The conception of the search function realisation
in the museum information system “Atlant”

D.Y. Gook, S.V. Morozov, A.N. Mazurkevich
State Hermitage
Address: 190000, Saint-Petersburg, Dvortsovaya nab., 34
Phone: (812) 110-96-94
Fax: (812) 311-90-09
E-mail: hookk@hermitage.ru

The museum system “Atlant” is destined for the management of common database including the structured text descriptions of objects and images, for the scientific research, collection management, restoration and conservation, taking into account the uniqueness of storage system, documentation and description of various types of museum collections and objects, and also for the automation of the procedure of the basic types of documentation and statistical reports compilation, including the publications in HTML format. They put in a one line various processes: scientific processing and registration of materials – acquisition documentation – accumulation of the common data bank on museum collections – information addition after scientific treatment, research and publications. The computer program “Atlant” allows to organise the continuous technological process and provides the complex decision of the collection management, scientific cataloguing, restoration and conservation, scientific expert evaluation problems in the common information space.

The scalability, software and hardware compatibility, software reliability and continuity and operating system safety are provided by Oracle Server and Developer 2000 (for Windows95/NT or Unix). The number of users — from one (Personal Oracle) to ten (Oracle Workgroup) or more (Oracle Enterprise Server) — depends of Oracle Server version.

Minimised requirements to the hardware for the real time work: local workstation - 32 Mb memory & 1Gb HDD; database server 64 Mb memory & 1 GB HDD minimum, client workstation - 16 Mb memory & 500 Mb HDD.

The procedure of the data import from the existing local databases (DBF and MDB formats) is developed.

There are many groups of users, having different aims of search in common data bank. During the realisation of the search function in the program “Atlant” they decided to vary the possibility of access to a particular records in database and special query. The analogous approach was successfully used in previous original hermitage programs. The formalisation of query logic traditionally resulted in a list of standard queries.

The procedure of search on all the data bank initially had two realisations: First - for the collection management department (scientific documentation) - allows to answer the question “how many? And what?” by the number of parameters from limited set. Second - for scientific personal (curator, research worker) - allows to combine complicated query using a full list of parameters. The second one became the basis of this search function. The search function works in real time.

The special search function on a data bank takes into account the specific of the storage system and documentation according to the "Instruction on control and storage of the museum objects of the Ministry of Culture of Russia": search on registry data, type of fund (main, additional etc.) and storage (permanent/temporary), topography (place of storage) — and parameters of inventory book description of objects.

There are two examples.

Example 1.

The query to the general catalogue. They search on registry data, for example: “number in acquisition book of the museum”, “number in inventory book”, “order”. They suppose that the person asking for the data has the necessary data access privileges. User marks one of these search regimes and input the parameter value. It is possible to show the interval of numbers in inventory book (?34-78), and the interval of items for one number too (?34/1-123). For the search on “order” any logical of parameters “type of order”, “number”, “date” is available, or they get one from the list of orders existing in the database. As a result of query they have the list of objects and multiscreen form-card with the information about the current object including the image, if it exists. The output of the list of selected records, as one of the documentation forms on printer is possible too.

Example 2.

The query to the general catalogue. The external user searches on the inventory description for a scientific research. In the search regime “on description” the full list of parameters becomes available, for example, “author”, “title”, “category of object”, “material”, “technique” etc. Any logical combination of parameters is possible (“category of object” — icon, “material” — wood, “technique” — tempera), including some values of one parameter (“material” — gold, silver, garnet). The result of the query consists of the multiscreen form-card with the information about the current object from the list of selected objects. The registry data are available only for the user with special privileges. They suppose the direct communication with responsible curator in order to get more information. Thus, the search system makes user to understand the aim of his work and, what is the problem to solve. All the users have different access privilege to the separate information blocks and parameters for input, editing and deleting of data according to their functional duties and status.

The query procedure in the case of data selection for input and updating is analogous. The only difference is in the additional functional keys for the choice of parameter values from the list of values. The full general catalogue browse is possible for the user with such privilege in the search regime “on number in inventory book ”, but looses practical sense after the database growing up. Looking through ten thousands of records is very difficult.

If the search function is the first part of each information system, then the second part — the representation of the search result. In the common information space of the program “Atlant” many users are able to work with the different access privilege to the data (information blocks and records). That is why the system users having privilege can input and update information and get as a result of query various documents as a text or HTML files.

Only the wide future utilisation of the program will allow to make the search system adequate to the user’s requirements.

Gook Daria - Head of the Computer & Information Technologies Department of the State Hermitage Museum.

Morozov Sergei - research worker of the Computer & Information Technologies Department of the State Hermitage Museum.

Mazurkevich Andrei - main curator of the Eastern Europe and Siberia Archaeology Department of the State Hermitage Museum.