export to artefacts canada - PastPerfect Museum Software

EXPORT TO ARTEFACTS CANADA
PastPerfect Software Company, Inc with the assistance of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) has made available to all Artefacts Canada participants, who are also
PastPerfect Museum Software version 4.0 users, an interface that allows you to select the
catalogue records and images you wish to export to Artefacts Canada. Once the selections
are made, you can export the data to a Microtext data file and the selected images to a designated folder ready to upload to Artefacts Canada via FTP.
The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), a Special Operating Agency of the
Department of Canadian Heritage, was created in 1972 to foster sound management of the
knowledge and collections developed by Canadian museums, and provide public access to
these through a national inventory of Canadian museum collections, called Artefacts Canada.
CHIN today supports an active network of almost 2,000 not-for-profit member heritage institutions across Canada, serving as a national centre of excellence that provides a visible face to
Canada’s heritage through the world of networked information.
Canadian institutions that are members of CHIN can showcase their collections in Artefacts
Canada and in the Image Gallery of the Virtual Museum of Canada. Information on CHIN membership and the process of contributing can be found at http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Artefacts_
Canada/Contribute/index.html.
THE PASTPERFECT SOFTWARE FEATURES INCLUDE:
•
A check box labeled “Include in Web Export” is added to each catalog screen. You
can check or uncheck that box to choose which records to export.
•
You can perform a query in PastPerfect and after receiving the results, press a command button to include all the resulting records for export.
•
When records are selected for export either individually or globally by query, all associated images will automatically be selected for export. However each image screen
will also have a check box labeled “Include in Web” thus allowing you to export only
the images you want.
•
You can use the field list to select which data fields you want to display on the web.
For security, fields with values and/or museum locations of items will not be available for publication.
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PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide
•
All the selections described above will be saved until changed by you or another user.
•
When you are ready to export the data, run the export wizard to create the export data
file. The file will be created in Microtext format. If the file contains more than 5000
records it will be separated into multiple files.
•
A new thumbnail and a full size image file will be created for each image that is
exported. All export image files will be converted to jpg format and resized for optimal
web usage.
•
A text watermark may be added to the full size image files when they are created.
INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE
The software is made available to Canadian users of PastPerfect as a free download from this
website http://www.museumsoftware.com/ArtefactsCanada.htm. The download consists of one
installation file, ArtefactsCanada.exe, that when run, will automatically install the software additions to PastPerfect.
SELECTING THE RECORDS & IMAGES TO EXPORT
PastPerfect will allow you to export information from these files:
•
Object catalog
•
Archives catalog
•
Photos catalog
•
Library catalog
You can export all or some of your catalog records. Select just the records and information
about each record that you want to share on the Web. After the software is installed, you will
notice a new check box at the bottom of each PastPerfect catalog record labeled “Include in Web
Export.”
SELECTING CATALOG RECORDS TO EXPORT
To select a record from the Objects, Archives, Library or Photo catalog to include, just press Edit
at the top of the catalog screen and then check the box labeled “Include in Web Export.” To
deselect a record, uncheck the box.
Export to Artefacts Canada
Figure 1
Include
in Web
Export
check box
Place a check in this box to select
the catalog record for export.
To speed the selection process, you can choose a group of records to export instead of
selecting them one at a time. This group selection is accomplished by using the Query or
Research functions of PastPerfect.
Figure 2
Select multiple records
by query.
After performing a query and the resulting catalog records are listed, press
the command button labeled “Include selected records in web export”.
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PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide
Once you have made a query and the results are listed, you will see a command button at
the bottom right of the screen labeled “Include selected records in web export.” Pressing that
command button will check the box labeled “Include in Web Export” for each catalog record
selected by the query.
TIP
If you want to select ALL catalog records for export, this can be done with one button from the Web Export
Wizard Browse screen described later.
