NOTE: This is a discussion document for the purposes of helping the MDL plan its FY2009. Elements of this proposal may well change before we move ahead.

The MDL wanted to explore “universal access” during the current grant period. In MDL-speak “universal access” means a way to search a wide range of digital collections including MDL and other historical society and campus digital object collections. I will call this endeavor “wide area search”. The MDL asked me to put together a prototype system that could search across MDL photo collections and a few collections from non-MDL institutions by the middle of June.

When I began this work in late April 2008 I decided to make a quick pilot go of it using the Google custom search engine (CSE) facility. That quickly proved unworkable. But it revealed enough of the Google way that we realized we might be able to create a fully functional prototype using their Google Mini search appliance. That worked, more or less, and the result is available to see at http://search.mndigital.org.

This system is functional enough that the next challenge lies mostly in expanding its adoption so we can have a better sense of its effectiveness. This will require getting out around the state and sitting down with audiences of county historical society directors and staff, helping them understand the benefits of sharing their online images more widely, and then recruiting five of them to participate in the ongoing Wide Area Search project.

Deliverables

1. Continued consulting and system administration effort equivalent to one day per month. ($3,600)

2. Go “on tour” to five sites around the state for an on-site workshop with directors and staff from nearby institutions followed by some hands on technology time with whoever manages the database for the host institution. ($6,500)

3. Add five new sites to the system. ($3,000)

4. Develop some additional interface refinements as required. ($1,000)

5. Writing up an assessment report of the project. ($2,400)

6. Overhead costs of consultant. (+10%)

Putting the picture together

As a consultant, I do not charge by the hour. The estimates above are made to help me understand the costs of a project, but I would not bill the project or justify my time in these ways. I find projects require much more fluid application of time and effort that such a picture allows. Still, these estimates are helpful in understanding the likely cost of the effort.

Altogether these costs come to $18,000.

That’s the ballpark for now. I would be happy to review this with you further and to consider some sort of discounts if the MDL cannot, in the end, afford this cost.