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.

Roles: Systems developer (as a staff member of the Humanities Computing Development Team, Oxford University Computing Services)

The brief: The Theology Faculty required a web-based system to manage various kinds of information relating to taught courses (undergraduate and postgraduate). A particular requirement was a convenient means for staff to maintain their own profiles with some basic formatting options.

Solution: An existing system, OxArch, written in PHP/MySQL, with ODBC connection to MS Access database, was identified as a suitable starting point as it was used for managing teaching in the School of Archaeology. It was repurposed and expanded for Theology. A novel JavaScript solution, NetWedit, was implemented for rich text editing.

URL: http://resources.theology.ox.ac.uk/ (via archive.org)