GOOD PRACTICE IN DIGITISATION
FORM FOR NOMINATION

NAME AND ACRONYM OF THE PROJECT:

Auchwitz-Birkenau Digital Archives 

URL:
http://www.auschwitz.org.pl 

EAS for nominations of 'good practice' for on-going projects on digitisation:

1)  Digitisation Project Planning (The Reasons for the project, Human Resources, Research, Risks

2)  Selecting Source Material for Digitisation (Establish Selection Criteria, Selection Against the Criteria)

3) x Preparation for Digitisation (Hardware; Software; Environment)

4)  Handling of Originals (Moving and Manipulating Original Material)

5)  The Digitisation Process (Using Scanners; Using Digital Cameras; Software Applications for Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

6)  Preservation of Digital Master Material (File Formats; Media Choices; Migration Strategies)

7)  Meta-Data (The Scope of Meta-Data Used for Object Description; Appropriate Meta-Data Standards)

8)  x Publication (Image Processing; 3D and Virtual Reality Issues; Online Publication)

9)  IPR and Copyright (Establing Copyright; Safeguarding Copyright)

10)  Managing Digitisation projects (Digitisation Process management; Team Development; Staff Training; Working with Third Parties for Technical Assistance; Working with Third Parties in Cooperative projects and Content Sharing; Costs

RESPONSIBLE BODY AND/OR ANY SPECIFIC 
CO-ORDINATING BODY/MECHANISM/INSTITUTION

Name of the institution: 
Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oswiecimiu

English name of the institution: 
The State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland

Acronym of the institution: PMA-B

Mailing address: ul.Więźniów Oścwięcimia 20, 32-600 Oświęcim

Country: Poland

Tel.: +48-33-844-80-90

e-mail: muzeum@auschwitz.org.pl

URL: www.auschwitz.org.pl  

Type of institution: x National		 Governmental		 Regional
             Other   Specify .......................................................................

Sector:  Archive   Library x Museum  Foundation  
             Other   Specify .......................................................................

Legal status: x Public   Private    No profit

Description of the institution (max 200 characters):
It is a public institution located in Oswiecim, Poland 
on the site of the former nazi Germany concentration camp Auschwitz- 
Birkenau. The Museum was established in1947.

CONTACT PERSON OF THE PROJECT

Name: Krzysztof  Surname: Antonczyk

Gender:   x M		 F

Title: MA

Institution: The State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland

Mailing address: as above
Country: POLAND

Tel.: +48-33-844-80-90
e-mail: k.anton@auschwitz.org.pl
Contact languages: Polish, English

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

Duration: 2 years completed in August 2003

Objectives and priorities (max 200 characters):

Main task was to build the data base and digitise all available and post war documents concerning Auschwitz camp. Eventually to build a main victim register. Museum has now as many as 518.000 personal records in 58 cross-referenced full-text databases. The data is based on SS documentation and it is still only a small part of original resources concentration camp archives (over 2 million documents); it combines every existing document and photograph from the notorious camp into a single, easy-to-use-and-manage electronic archive. It contains personal prisoners cards, letters from prisoners, and even records from the so called prisoners hospital. 

The main features for what you consider the project a 'good practice' example, with respect to the selected areas ((max 200 characters for each area):

