Addressing Multiple Audiences with Multiple Interfaces to The AMICO Library™

Museums and the Web 2003

Art Museum Image Consortiumwww.amico.org

Scott Sayre & Kris Wetterlund, March 20, 2003

AMICO

Addressing Multiple Audiences with Multiple Interfaces to The AMICO Library™

Scott Sayre - Director of Member Services

Kris Wetterlund- Director of User Services




AMICO

• Independent, non-profit consortium of institutions with collections of art

• Mission: enable educational use of museum multimedia

What is AMICO?




AMICO

39 AMICO Member Museums contribute digitized works of art, multimedia, and related information on an annual basis.

How does it work?

MemberMuseums

TheAMICOLibrary




AMICO

How does it work?

MemberMuseums

TheAMICOLibrary

AMICO builds an integrated Library and delivers it to five specialized distributors.

Distributors




AMICO

How does it work?

MemberMuseums

TheAMICOLibrary

AMICO and the distributors license The AMICO Library™ to colleges, universities, K-12 schools and public libraries.

DistributorsSubscribers




AMICO

How does it work?

MemberMuseums

TheAMICOLibrary

Subscribers to The AMICO Library™ deliver it to over 3 million users world-wide.

DistributorsSubscribers End Users




AMICO

What’s In It?Cultures and time periods represented range from ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian to contemporary art from around the world; from Native American art to African art to Japanese and Chinese works.

The 2002 AMICO Library™ includes:• Over 13,000 paintings• Over 5,900 sculptures• Over 13,700 drawings and watercolors• Over 23,800 prints• Over 29,000 photographs• Over 9,800 works of decorative art




AMICO

University Subscribers Over 250 subscribing institutions worldwide.AMICO currently has subscribers in Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.Subscribing universities serve about 2 million students.

K-12 SubscribersOver 70 K-12 subscribers in North America. Subscribing schools currently serve almost 30,000 students annually.

Public Libraries

AMICO Subscribers:




AMICO

•Six different Distributors providing exposure to a broad range of users

•Wide range of interfaces influenced by other integrated products and the distributor’s perceptions of the needs of users

AMICO’s Distribution Model




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:Cartography Associates




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:H.W. Wilson




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:OhioLINK




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:RLG Inc. (Research Libraries Group)




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:University of Michigan




AMICO

AMICO Distributors:VTLS




AMICO

What are the differences?




AMICO

Features and Functions Overview

Distributor FeaturesCartography Assoc.

(browser ver.) H.W. Wilson OhioLINK RLG Inc.University of

Michigan VTLSSimple search – • – • – –Browse • • • – • •Thesaurus – • – – – –Advanced search • • • • • •

Unlimited Boolean • • • – • –Keyword • – • • – –Any field – • – – • •Authority lists • • – – – –Cat. Fields to query 16 32 7 10 18 5Cat. Fields displayed 30+ 20+ 35+ 15+ 25+ 10+Sort results – • • • • –

Graphic tools • – – – • •Search history – • – • – •Query links – • • • – •Export text files – • – – – •Order Tiff files – – – • – –Integrated resources • • • – • –Personal Grouping • – – • • •

Local – – – – – •Networked • – – • • –Sharable • – – – • –




AMICO

Sample terms:• birth• German landscape• haystack• oil portrait child• black and white• French still life• surreal

Consistency of Search Results




AMICO

Simple Search Returns

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

birth germanlandscape

haystack oil portraitchild

black and whitefrench still life surreal

Search term(s)

Number of returns

H.W.Wilson Ohiolink RLG University of MichiganVTLS

Simple Search




AMICO

Advanced Search Returns

0

50

100

150

200

birth germanlandscape

haystack oil portrait childblack and whitefrench still life surreal

Search term(s)

Number of returns

H.W.Wilson Ohiolink RLG University of MichiganVTLS

Advanced Search




AMICO

Alignment with User’s needs:

• Most digital library user research has been conducted in higher education - MESL - UC Berkeley - Penn State

• Primary focus of research has been in the on the transition from slides to digital images

• Very little is known in regards to digital library applications in the K-12 classroom or the public library environment




AMICO

Adapting to Innovation:

The amount of experience users have with a resource can affect their ability to identify what they need from the resource




AMICO

Conclusions• More research is needed to determine the needs of specific audiences in accessing and using digital libraries of cultural heritage information

• AMICO’s multi-distributor model now offers an unique environment for investigating relationships between multiple interfaces and the needs of specific audiences

• AMICO will begin to seek partners and funding to conduct ongoing research in this area, sharing findings with the entire museum community




AMICO




AMICO

AMICO Public Website

includes:• General Information• Content Profile• Thumbnail catalog• Links to Members• Links to Distributors• Links to Subscribers• Rights Request Form




AMICO

www.amico.org

Scott Sayre - [email protected]

Kris Wetterlund - [email protected]

Addressing Multiple Audiences with Multiple Interfaces to The AMICO Library™

Technology

amico amico distributors

amico library amico

amico member museums

amico features

amico independent

amico whats

scott sayre kris wetterlund

amico library subscribers