Digital Dress: 200 Years of Urban Style is a joint project between Wayne State University, The Henry Ford, Detroit Historical Museums and Meadowbrook Hall. In 2003, these institutions received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant for Library-Museum Collaborations. The initiative draws on selections from each institution's costume collection and making them electronically accessible.
Collection Principles
This blog entry uses the Henry Ford Costume Collection Home Page to get access to the images from the consortium and looks at some of the features of the Henry Ford Site. The collection is highly searchable. On the homepage there is a box on the lefthand side that allows a user to browse all images or browse all records. A search engine below allows users to enter key words and search within particular collections. A user can make their search more specific by choosing from a drop down list and searching by subject, title, object number, time period, designer, other maker or location. The user could expand the search further by choosing to do a search and then link it to another search (using the consecutive drop down box). For example a user could enter a keyword to search in designer "and" location. A user can also search multiple collections, that belong to a particular collection group, at once.
This blog entry uses the Henry Ford Costume Collection Home Page to get access to the images from the consortium and looks at some of the features of the Henry Ford Site.
Object Characteristics
The collection is comprised of digitized images of costumes, with over 2,261 images and 404 records. The costumes chosen for the gallery are varied and include men's, women's and children's dress for work, play and formal occasions. The pieces selected "for the digital collection originated in America and Europe with bulk manufacturers, couture designers, and home-based clothing makers." The digital objects are browasble and organized by date (1700-1900). The web site provides thumb nail images. A user can also build their own portfolio of objects, add a title to the portfolio and choose whether or not it should be viewable to the public.
The collection is comprised of digitized images of costumes, with over 2,261 images and 404 records. The costumes chosen for the gallery are varied and include men's, women's and children's dress for work, play and formal occasions. The pieces selected "for the digital collection originated in America and Europe with bulk manufacturers, couture designers, and home-based clothing makers." The digital objects are browasble and organized by date (1700-1900). The web site provides thumb nail images. A user can also build their own portfolio of objects, add a title to the portfolio and choose whether or not it should be viewable to the public.
Metadata
The project provides a good deal of metadata. This information includes: the costume collection title, the object title, the era of the costume came out of, a unique identifier, the object number, the number of hits, the designer, the institution that owns the piece, a physical description, background information, subject headings, credits and copyright information. A researcher can choose to browse thumbnail images with caption information (limited metadata), thumbnail images with the record information (detailed metadata) or browse the captions only.Intended Audience
This IMLS funded project is geared specifically towards academics and researchers. Costumes and textiles are especially fragile. The project allows students and other costume history researchers the ability to access the images and to study the costumes without worry over the preservation and care and handling of the physical object.
This IMLS funded project is geared specifically towards academics and researchers. Costumes and textiles are especially fragile. The project allows students and other costume history researchers the ability to access the images and to study the costumes without worry over the preservation and care and handling of the physical object.
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