Today, we offer a Spring bug fix release, version 1.5.1, which contains a few backend fixes (see release notes) and additional base languages contributed and translated by the Omeka community. See the current list of translations available, and if you don’t see your preferred language, sign up to start your own translation.

Coinciding with this bug-fix release, we are also making two new plugins available and updating a third. Each of these plugins work with Omeka version 1.5 and above.

1. Library of Congress Suggest: Building on work done for the Library of Congress Subject Headings plugin, LC Suggest extends the functionality by adding an auto-complete feature to almost any metadata field in your Omeka site by pulling results from the Library of Congress’s full list of authorities and controlled vocabularies. The plugin is configurable by end users, within the admin interface.
2. Item Order: Responding to user feedback, the Item Order plugin allows users to re-order items for public display on the public Collection browse pages from within the admin interface.
3. Scripto: Updating this plugin fixes a small bug in the plugin libraries. Scripto gives an Omeka site crowdsourcing functionality for any item type. If you are interested in testing Scripto with Omeka, try it out in our Sandbox site.

We are happy to see the Omeka user base continue to grow. We have noticed many more members of the community are helping on the forums and teaching Omeka workshops–one person even offered to host one in her own living room! Thank you for spreading the Omeka love and for contributing back to the project.

Happy Spring!

Since 2009, any Omeka website may make their data available by activating the OAI-PMH Repository plugin and may harvest OAI-PMH data sets with the OAI-PMH Harvester. Now, the OAI-PMH Harvester plugin is available with every Omeka.net site. Are you sharing and harvesting?

Some online repositories expose their metadata through the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), an “initiative to develop and promote interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content.”

We here at CHNM developed Omeka with interoperability as a key feature from its early stages. We also envisioned that Omeka would facilitate the sharing of digital collections and archives across institutions and individuals. For example, a regional cultural consortium could highlight collections in an Omeka site featuring digital objects from local museums, galleries, and libraries focused on on thematic topics or for the purpose of celebrating a local anniversary or special event.

Never tried this sharing thing? All you need to do is to install the OAI-PMH Repository to expose data, and tell someone–either through our list of harvestable Omeka sites, or with the OAI community. The plugin reads an Omeka collection as a set. If you have no collections, your entire archive may be exposed.

If you’re interested in testing out the OAI-PMH Harvester plugin, try these examples of harvestable sets. (Don’t worry, you may delete the harvest when you’re done testing.):

• Library of Congress OAI-PMH sets (no files, but contain many sets of item metadata): http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/oai2_0
• Bibliothèque Numérique – Université Rennes 2, University Libraryhttp://bibnum.univ-rennes2.fr/oai-pmh-repository/request?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc
• Bracero History Archive: http://braceroarchive.org/oai-pmh-repository/request

The page of harvestable sets is small and we would like to see it grow. Sign into the wiki, add your base URL, and let the Omeka community know if you are exposing your data. Thanks for sharing!

The team is happy to announce updates for more plugins that work with Omeka versions 1.3+.

• The Dropbox provides users with an easy way to batch upload files by creating items directly from files or by associating files with individual items. The newest version, 0.5, offers better direction to users if there are permission errors in the Dropbox directory.
• Image Annotation 1.0 provides a way for users to select an area of an image and attach notes. Those notes are accessible on the public items/show page. We should note that you may need to tweak your theme to accommodate the annotated images particularly if other plugins with public views, such as geolocation, are activated on individual item pages.
• The Contribution plugin, which allows web visitors to contribute stories, images, and other items to your Omeka site, is now configurable through the admin interface in version 2.1. Unlike earlier versions that required users to edit files in the plugin’s directory, now users may select the types of items to be contributed and tailor questions for their users in the plugin’s dashboard.
• The Geolocation plugin 1.2, that allows users to locate items on a Google map, now contains additional configurations in the plugin panel, including the option for adding a link to browsing the map in the tems/browse navigation.
• Lastly, the Zotero Import plugin, version 1.2, fixes some bugs users experienced when importing data from Zotero libraries.

Check them out, and let us know what you think!

The Simple Vocab plugin is now compatible with the newest version of Omeka. Just download the new version (1.3-1.1), replace the SimpleVocab plugin directory, and click the “Upgrade” button in the plugins settings page. Everything should work as expected.

If you haven’t tried this plugin, we recommend it to those who want strict control over data entry. Just select an element and define your vocabulary terms. Its as simple as that!

We’re happy to introduce a plugin that imports Zotero data into Omeka. Zotero is a popular tool that helps you collect, manage, cite, and share your research sources. With this plugin you can move your research into Omeka, making it possible to further organize and exhibit your Zotero library. Just sync your library to the Zotero server, tell the Zotero Import plugin what library you want to import, and it’ll pull in source items, notes, files, and web snapshots. Read the documentation and get the plugin here.