - automatic management of digital files, including involving the transfer of files for the storage in appropriate directories on the server and in the tape library.

Project team:

Project management was conducted by the Project Team, which included experienced employees of PMA, supported by all the departments of the Museum. The project team includes inter alia:

Agnieszka Jaskanis M.A.- Chief Cataloguer of PMA collections, project manager, also the coordinator of IT, digitization and inventory activities. The author of several publications on the records of museum collections, standardization of their elaboration and providing access to information about them through ICT networks. The author of the assumptions on construction of databases and co-author of specialized programs dedicated to a museum, with archaeological artifacts:

1) "Fibula" (Oracle) program to manage and record archaeological collections,
2) "Cyfrowe zbiory PMA" (Digital collections of PMA) 4D application for managing digital objects,

Co-author of the national standard of sharing information about museum artifacts SSWIM – Sieciowy System Wymiany Informacji Muzealnej (Network Museum Information Exchange System), elaborated in 1996 and developed until 2004, within the Central European ICOM group - International Council of Museums at UNESCO.
In the years 2006 - 2010 member of the team for digitization by the Minister of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Since 2013 expert of NIMOZ (National Institute for Museums and Public Collections) in the field of standardization of the scheme of metadata for digital collections of museums and standardization of registration documents of the museum.

Maria Krajewska M.A.- employee of the Workshop of Scientific Documentation and author of more than 20 publications in the field of historical and archival research of the collection of scientific documentation of PMA and collections of museum artifacts. She is responsible for the selection of scientific documentation for execution of the project.

Justyna Marczuk M.A. - employee of the Workshop of Inventory and Relocation of Museum Artifacts, for 7 years working on a project of digitization of PMA artifacts, responsible, inter alia for : - verification of artifacts intended for digitization for compliance of records with the museum documentation, - preparation of the necessary digitization documentation, - supervision on the execution and the procedure of digitization, creation of databases.

Agnieszka Danielewska - employee of the Museum Information Management Team, for 10 years working with an IT company providing computer services in the PMA. Specialist in creation of databases.

Ewa Dragan - Chief Accountant of PMA, responsible for the financial execution of the contracts under the project.

The new program offering of the National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw in the field of sharing information on the archaeological heritage can be used free of charge by anyone, especially by archaeologists, students and lovers of archeology and the history of Poland. The unique resources of archival scientific documentation of the Museum will enrich the researches of experts and admirers of Mazovia region and Warsaw. Published sources will expand our knowledge on the history of Polish territories from the Paleolithic Period to the modern period.

The professional support in the field of historical and archaeological knowledge concerning the site archaeological researches and spreading knowledge on the history of archeology, was provided by the project partners:
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
- Institute of Archaeology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, and also the Scientific Association of Polish Archaeologists, Branch in Warsaw, which supported the PMA through the promotion and spreading knowledge on the project objectives, presentation of the successive stages of its implementation and presentation of the results.