About Kamra
Regional portal Kamra accumulates digitised local cultural content from libraries and other local cultural institutions. Digital content is thus available through one single place and created by the most competent organisations in their respective fields. Kamra provides them with free infrastructure and also trains new partners, so they can present digitised content of mostly local significance and publish it on the internet.
The content stored on Kamra is presented in the form of stories with supporting narrations, corresponding digitalised objects and metadata. Kamra allows users to discover stories that are significant, interesting and in local community’s interest. These may include introductions of local authors and other noteworthy people; documents and photographs of significant local association; postcards from different time periods; local works of art, biographies of the authors and exhibitions; famous buildings, the stories of people who lived in them and a lot more.
Users can now access content that was previously hidden in library storage rooms, archives and museums, associations’ archives or even in the drawers of school staff rooms.
Web portal Kamra is managed by the Public Library Celje, which works in close contact with regional libraries where the regional editorial boards are based, and also The Slovenian Public Libraries Association.
The content on Kamra is also available through the European digital library, Europeana, http://europeana.eu.
Contribution of content
Organisations or single users, who wish to publish their collection on Kamra, should follow the following steps:
- Select the editor covering the region you are based in from the contact sheet.
- Regional editor will examine the material and determine whether it is suitable for publishing on KAMRA. If the material is not yet digitalised, he will offer advice on how to do it. Perhaps it could be done in the library itself. You will also receive a manual on how to input content on Kamra.
- Prepare a text that will represent a basis of your story and multimedia elements with metadata.
- Sign the »Agreement on inclusion of content on KAMRA« with the Central library Celje.
- If you decide to input the content yourself, regional editor will organize training on how to do that. You can arrange for the library staff to do the input for you. Regional editor will also provide you with the password for accessing the portal as the administrator.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Because of the coordinated cooperation with the regional partner institutions all information is available in one place, while being created in organisations most familiar with the various fields. The concept behind Kamra is to provide those organisations with the necessary infrastructure, maintenance and training so that they are able to create content of local importance in digital form and publish it on the internet.
Central regional libraries established a project group, which developed the organisational and functional design of the portal and led its implementation with the help of an external contractor. Together with The Slovenian Public Library Association and the National and University Library, they set up the Consortium, which managed Kamra until 2011.
Kamra publishes smaller and more targeted local digital collections that also contain objects, originally stored on various locations. The content is primarily presented in the form of stories with narration and corresponding digitised objects with metadata.
The content of Kamra
- introductions of a local authors or famous persons together with their work in digital form, photographs, postcards of their birthplace, audio records of their speeches or interpretations of their works, video records from reading events or celebrations in their honour;
- documents of distinctive local associations: their activities, life stories of the founder and key members, their writings, audio records, memories of their descendents and friends;
- postcards of the community from different time periods, stories attached to the locations on the postcards and their owners;
- research assignments created in local educational institutions are connected with other material, relevant to the theme of the assignment;
- audio and video records of local dialects with descriptions and documents;
- records of local artists, their biographies, exhibition catalogues, interviews;
- local studies material (primary and secondary) on film;
- content relevant to the natural and cultural tourist attractions of the local community;
- local ethnographic content (how they used to live..., folklore, handicraft, local traditions etc.);
- typical buildings and the stories of people who lived in them.
Digital collections are shaped as a tree: the main collection is annexed with additional chapters that describe individual aspects of the story.
Main editorial board for the entire content of Kamra is based in the Public Library Celje. Its assignments are:
- to survey the content on the portal and coordinate the addition of new content with regional editors;
- to convene meetings and organise trainings for regional editors;
- to organise and implement trainings for content creators (if necessary);
- to cooperate with the developer of Kamra.
- to coordinate the addition of new content within their area;
- to review, edit and confirm the publication of regional content;
- to help external partners to upload their content;
- to organise regional trainings for workers involved in Kamra;
- to formulate proposals on how to improve the design and content of the portal.
Partners
Libraries and organisations that wish to publish a digital collection prepare and organise the documents into a coherent piece with the help of qualified editors. Their tasks are:
- setting up the material and digitisation (with external partners or by themselves);
- layout of metadata and the design of content on Kamra, content entry;
- cooperation with regional editors to ensure the content is in accordance with the policy of Kamra and management of the organisational demands: training, authorisation for accessing the portal etc.
Users
We will be extremely grateful for your contribution.