ethnoMARS - the ethnoArc multi archive search tool

The ethnoArc project implemented a tool that allows researchers to build and perform queries on one or more ethnomusicological archives, without the need of having additional information about the archive, such as written documentation or personal contact.

Its primary purpose is to enable the researcher to search the metadata available at the archive sites, based on criteria defined by the researcher and store the results locally for post-processing and reference.

The researcher is able to define a query, based on the goals of the research topic, perform the query on multiple archives and use the result as the basis for further research, for example as a 'reference list' for direct contact to the archive or an on-site visit.

The handbook for the ethnoMARS tool can be downloaded here.

The ethnoMARS software itself can be downloaded here.

Note: This software is currently in the late beta stage - it is running stable, but there still may be bugs.
If you encounter any problems, please let us know.

The distribution on this site only contains the binary version of ethnoMARS. The ethnoArc project has also made the sources for ethnoMARS available (as well as the sources of all other software developed in ethnoArc). You can find them on this site.

Currently the project is in its test and evaluation phase, so only metadata from the archives participating in the ethnoArc project can be queried.

These archives are:

• AIMP - Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire [Geneva, Switzerland]
• EMEM - Ethnological Museum Berlin - Department for Ethnomusicology [Berlin, Germany]
• IEF - Constantin Brailoiu Institute for Ethnography and Folklore [Bucharest, Romania]
• ZTI - Institute of Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences [Budapest, Hungary]

The goal of the ethnoArc project is to make the software for providing the metadata to researchers available to interested archives and extend the list of archives that can be searched with the ethnoMARS tool.

If you are interested in adding your archive to the list, please contact us. We have prepared a short info sheet about the technical requirements for doing so, which can be found here.