Web-based Intranet for Qatar Museums (2012-2014)

Problem

The Qatar Museums Authority (via archive.org) had responsibility for a dozen or so new museums that were emerging to make Qatar a cultural hub for the Gulf.  A single EMu database instance was set up with core data documentation standards, but access to EMu was limited to those who had registered user accounts on and access to the EMu client.   Other museums staff, such as those in education, needed convenient access to essential information.

Solution

Inspired by the WordPress architecture, particularly its use of redirects, I conceived, architected and developed an intranet for the Qatar Museums Authority.  This enabled Web access with custom views for each staff in museum, with session management integrated with MS Exchange. The user interface was responsive and implemented i18n, with instant toggle between English (left-to-right) and Arabic (right-to-left) — supported by a translation project to map all the necessary cataloguing fields.  The resulting system was deployed to all the Museums and also the office of the Chair of QMA.

2009-2012, 2014-2020

Role: Systems developer (as a staff member of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford)

Brief: Develop and maintain the main Website for the Museum (but not the social media channels) and integrate the collections management system (KE EMu).

Solution: I oversaw the redevelopment of the WordPress site in 2010, mostly into one multisite instance, including previously disparate elements such as the collections search, and then its gradual refinement through to 2012. I overhauled the server provision, standardising on Debian Linux, in University data centres.

Security was enhanced at various levels, through content caches, script hardening, Apache mod Security with a fine-tuned ruleset, and integration with the University’s single sign-on system, first with Stanford Webauth and then with Shibboleth (to better support federation), registering and configuring a Service Provider (Apache module) and then configuring a WordPress plugin to invoke Shibboleth for authentication.

Subsequent work on the site focused on the design and instantiation of content, such as special exhibition sites (see example below). From 2017 onwards, it mainly concerned the digital preservation of legacy online exhibits during the migration to a centrally managed service, to which I also contributed substantially.

URLs
https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ (main site until 2018), home page now redirecting to:
https://hsm.ox.ac.uk/ (main site from 2019 onwards).
https://blogs.mhs.ox.ac.uk/
Slides: integration of the collections database using the KE EMu PHP5 API.

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MHS Special Exhibition: Back from the Dead – Demystifying Antibiotics

2016

Brief: To provide a website to accompany the Special Exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science (since renamed, History of Science Museum). Content needed to be easy to maintain by staff in various teams.

Solution: Using the existing WP multisite infrastructure I was able to create a number of special exhibition sites relatively easily, using responsive off-the-shelf themes. The basic structure was up and running very quickly and could be refined on an ongoing basis. Care was taken to ensure that educational aspects, especially, were made accessible.

URL: https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/backfromthedead/