Omeka

The MyOmeka plugin allows users of an Omeka site to create their own accounts and save items in the archive by tagging and creating personal annotations. Those annotations can then easily be shared with others by creating “posters,” which are simple, one-page exhibits incorporating those items and annotations into a single page. This plugin offers the possibility for your visitors to create their own personal collections of items, and can find a variety uses by the researcher, student, or enthusiast using your archive.

MyOmeka is currently being used on several popular CHNM sites, including the Bracero History Archive, and Making the History of 1989. We’d encourage you to try out these sites to see different applications of the plugin, and begin to plan how it can play a role in your own Omeka site. Click ‘login’ on the Bracero History Archive’s homepage, and you’ll be prompted to register for a new account.

Once a user is registered and logged in to your Omeka site using MyOmeka, they’re given the ability to add their annotations and tags to items. This will allow them to organize their own personal collections of items, as well as refer to their personal notes when building their own poster. The following image is of the notes and tags field in the Bracero archive on an individual item’s page.

We’ve also released a Terms Of Service plugin, which can be used in conjunction with MyOmeka and require users to affirm their understanding of your site’s TOS and privacy policy prior to registering a new user account.

So how do you get started? The first step is to download the latest version of MyOmeka 0.3.1, and TermsOfService 0.2.1. There’s also detailed instructions for installing MyOmeka on the codex. Once you’ve set up MyOmeka, you’ll likely want to add some CSS styling to make it look a little flashier.

As always, let us know how you’re using Omeka by either sharing on the forums, or adding it to our list of Sites Powered by Omeka.  We’d love to hear about it.

The Omeka team is pleased to announce the release of version 1.0 Alpha. This version of Omeka includes:

• New helper functions and updates current helper function;
• Enhancements and fixes bugs throughout the admin panel;
• An autocompleter to the tags field for items;
• Filtering for the users list in the admin;
• An upgrade notification to admin dashboard if you’re version of Omeka is older than the latest stable release.
• A “Remember Me” checkbox to the login.
• A global view page and helpers for file metadata, which will allow you to edit file metadata and display it in public themes.
• See the detailed release notes for more info.

As with 0.10 Alpha we released last fall, we’ve tried to make the 1.0 Alpha as stable as possible, but since this is an alpha release for testing and feedback from the Omeka community, we advise you not to use this on a production site. Instead, copy your database from a preexisting Omeka site, or create a separate install to try it out. If you do check it out and would like to provide feedback to the Omeka team, please post to the Alpha Release forum or join the Omeka-Dev group on Google Groups.

So, go download Omeka 1.0 Alpha and tell us what you think!

Well, not quite worldwide, but I had the pleasure of sharing Omeka with the attendees at the annual Museum Computing Network of Taiwan meeting in Taipei last week.  It was a vibrant gathering of museum professionals from across the country, each working in their own way to increase the visibility and standardization of cultural heritage institutions in Taiwan.  I look forward to seeing these colleagues again when they visit for the MCN meeting in Portland in the fall.  The Omeka team is really interested in international collaboration, so share your ideas on facilitating these connections in the comments.

Below, I’ve included my talk with my slides.