Managing a Transformative Project Amid a Global Pandemic
by Jennifer Cwiok on
When the Museum made the unprecedented decision to close its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not immediately obvious what would become of this pending endeavor to establish an institutional DAMS at AMNH. However, it quickly became clear: the most exciting project of my career would continue full steam ahead – remotely – amid a global pandemic.
I joined the AMNH Research Library as the Digital Projects Librarian in 2010 and much of my job has been dedicated to efficiently managing digital assets without a DAMS. We have had great success providing access to upwards of 30,000 archival images publicly and double that number to our staff via the open source, web-publishing platform, Omeka. The Library also provides access to AMNH publications, field books, supplemental scientific data, dissertations and lectures through our Digital Repository powered by another open source platform, DSpace. Despite our successes, it’s fair to say the Library has outgrown these applications and the time to pursue a strategy for bringing a robust, scalable and sustainable solution for managing digital assets to AMNH has arrived.
The ultimate funding and recognition of the DAMS as a critical component of preserving the Museum’s legacy and for supporting innovative work across the institution is a summation of years of work. I suppose it is ironic that we start this initiative in isolation from each other as we continue to work remotely on a project that will tie so many resources together and facilitate our work no matter where we are in the world. It’s been our mission to connect archival assets to contextual records, finding aids and scientific collections to tell the Museum’s story and the DAMS is a key element of the plot.
AMNH has a tradition of bringing its collections beyond the Museum walls to the people of New York. Before the internet, a fleet of trucks would carry educational material to schools across the city. Luckily, the digital age has made the job of outreach much easier, but no less important. Born digital assets are being generated every day as AMNH rises to the occasion to bring the Museum into the homes of people around the globe. Online watch parties like the Scientists at Home series, virtual field trips and education resources from OLogy allow users to continue to explore until the Museum opens its doors again. The DAMS will enable the Library to preserve the content created during this extraordinary moment in the Museum’s history. It's been a comfort to work on this transformative project on behalf of the Museum while the city is on pause with the knowledge that this part of our history will not be lost.
Finnin, Denis (photographer)
This is the sixth post in a series about how the Library's staff is working remotely and enriching its digital collections to enhance access to researchers and the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. This entry was written by Jennifer Cwiok, Digital Systems Librarian.