A groundbreaking digital platform aimed at consolidating 100 million object records from museums across the UK was launched last week, with its creators heralding the initiative as “transformative” for curators, researchers, and educators.
The Museum Data Service (MDS) is a collaborative effort involving Art UK, the Collections Trust, and the University of Leicester, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Its primary objective is to provide a unified platform for museums to manage and share their object records, initially starting with approximately 3 million records from 21 museums, including prominent institutions like the National Gallery and Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales).
Origins of the Museum Data Service
The idea for the MDS originated from Art UK’s efforts to digitize British art collections since its establishment in 2003. “In 20 years, we have brought 300,000 artworks onto Art UK,” states Andrew Ellis, director of the charity. “However, there are millions of records in public collections that need to be ingested at scale.” This challenge led to collaboration with Knowledge Integration to develop a new model for digitization.
The project gained momentum when Kevin Gosling, chief executive of the Collections Trust, participated in the pilot. “Art UK was addressing its specific collection challenges, but we recognized that other institutions faced similar issues,” Gosling explains. “It made more sense for Art UK to integrate into a broader initiative.”
How the Platform Operates
The main challenge MDS addresses is unifying the vast array of national collections stored in different management systems with varying field names. “The service is designed to be super simple,” notes Gosling. Museums can upload their records via an export file or share data through an application programming interface (API), allowing for seamless communication between databases.
For updates, museums can automate the process via API or submit new files manually, with the MDS system handling data categorization. A significant advantage of the platform is its ability to accept data from museums without requiring extensive cleanup.
MDS is positioned as a “business-to-business” initiative, primarily catering to museum professionals, while also being accessible to researchers and educators who seek large-scale data. Museums will have various licensing options to control the accessibility of their collections.
Efforts have been made to make the platform attractive for both large and smaller institutions. There are no fees for database usage, except for cases that exceed a “fair use” policy, such as extensive data processing. The service won’t host images directly, but it will facilitate links to images that users can obtain rights to.
Societal Impact and Future Vision
Gosling notes that the MDS has the potential for societal benefits, as it aims to include space for diverse perspectives on objects. This will facilitate collaborations with local and global communities, exemplified by initiatives like the Wolverhampton Museum’s Living with Difference project, which explores colonial-era objects and works by Black artists.
Looking ahead, the University of Leicester will oversee the MDS, leveraging its expertise in managing large datasets. The long-term goal is for the platform to accommodate the more than 100 million objects held by the Arts Council’s 1,750 accredited museums and other collections across the UK.
Context and Future Prospects
The launch comes amid a growing focus on collection records both in the UK and globally. Projects like Towards a National Collection, an £18.9 million initiative funded by the British government, aim to create a unified virtual collection by removing barriers between different holdings. Additionally, the Getty Conservation Institute has introduced Arches, an open-source platform for cultural heritage organizations.
Ellis and Gosling recognize the significance of this moment and the potential for the MDS to evolve. “There’s considerable scope for collaboration with information scientists to enhance the data,” Gosling adds. Ellis concludes, “This is an absolutely enormous milestone for museums, and the enthusiasm and trust from the sector will be vital for connecting our museums.”