Collection-level description & collection management: tool for the trade or information trade-off? Collection Description Focus Workshop 4 Newcastle, 8

Collection-level description & collection management:

tool for the trade or information trade-off?

Collection Description Focus Workshop 4 Newcastle, 8 November 2002

Bridget Robinson & Ann Chapman

UKOLN, University of Bath

Bath, BA2 7AY

UKOLN is supported by:

[email protected]://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

Collection Description Focus Workshop 4, Newcastle, 8 November 2002

2

CLD & collection management

• Collection Description Focus• What is a collection?• Why collection-level description?

– resource discovery– resource management

• Tool for the trade or trade-off?


3

Collection Description Focus

• Improve consistency, compatibility of approaches

• Funded by– RSLP– JISC/DNER– British Library– Re:source

• Experience of RSLP Collection Description• Benefit from collaboration with

– Interoperability Focus– JISC Information Environment architecture team – NOF-Digitise Technical Advisory Service– CIMI (museums)


4


• Developing consensus– Gathering information– Building a community– Facilitating dialogue– CD Forum

• Disseminating good practice– Organising events

– workshops, briefing days

– Giving presentations– Publishing articles and papers– Developing training resources

– recommendations, guidelines


5


• Supporting implementers– point of contact, advice– support for CLD in programmes

– Research Support Libraries Programme– JISC programmes for building the IE– JISC Learning & Teaching (5/99) programme– NOF-Digitise– Re:source regional cross-domain research

projects

• Providing tools


6

What is a collection?

• Collection– “an aggregation of items”

• Aggregations of, e.g.– natural objects: fossils, mineral samples…– created objects: artefacts, documents, records…– digital resources: documents, images, multimedia

objects, data, software…– digital surrogates of physical objects: documents,

images…– metadata: catalogue records, item descriptions,

collection-level descriptions (!)…


7

What is a collection?

• Various criteria for aggregation, e.g.– By location– By type/form of item– By provenance of item– By source/ownership of item– By nature of item content– ….

• Any number of items• Permanent, temporary• Discrete, distributed• Collections created with intent/purpose

– “consciously formed”– collection development policies


8

Collection of physicalobjects

Collection ofmetadata records

Collection of books

Collection of digitalitems

Database of CLDs

CLDs provide high-level “map” of landscape for user, researcher, visitor….


9

Why collection-level description?

• Enable collection provider to– disclose information about collections to users

• Enable user to – discover/locate collections– select collections to explore/search on basis of

summary description– compare collections as broadly similar objects

(even where items heterogeneous)– understand conditions of access & use– interpret collections

• Enable software agents to – select collections to search on behalf of user – control searches across collections


10

Database of CLDs

… CLDs also useful to resource managers?


11

Why collection-level description?

• Enable collection provider to– manage own collections

– control/audit/review holdings internally

– identify collections at risk

– assess priorities for item-level cataloguing

– manage in collaboration with other providers– identify, record, share information on strengths and

weaknesses

– suggest areas where co-ordination possible

– inform strategic planning – institutional, cross-institutional, regional, sectoral,

national….


12

The resource discovery context

• Strategic initiatives – Museums

– “Renaissance in the Regions”– Single Regional Agencies– Re:source Framework for Collections Management

– Libraries: – People’s Network : connectivity– Full Disclosure : retrospective cataloguing– Research Support Libraries Programme :

disclosure/access, collaborative management

– Archives: – Access to Archives, Scottish Archival Network,

Archives Hub : integrated access


13

• Digital content creation programmes– making heritage (more) accessible– NOF-Digitise

– £50m content creation programme– supporting strategy for social inclusion, lifelong

learning– digitised objects– learning materials– 130 projects, Summer 2001-

– Culture Online– “to widen access to resources of arts/cultural

sector for purposes of learning and enjoyment”

The resource discovery context


14

Tool for the trade for trade-off?

• What resource/collection management functions can/should CLD support?

• What skills are required to create CLDs?• Training implications?• What is relationship between CLD and

item-level description?• Can single CLD support both discovery

and management?– Different audiences?– Different content?


15

Acknowledgements

UKOLN is funded by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK higher and further education funding councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based.

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

COMING SOON!!!!


5th Regional Workshop

30th January 2003 at Hughes Hall, Cambridge

Theme - User Requirements

Documents

Collection-level description & collection management: tool for the trade or information trade-off? Collection Description Focus Workshop 4 Newcastle, 8