/research/software/coboat/default.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/software/coboat/default.htm

COBOAT

COBOAT is a metadata publishing tool developed by Cognitive Applications Inc. (Cogapp) that transfers information between databases (such as collections management systems) and different formats.

As part of the Mellon-funded Museum Data Exchange project, OCLC commissioned Cogapp to:

Configuration files allow COBOAT to be adjusted for extraction from different vendor-based or homegrown database systems of collections information, or locally divergent implementations of the same collections management system. The configuration files available for download are designed for output from the Gallery Systems TMS collections management system.

In conjunction with the open source OAICatMuseum 1.0 software, COBOAT can be used to make CDWA Lite XML records available for harvesting via the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).

Distribution

The COBOAT distribution consists of several components:

Use the Download link below to obtain the software and documentation.

License

Each of the COBOAT software components is covered by a separate license agreement. These agreements are summarized below. Users must register in order to download the software. Specific terms and conditions covering use of each software component are presented to the user at the time of download. Users must agree to the relevant terms and conditions in order to receive a license file for the core application.

Cognitive Applications Inc. and Ltd. (Cogapp) is a consultancy, design and production company for online and interactive media. COBOAT is copyright ©2008 by Cognitive Applications Ltd. Portions © 2000-2008 Runtime Revolution Limited. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Download

See License section above for a general overview of the download process and applicable licenses.

User discussion

A listserv is available for people who have downloaded the software and would like to share insights or discuss problems with others using the software.

Related topics

COBOAT works hand-in-glove with OAICatMuseum: while COBOAT extracts the data from collection management systems, the open source OAICatMuseum software allows museums to disclose the extracted CDWA Lite descriptions of collection items as well as pointers to digital surrogates. In that way, COBOAT and OAICatMuseum can be used to efficiently share digital images with trusted partners who have requested access to museum content, or with the networked world at large.

Both OAICatMuseum and the processing extensions for COBOAT have been developed as part of the Museum Data Exchange project, conducted by OCLC Research on behalf of the RLG Partnership. The goal of this project is to create tools supporting data sharing in the art museum community, and analyze the extent to which current museum data allows for meaningful search and retrieval in an aggregate environment.

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