Database development for the Rudolf Pöch Collection by Fox Medialab

The convenient database and individualised administration tools (CMS) developed by Fox Medialab enables all partner institutions of the scientific project on Rudolf Pöch to import and administer their data via the internet. It was programmed in PHP and MySQL which are both “open source” products. Objects and contents can be sorted and filtered according to several parameters as well as individually configured for output. An integrated full text search function facilitates the work flow. Objects and contents can further be specifically cross-linked.

To manage the huge amount of image data accumulating from the Rudolf Pöch collection, input routines were programmed to automatically match image data with corresponding logged objects. The database also routinely allocates keywords to all texts from a previously entered glossary. For a future multilingual version, the database is prepared to include two more languages by a simple switching procedure. Moreover, the database hosts a name index, a bibliography, an article index and an address register, and can be extended with additional modules or media anytime.

The database thus forms the basis for a future output into a virtual museum on Rudolf Pöch to make his collection accessible for a general public via the internet.