We present an interview with Fernanda Flores, our Monitoring and Learning Manager, who oversees our comprehensive Collection Management System designed to support various WCM activities.
The War Childhood Museum preserves almost 6,000 exhibits in its collection from eighteen past and current world conflicts. Besides displaying them through a permanent exhibition in Sarajevo and numerous traveling exhibitions worldwide, the Museum also has an online Collection Management System with all the information. How was the database created and who it is intended for?
The idea of creating a comprehensive Collection Management System (CMS) for the museum has been a long-standing goal. Since its inception, the WCM has meticulously recorded contributors, stories, objects, oral history testimonies, and other related data. Initially, these details were kept in separate files. Although this method was reliable and safe, it lacked a systemic and centralized approach. As the museum grew, it became clear that a more effective way to record, manage, monitor, and access data was needed. The practical necessity of efficient data management, combined with the desire to create an all-encompassing platform, led to the development of the CMS.
To achieve this goal, in 2020, WCM teamed up with a local Bosnian company, New Technologies Group (NTG). Together, we created a customized database tailor-made to meet the museum’s specific needs. Given the vast scope of WCM’s activities and the determination to have the best CMS possible to meet those needs, opting for a custom-made solution rather than ready-made software was essential.
The primary users of the CMS are currently WCM employees, who utilize the database for collection management purposes and for other museum activities, including exhibitions, educational programs, and research projects. Additionally, close collaborators, such as project partners, may be granted partial access to the CMS on a need basis, allowing them to contribute to specific projects and activities that benefit from the rich data stored in the CMS.
Although the CMS is currently primarily for internal use, it was designed from the beginning to be a future resource for external research and educational purposes. The extensive and detailed information stored in the CMS provides valuable insights for those studying the impacts of war on children. So, our aim is also to ensure that the multilayered experiences of children affected by armed conflict are preserved and accessible. Therefore, the CMS not only supports the museum’s internal processes but will also serve as a centralized resource for research and learning. This fulfills the museum’s mission to document and preserve the experiences of children impacted by conflict while contributing to research and educational efforts.
CMS Accessible for Researchers, Scholars and Students
In addition to stories, detailed information about the exhibits, and WCM exhibitions, the database also contains information about more than 250 oral history testimonies. Will the transcripts of those testimonials be available to researchers?
Oral history testimonies, which have been primarily video-recorded, are transcribed and edited in the native language. Each transcribed segment is tagged with keywords corresponding to the topics it addresses.
Currently, we are working to import these transcript excerpts and their tags into the CMS, and an advanced search function for them is being developed. This feature will allow users to search by various parameters and, most importantly, by specific tags and keywords of interest. Therefore, in the future, this functionality will enable researchers to efficiently search for transcript excerpts based on the topics relevant to their work.
Will they be able to access CMS directly? What will be the procedure?
As mentioned earlier, one of our goals is to make the CMS accessible to external researchers, scholars, students, and others studying topics documented by the museum. Currently, our research team actively manages requests for access to our collection, ensuring alignment with the museum’s collection policies through a structured procedure, including the signing of an Access Agreement, before sharing certain materials relevant to the access request.
Although a similar procedure should stay in place, with more direct access to the CMS, viewing parts of our collection will become more efficient and further tailored to researchers’ needs. Users will be able to directly explore and view certain materials from our extensive database, regardless of whether their interests are broad or highly specific. The advanced search capabilities will enable them to pinpoint relevant testimonies, stories, and objects with ease. This streamlined process will significantly enhance our knowledge-sharing capacity.
Easier management of collections, research, educational programs, and exhibitions
The database can be searched using numerous parameters. Were these already developed in the WCM methodology, or were some specifically designed for such a platform? How much attention was given to making the search feature as user-friendly as possible?
First and foremost, it is important to highlight that the CMS is much more than just a secure and efficient way to store data. Beyond data storage, it incorporates multiple features that streamline various aspects of our work, including collection management, research, education, and curation.
One such feature is the advanced search function, which interrelates all of WCM’s primary information categories—contributors, stories, objects, and oral history testimonies. This feature allows for searches based on a variety of parameters, enabling users to find both general and highly specific information. For example, if one wishes to see all plastic toys whose stories cover the topic of time spent in a basement or shelter, shared by female contributors from Bosnia and Herzegovina who were between 10 and 13 years old during the conflict, the CMS can provide these results with just a few clicks.
Many of these parameters were already part of WCM’s methodology. These include categories defining the content of the stories, types of objects (e.g., toy, letter, photograph), and object materials (e.g., plastic, metal, textile), among many more. However, prior to the CMS, it was not possible to search through the data in such an efficient way.
We have also added entirely new parameters as we have continued to use and refine the CMS. For instance, we introduced the “restrictions on use” parameter, which allows us to mark materials with specific requests or levels of anonymity, thereby adding another layer of privacy protection. We also added the “object shape” parameter to differentiate between 2D and 3D objects, which is crucial information when designing balanced exhibitions. Additionally, we now have a very specific storage location code for each of our objects, detailing the location from the most general parameter (e.g., country) to the most specific one (e.g., the exact tray or folder).
Furthermore, even the existing categories are continuously expanding to accommodate new content. We take this dynamic approach to ensure that our CMS remains user-friendly and adaptable to the evolving needs of our work.
CMS Preserves Stories and Testimonies in 19 Languages
The content in the CMS is multilingual, currently preserving stories and testimonies in nineteen different languages. Many of these have already been translated into multiple languages. How many languages will the stories and testimonies be available in the future?
The working language of the CMS is English, ensuring it is as universally accessible and usable as possible.
However, much of the content is multilingual. Oral history testimonies are recorded and transcribed in the local languages of the contributors. These transcripts are then translated into English, and often into additional languages as needed.
Similarly, stories collected in their original languages are translated into English and other languages on a need basis. For example, certain stories were translated into Romanian for a temporary exhibition in Bucharest and into Dutch and Albanian for other exhibitions in the Netherlands and Kosovo. Our permanent exhibition in Sarajevo includes translations of displayed stories in languages such as Chinese and Italian to enhance the visitor experience. All these multilingual entries are preserved in the CMS.
Therefore, the number of languages available in the future will depend on our ongoing projects and needs. As our work continues to expand, we anticipate adding more languages to the CMS to ensure the accessibility and reach of our content.
The CMS is constantly expanding and upgrading. Can you reveal in which direction it will develop further?
The CMS is a dynamic and evolving platform. Initially, we did not anticipate many of the advanced features it now possesses. Beyond preparing the CMS for external access, we plan to continue enhancing it by adding new features. Although the CMS is already highly functional, the advantage of a tailor-made system is its ability to grow, adapt, and expand based on WCM’s needs and overall dynamics.
Our direction is to continually assess our needs and integrate new features accordingly while experimenting with innovative solutions. For instance, one idea is to develop an exhibition feature that would allow us to set various parameters, enabling the CMS to assist curators in designing exhibitions tailored to specific requirements.
Last but not least, cybersecurity is a constant priority. We engage experts to audit the system and implement advanced privacy measures.
Overall, the CMS is central to many of WCM’s activities, including collection management, research, education, and exhibition curation. Given its importance, we are committed to its continuous development, making it an increasingly invaluable tool for all our activities.
