Omeka.net Projects "How-to" Guide

Omeka is a content management system (CMS) that holds online collections of digital images, text, or other multimedia. 

There are three Omeka products – Omeka Classic, Omeka S, and Omeka.net:

• Omeka Classic, for individual projects or educators, requires server space or a host for the items
• Omeka S is for institutions managing sharable resources across multiple sites
• We will be using the free version of Omeka.net

Omeka Site Structure

3 levels of the Omeka structure

• Items
• Collections
• Exhibits

Items

Items are types of individual files: images, text, or multimedia (no larger than 128mb)

Items are described with Dublin Core metadata, which is a standardized metadata set designed for the web or digital collections

Metadata terms include "Title," "Description," "Creator," and "Date" (Metadata = keywords to describe an item)

Items can also be "tagged" with a topic or keyword

Collections

An Omeka collection is a grouping for uploaded items. The feature is useful to sort items related to different projects or exhibits.

Exhibits

Omeka exhibits are digital showcases of the items in a collection. You can also add text, audio, video, or other storytelling tools.

Use "Exhibit Builder" to create your exhibit from the collections items. 

Plan your project first!

• Before you even begin to add items or create an exhibit, have a well thought out plan for your project. 
• Use an outline or flow chart to highlight the main points (Canva or PowerPoint works).
• Write your text for the project before adding to Omeka. 

Important note!!! Don't put your text in Word and copy/paste it into Omeka. It won't look good! Please write your text in a text editor like notepad or even in a plain text email. Copying and pasting from a text editor will ensure your prose remains intact.

Plug-Ins

Additional features you can add to Omeka.net with your institutional account.

Includes:

• CSV Import: Imports items, tags, and files from CSV files
• Dublin Core Extended: Adds the full set to existing DC element set. DCMI Metadata Terms
• Embed Codes: Allows embedding item content as an iframe in other sites
• Exhibit Builder
• Exhibit Image Annotation: annotate images in your exhibits
• Geolocation: Adds locatin info and maps to Omeka.net
• Item Order: Admin has ability to custom order items in collections
• OAI-PMH Harvester and Repository: Harvests metadata from OAI-PMH data providers, and exposes Omeka items
• Omeka API Import
• PDF Embed
• PDF Text: Extracts text to enable browsing and searching of PDF files
• Simple Pages: Admin can create simple web pages for public sites
• Simple Vocab: Create controlled vocabulary
• Timeline: Adds a TimelineJS block to Exhibit Builder
• Several more not mentioned here