SELECTING IMAGES TO EXPORT
When you select a catalog record, as described above, all images associated with that record are
automatically designated to be exported. In some cases, when records have multiple images, you
may not want all images included. This adjustment can be made from the image management
screen. First locate the catalog record, then press the Image Management command button. Next
press the Metadata command button to the right of the image. The image metadata screen will
display. Notice at the bottom of this screen is a check box labeled “Include in Web.” Press Edit,
remove the check and press Save for any images you do not want to export.
Figure 3
Select
images to
include
Check or uncheck this box and press Save.
Export to Artefacts Canada
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New web image files are created for each image you select to export. These files will be
resized and optimized for the web. Except for very small images this will mean that their
size is reduced, making the published image unsuitable for quality printing. To further protect your valuable images, you can also add a watermark. This process is described later. In
either case, your current images in PastPerfect will not be changed in any way.
RUN THE EXPORT WIZARD
Once you have selected the catalog records and images, simply run the Export Wizard. This
will create the files you need to send to Artefacts Canada. To start the wizard, from the
PastPerfect main menu select Utilities.
Figure 4
Main
Menu
Press Utilities from the main menu,
then Export from the fly-up menu.
Then press Export on the fly-up Utilites menu. This will open the PastPerfect Export Screen
shown in Figure 5. Notice at the bottom of the screen a command button labeled Export to
Artefacts Canada.
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PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide
Figure 5
Export
Screen
Press the Esport to Artefacts Canada command button to start the Wizard.
Figure 6
Export to
Artefacts
Canada
Wizard
Press the Next command button to open the screen shown in Figure 7. From this screen you can
decide which data fields you want to include in the export. In general you should include all
information that would be useful to share about each item. The more information you publish
the richer the experience for the visitor.
Export to Artefacts Canada
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SELECTING WHICH DATA FIELDS TO EXPORT
Press the command button Select data fields to export on the screen shown below to open
the screen show in Figure 8.
Figure 7
Select
data fields
to export
Press this command
button to open the
screen shown in
Figure 8..
The screen shown below displays all data fields for each catalog. Notice the check box to
the right of each field name. Place a check next to the data fields you want to export.
Figure 8
Select
data fields
to publish
Use the tabs to select
which database displays.
Place a check in the box
to the right of each field
you want to display on
the web.
Press the Next
command button to proceed.
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PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide
CHANGE FIELD NAMES
Before you can contribute data to Artefacts Canada you will need to create a field mapping
table of your fields to the Artefacts Canada fields. A field mapping table is a list of the field
names in the PastPerfect database that correspond to Artefacts Canada field names. Please go to
http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Artefacts_Canada/Contribute/index.html and choose Step 4 to do
the field mapping. You will require the user id and password assigned by CHIN when you registered to contribute (at the url above, Step 3) in order to access this mapping table.
When you have defined a map of your data fields to the Artefacts Canada fields and then sent
data to Artefacts Canada, CHIN converts the data associated with your field names to the Artefacts Canada field names for storage, indexing and access. Download the contributor documentation from the CHIN website (at the url above, Step 2) for more information about creating
your data map or contact CHIN at [email protected].
To help streamline the data map creation, you may want to change some of the PastPerfect
field names to Artefacts Canada field names before the data is exported. Please consult CHIN’s
Humanities Data Dictionary at http://www.chin.gc.ca/Artefacts/Info/e_HumanitiesDictioHead.html
for more information about the fields in Artefacts Canada. The next screen, shown in Figure 9,
allows you modifiy the names of the data fields.
Figure 9
Change
Field
Names
The data fields you have selected to export are displayed in the left column in white. The right
hand yellow column shows the fields names as they will appear in the microtext export file.
You can click on any text in the right column to customize the export field name
Export to Artefacts Canada
BROWSE FILES
The next screen, shown in Figure 10, allows you to view which records and images have
been selected for export. To browse a file, select the catalog then press the Browse selected
file command button.
Figure 10
Browse
Files
The screen shown in Figure 11 will list all records from the selected file that are marked for
export. If you want to remove a record from the list, uncheck the box in the Export column.
