Building an online collection

Tim Sherratt

Come one, come all! In the space of a single BootCamp session I’ll attempt to publish a collection of documents online using nothing but Omeka, Zotero and a hefty dose of over-confidence.

Have you got a collection of objects, images, documents, people or references that you’d like to make available online? What are your options?

What if you want to do more than simply publish your collection, perhaps building a platform for research, collaboration of visualisation?

This BootCamp session will explore some of the possibilities, before launching into a embarrassment-defying attempt to build an Omeka site before your very eyes.

This is a practical session, so you’re encouraged to play along. If you want to try and build your own site, you really need to have a web server and other bits and pieces installed on your laptop. The easiest way to do this is to install a web server software stack like XAMPP. You might also want to prepare some data — I’ll be showing you how you can suck in Zotero collections and CSV files.

If that seems too scary — never fear. I’ll also be showing you how to set up an account on Omeka.net, so you can begin to play without the drama of installing software.

Marvel at the daring, share in the pain of failure, and garner the confidence to do it yourself. You might even collect a sticker or two.