Greater than the sum of its parts: a model for a national collections database

The ever-increasing electronic catalogues of individual museums can be discovered by remote researchers and delivered in a way that is meaningful to the researching and ongoing safeguarding of the physical objects. The motivation to create a National Collections Database is examined, and a model for bringing scholarly material out of museum collections, and communicating it with researchers is put forward. The examination includes a brief review of Australian efforts so far, and the metadata schema that have been promoted both locally and internationally (such as the Distributed National Collection and the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting). The model discusses ways in which authorised researchers can query participating museums about its holdings, and for research-quality data to be returned, and illustrates participation methods suitable for small and large museums. As the model‟s greatest potential is the capacity to minimise the gap between museums and that traditionally indispensable research tool: the library.