Preparation of the digitisation has included the preparation of personalized software for the creation of the electronic catalogue For this scope the staff of the Museum together with Infogenia Company has consulted and adapted a solution for the organization and management of archives and collections – MultiArch Asset Management System.  MultiArch not only makes it possible to store descriptions of non digitised objects and their data, including classifications, orders, descriptions and abstracts of  their content, but it also stores digital representations of the objects themselves. It thus stores and processes images, sounds and audiovisual documents, and establishes the links between the documentary information and these media objects. It is a flexible and scalable solution that will allow the Digital Archive to develop as it is composed of a set of modules and applications that ensure the rapid construction and deployment of both simple and complex, large-scale collection-management systems.  It is based on a classical two-level Client/Server system, with a "thick" client and data management server.  The MultiArch server takes care of data storage and data access management, while the client ensures user interfacing.  The MultiArch Data Management Module is composed of three main components: A document repository (XML documents), a relational database and a full-text retrieval system:
•	The document repository stores the complete contents of all object descriptions.  Because these descriptions are in the XML format, they are not bound by typical SQL DBMS limitations such as rigid record structure or limitations imposed on the size of textual fields. Object descriptions retrieved from this component (after verification of access rights), are sent to a user in the form of an XML or DHTML document. 
•	The full-text retrieval system provides powerful content-based access methods for document retrieval. A combination of a statistical and a Boolean approach for searching through the document space enables rapid and relevant information retrieval, even in cases in which data is incomplete or fuzzy (spelling errors, for example.).
Although MultiArch relies heavily on SQL for data storage and management, direct manipulation of SQL entities on the logical level were avoided, thanks to the implementation of XML.  Within MultiArch, by default, SQL is explicitly only used for access control and data distribution, while all data transformation, visualization and control/validation  are performed via XML/XSL tools. Because all applied mechanisms are characteristic of XML (rather than being proprietary to MultiArch ),  MultiArch  is very open to external extensions, whether they are custom programmed applications or off-the-shelf components.   In addition, usage of XML on the logical level liberates MultiArch from the DBMS platform dilemma – so that adaptation to any SQL DBMS is straightforward and fast.

The unique feature of MultiArch, which makes it stand out, is its use of XML as a vehicle for modeling user interfaces.  MultiArch does not implement interfaces as programmed sets of Windows widgets (as in classical applications), but instead it uses XML descriptions (DTD and style sheets) of the user interface.  When the application is executed, MultiArch generates the appropriate interface on the fly.   This “dynamic interface” approach brings great flexibility to the shape user interface can take, and allows for the generation of completely different interfaces (even with different access hierarchies) easily, and in very little time (usually a matter of a few hours). All this is achieved without the need to recompile the module, as the MultiArch interface-rendering engine addresses merging the interface structure data together with interface presentation attributes, and dynamically generates the appropriate interface. As this whole interface technology is based on standard XML and DHTML, users may use any XML compatible third-party tools.  In addition, because all object descriptions are also stored in the XML format, advanced reporting needs can also be shaped by using XML tools.  

Using XML extensively within the MultiArch architecture allows for the easy and efficient construction of different client interfaces such as: client administration (MultiArch), data entry applications (MultiArch Editor), and web clients (MultiArch Viewer).  Nearly all data content (including attributes), widget screen layout, element hierarchy etc. can thus be controlled easily without any need for programming. This makes MultiArch a very attractive solution for nearly all kinds of museums and archives, as well as for content management applications.

Accessibility on Internet - As far as the publication area is concerned the Museum has permitted public access to the part of its electronic archives. MultiArch system provides an easy and automatic base to publish the data on CD/DVD and online. Museum gives the access to more or less 70.000 personal records of killed prisoners and is going to publish on web site next 20.000 names of Roma prisoners. The DEATH BOOK database can be browsed in the same way as the data in MultiArch system however it can not be changed by user as it is exported online by additional safe tool.

The choice of the data for Internet access has been chosen carefully to avoid the problems that are described below, taking into consideration both legal, political and social context, that can not be underestimated in the case of such an important institution created for the scope of maintenance of memories of one of the most dramatic events in human history.

Problems encountered and lessons learned:

The scanning process is very slow now as ther is not have enough personnel at the Museum. 
No serious technical problems have occurred. 

The most difficult matter for Museum is to find the way how to protect the data from neo-nazi movement. Unfortunately, in some place in the World there are some groups (holocaust deniers, revisionists) of that type that potentially could use the information on Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp in misleading and malicious way or even to fake it.

There also some legal problems with personal data protection due to the current Polish regulation of this question that protect in specific way the privacy of living people that were the Camp victims.

Comments:

This Digital Archive evolved into other projects for the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, which is one of the most significant museums in the world from the standpoint of 20th Century history. Another system catalogs and electronically presents the tens of thousands of objects in the camp museum, from prison clothing to photographs of life before the war that were the final possessions of those who perished. The Digital Archive and Museum system will evolve in the future into a virtual museum and will become available online.

I agree this information may be published on Minerva Knowledge Base: http://www.minervaeurope.org

x Yes  No

Signature: Krzysztof Antonczyk
e-mail: k.anton@auschwitz.org.pl