Digitalization portal for Archive Museum Library

Digitalization Portal for Museums, Archives and Libraries

The portal focuses on the digitalization as well as the scientific exploration of collections from object collections, archives, and libraries.

I have developed a specialized digitalization portal for museums, archives, and libraries based on modern technologies and tailored to the needs of archivists, museum staff, and librarians.

The digitalization portal supports cultural institutions in sustainably digitizing their collections and making them accessible to a broad public. The platform offers a user-friendly interface for content management as well as structured research.

By supporting established metadata standards such as EAD, LIDO, and METS/MODS, data can be structured, standard-compliant, and efficiently imported and processed.

Technical Foundation

The technical basis of the digitalization portal is robust, scalable and future-proof. It is a modern web application implemented with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and PHP.

PostgreSQL is used for data storage while Apache Solr provides powerful indexing and research capabilities for large datasets. The portal is fully responsive and optimized for use on all devices. It can be operated both locally and in a cloud environment.

Metadata Standards and Norms

The successful conversion and storage of raw data from various sources is a central component of the digitalization of cultural assets. By using three established standards, a consistent and complete description of objects is ensured.

• EAD (Encoded Archival Description) for archival collections
• LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) for collections
• METS/MODS for complex digital objects and bibliographic data

The METS/MODS format provides a balanced compromise between the very complex MARC formats and the simpler Dublin Core metadata. All mentioned standards are based on clearly defined XML schemas and enable software-independent, standardized metadata provision.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has formulated binding guidelines for digitalization projects in the cultural sector. A central requirement is the provision of metadata in a standard-compliant and system-independent form, usually through XML coding.

By consistently adhering to these standards, sustainable digitalization at high scientific level is ensured. At the same time, long-term accessibility, reusability, and interoperability of digital collections are guaranteed.

Experience and Contact

Thanks to my long-term experience in developing complex web applications as well as my expertise in digitalization and archiving, I can guarantee you a high-quality implementation of your digitalization project.

For questions or interest in collaboration, feel free to contact me via my website or by email at aleksandar@stajic.de.