This document serves as an FAQ reference to those using DH Research services. It addresses common questions regarding Omeka, Scalar and your Domain of One’s Own account.
- What are the main differences between Scalar and Omeka?
Omeka and Scalar are both powerful tools for digital scholarship and online exhibitions, but they serve different purposes and have distinct features. Omeka is primarily used for creating and managing online exhibits and digital collections. It’s well-suited for libraries, museums and archives looking to present and organize their digital assets. It focuses on collection management, cataloging, and creating narrative exhibits around collections. Its design is centered around the presentation and contextualization of curated collections.
Scalar is designed for creating multimedia-rich, non-linear digital books and scholarly projects. It is often used for digital storytelling, interactive narratives, and complex scholarly works that require a more flexible structure. It emphasizes the integration of multimedia elements and the creation of dynamic, non-linear narratives. Scalar allows for complex relationships between different types of content and provides tools for creating interactive, immersive experiences.
- How do I bulk upload media onto Omeka/Scalar?
Omeka Bulk Upload: For a step-by-step workflow on bulk uploading media to Omeka
Scalar Bulk Upload: For a step-by-step workflow on uploading media to Scalar
- Bulk uploading to Scalar is similar, but there are a few distinct differences:
- Scalar requires URLs for each piece of content
- Github repositories can be used to store media and create links for individual files
- Scalar allows you to bulk upload both media and
- Thumbnails aren’t being generated for my Omeka collections. Why?
To generate thumbnails for item entries and to create derivative images, the user first needs to set the ImageMagick path. To do this, navigate to Settings > General, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and in the blank field next to ImageMagick Directory Path, input:
/opt/rh-imagemagick/bin
Copy and paste this into the box, then click Test directly below to ensure it works properly. Click Save Changes on the right hand side of the screen.
- How do I obtain t a registration key for Scalar?
Scalar requires a registration key to sign up for an account. Sign up with your UT email address at this link to automatically receive a registration key.