Figure 11
View /
Select
records to
Export
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Notice at the bottom of the screen there are two more command buttons. You can press: Export all
records to mark ALL of the records from the selected catalog file to publish, or Export no records.
WATERMARK IMAGES
The next wizard screen is for applying watermarks to your exported images. When images are
exported, a large image and a small thumbnail image are created for each image file. Watermarks will only be applied to the large images.
The Setup Watermarking Screen contains a sample image and the watermark options. The
watermark will be applied as text that you enter in the field labeled “Text of Watermark”. You
can select the color and the location of the text. The watermark will be the same for all images.
Figure 12
Setup
Watermark
Options
PRINT REPORT & CREATE EXPORT FILES
Now that you have made all your selections, you are ready to create the data and image files
that you need to upload to the Artefacts Canada. Before creating the files, you may want to
print the Export Reports. Two reports are available. One is a field data map report that will list
all catalog data fields that have been designated to export. It will also give you the total number
of records that will export from each catalog. The second report will print a list of all catalog
records that are marked for exporft.
Export to Artefacts Canada
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Figure 13
Print
Report
& Create
Export
Files
When you press Print Export Reports you will see the screen shown below which will allow
you to print the reports.
Figure 14
Print
Export
Reports
When you press the Create data and image files now command button on the screen shown
in Figure 13, the screen shown in Figure 15 will display.
On this screen enter your institution’s name, city and province. Enter the Image username
and the Image Server URL where your full size and thumbnail images will reside and the
name for the Microtext data file that will be created.
Under “Include in data file”, you can select to create a Micotext file with all the records you
have selected. Or if you are sending an update, you can choose to send only records that
were added or modified since a specified date and time.
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PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide
Figure 15
Create
Export
Files
If you want to remove records from the Artefacts Canada site you can include the deletions in
the Microtext file. To accomplish this, press the command button labeled Click here to include
record Deletions. The screen shown if Figure 16 will display.
Figure 16
Record
Deleted
Records
Select the catalog, Objects, Photos, Archives, Library or the Deleted records file, then input the
objectid# and press Enter or press the Browse command button to locate the record you want
to delete form the Artefacts Canada web site. Next press Add this record to the Deleted Record
file. Notice an entry is made in the window on the right of the screen. This text will be added
to the end of the Microtext file when it is created. Press Close to return to the Create Export
Files screen.
Export to Artefacts Canada
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Once all the selections are made, press the Create data files now command button. The
selected catalog records will be converted to a Microtext formatted file. If you are exporting more than 5000 catalog records, multiple files will be created. These Microtext files will
be placed in the c:\pp4\webexport folder, assuming you installed PastPerfect into the default
folder c:\pp4.
To create the image files press the Create image files now command button. Large image
files and thumbnail images will be placed in the c:\pp4\webexport\imagefiles folder, assuming you installed PastPerfect into the default folder c:\pp4.
Once you have created the Microtext and image files, you can view them by pressing the
Browse data file or Browse image files command buttons.
SEND FILES TO ARTEFACTS CANADA
The final step is to send your Microtext data file to Artefacts Canada. Please go to http://
www.chin.gc.ca/English/Artefacts_Canada/Contribute/index.html and click on Step 4. You will
require the user id and password assigned by CHIN when you registered to contribute (at the url
above, Step 3). Click on the “Upload File” button and choose the files you have just created and
then click on “Initiate Upload”. You will receive an email from CHIN indicating the status of the files
you send. If you have any questions, please contact CHIN at [email protected].
CONTACT INFORMATION
For questions or support contact PastPerfect Software Co at:
http://www.museumsoftware.com
800-562-6080
For questions about Artefacts Canada contact:
Canadian Heritage Information Network
http://www.chin.gc.ca/
http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Artefacts_Canada/index.html
800-520-2446
Virtual Museum of Canada Image Gallery
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/English/Gallery/index.html