We are a considering using Omeka-S for publishing our archive and asking here if what we want to achieve is possible.
Our archive is organized as
Institution (gallery, museum) → Event (exhibition) → item/s
Institutions and events have their own specific data (descriptions, dates etc.) and are connected.
This event took place at this institution.
In the new item form, we want to specify the organization which will bring up a list of relevant events that can be chosen from.
In the item card, creator/s will also be specified.
This is the input side.
On the display side, we want the flexibility to show, for example:
An institution page with a list of events ,a list of items from the events (with images) and a list of creators that created the items.
A creator page with a list of events (from all institutions) with images, a list of items they created and a list of institutions.
Questions:
(When answering, please use the Omeka nomenclature so I will be able to read further.)
Is the data structure I describe here is possible to set-up in Omeka-S?
Is it possible to show on a page information from “grandchildred” (Institution->Events->Items)? Or the other way around, “grandparents” (Item->Creator->Events->Institutions)?
Thank you for your inquiry. I do believe that you would be able to create the structure that you desire using Omeka S.
If I were to do this, I’d make a resource template for each category of organization (institutions, creators, and events). Then I’d be sure to make sure that I designed the resource templates so that they included properties where the individual items are appropriate inputs for the properties in the template. This may require importing some linked data vocabularies in addition to the ones that ship with Omeka S.
So, for instance, you would have an institution item that is Gallery A and then in creating the event item for Exhibit 1 you would have an event template that includes a property to indicate the host institution as the input value. You would input the Omeka S item for Gallery A in that property. When a user went to the Gallery A page, they would see a table of all of the instances in which Gallery A was linked as the host institution for an event.
Similarly, you would have a creator template that offered details about those individuals. Then, you could input the appropriate Creator in that property for the item. Then when you go to the Creator item, you will see all of the items in which that person is listed as the creator.
That approach to interlinking among Omeka S item resources will create a web of interconnections across those items. The construction of those individual Item show pages, and where the linked resources appear in the page, can be configured in the theme configuration settings for the individual sites where they are published.
Currently, the Omeka S Item Resource pages only lists linked resources with a single degree of separation. It maybe possible to create a module that traces those links out further, but one of the more technically inclined members of the Omeka team would have to offer a perspective on the feasibility of that.