OHMS: Oral History Metadata Synchronizer

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The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries has createda web-based, system called OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) to inexpensively and efficiently enhance access to oral history online. OHMS provides users word-level search capability and a time-correlated transcript or index connecting the textual search term to the corresponding moment in the recorded interview online.

OHMS is not a repository, it is a system for making repositories better.  The primary purpose for OHMS is to empower users to more effectively and efficiently discover information in an oral history interview online by connecting the user form a search result to the corresponding moment in an interview.

There are 2 main components of the OHMS system

  1. OHMS Application: The OHMS application is where the work is done.  This is the back-end, web-based application where interviews are imported, and metadata is created.  In the OHMS application transcripts are time-coded and/or interviews are indexed.  Upon completion, the interview record (including the synchronized transcript and/or time-coded index) are exported as an XML file.  When located on a web server, the OHMS XML file is what interfaces with your content management system through the OHMS Viewer.
  1. OHMS Viewer: The OHMS viewer (Figure 1) is the user interface of ohms.   When an interview is called by the repository, the OHMS viewer loads, calling select interview level metadata and the intra interview level metadata created in the OHMS Application from the corresponding xml file.   View the following examples of the OHMS Viewer in Action:

In 2011, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the Nunn Center a National Leadership Grant to further develop their Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS). The grant project is designed to prepare OHMS for open source distribution and to create compatibility between OHMS and other popular content management systems empowering institutions, both large and small, to provide an effective, user-centered discovery interface for oral history on a large scale.

OHMS is currently in development for the grant partners.  If you are interested in participating in the prototype phase of OHMS, contact Nunn Center director Doug Boyd.

To learn more about OHMS, read these previous posts.

 

 

 

 

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