Technology Choices Matching (Desired) Product with ProcessRoy TennantCalifornia Digital Library

ConfessionsIm a recovering librarianI exercised my right as a speaker to change my presentation right up to when I give it, so see http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/ presentations/2003owol/I lost $20 in five minutes last night

OutlineWhat are your access goals?Access systemsRepurposeable Digital RepositoriesMetadata

What are Your Access Goals?Searching/Browsing On-screen viewingThumbnail previewScreen-sizeDetail study (and how much?)PrintingArtifact v. Content

Searching/BrowsingTo support effective searching and browsing, you will need metadataTo figure out what metadata you need, you must first figure out what activities you wish to support (your access goals)Think about interoperating with others as well as your internal needs

PrintingOn-screen resolutions are typically inadequate for printingIf you want to support printing, you will need to offer a high-resolution (typically at least 300dpi) version for printing

The Artifact v. ContentThe artifactMust preserve the appearance of the actual object Can provide an enhanced sense of experiencing the real objectBut in some cases, preserving the look and feel of the artifact obstructs the contentThe contentOptimized to provide the best presentation of the content itself, not the artifactThe sense of interacting with the actual object may be diminished or destroyedIn some cases, use of both strategies may be indicated

What are Your Constraints?HardwareRAMCPU speedDisk spaceStorageStaffTimeSkill and experienceWill you ever want to go back and do it again?

What Opportunities Do You Have?Grants may be available to finance your projectLocal donorsExisting software infrastructureOpen source softwareExisting staff knowledge

A Few Words About Image Capture for Access OnlyMonitor resolutions are improving640 x 480 --> 800 x 600 --> 1280 x 768What is a good resolution for onscreen viewing today, may not be tomorrowHow many times do you want to scan your material?Scan at the best quality you can justify given your goals, constraints, and opportunities

Recommendations for Capture for Access OnlyPhotos, illustrations, maps, etc.:300-600dpi24-36 bit colorB/W Text document:300dpi8 bit grayscaleNegatives and Slides:2200-3300 pixels in longest dimension24-36 bit color or 8 bit grayscale

Image Capture HardwareBuy off-the-shelf hardware:Fast computer w/plenty of RAMInternal or external (w/ fast bus, e.g., Firewire) very large hard driveGood consumer-grade scannerSheet feeder (optional)And software:Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop ProOCR (Abbyy FineReader)

Access SystemsExhibit or other educational depictionsBrowseSearch

Access Systems: ExhibitGoals:InvitingEasy to navigateHighlight selected parts of a collectionTeachRequirements:Great graphic designInformative and succinct commentaryInteresting subject matter Interactive activities wherever possible

Access Systems: BrowseGoals:Provide intriguing and interesting paths into and throughout a collectionGive a broad sense of a collection, but not show everything necessarilyRequirements:Logical browse pathsMay have multiple paths to the same items (e.g., time, geography, subject)

Access Systems: SearchGoalsTo provide post-coordinate access to all items in a collection relevant to a particular queryTo provide good methods to create a search as well as refine or alter the display as requiredRequirements:Good search software (database or indexing software)Good metadata (minimum is probably a title or caption for each item)Good interface (options for navigation, search refinement, etc.)

Repurposeable Digital RepositoriesWhat Mark SaidOne way that one institution is doing thisthe California Digital Librarys content management systemFirst, what we can do with it, then how we do it

Other Metadata

LibraryCatalogARK/METSDigital Object RepositoryDescriptive metadataImage capture metadataInformation about the constituentfilesRecord Creation Programark.cdlib.orgwww.loc.gov/standards/mets/

Other Metadata

LibraryCatalogARK/METSDigital Object RepositoryProjectProfileProjectProfileSearchIndexField Extraction ProgramDescriptive metadataImage capture metadataInformation about the constituentfilesIndexing SoftwareRecord Creation ProgramSearchIndexark.cdlib.orgwww.loc.gov/standards/mets/

ARK/METSDigital Object RepositorySearchIndexSearchIndexXSLTXSLTObject description in XMLResults in XMLActual digital objects

Metadata: TypesCataloging by those paid better than librariansStructured description of an object or collection of objectsBasic types:descriptive - e.g., title, creator, subject - used for discoveryadministrative - e.g., resolution, bit depth - used for managing the collectionstructural - e.g., table of contents page, page 34, etc. - used for navigationpreservation - e.g., file types

Metadata: Appropriate LevelCollection-level access:Discovery metadata describes the collectionExample: Archival finding aid encoded in SGML; see http://www.oac.cdlib.org/Item-level access:Discovery metadata describes the itemExample: individual metadata records for each item; see http://jarda.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/imagesearch.pl

Collection Level AccessIndividualFindingAidImagesSearch Interface IndividualFindingAid

http://jarda.cdlib.org

Item Level AccessSearch Interface ImagesFinding Aids

http://californiadigitallibrary.org

Metadata: GranularityWilliam Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Consider all uses for the metadataDesign for the most granular useStore it in a machine-parseable format

Metadata: QualificationWilliam Randolph HearstBuilder -- Castles -- Southern California

Metadata: Machine ParseabilityThe ability to pull apart and reconstruct metadata via softwareFor example, this:

Can easily become this: William Randolph Hearst

Hearst, William Randolph

Metadata StandardsDecide to which industry standards you wish to complyUse an internal metadata infrastructure that complies with those standards as well as your specific requirementsConsider the issues of item v. collection level, granularity, qualification, and machine parseability Understand that your internal infrastructure will be more complex than what is required for standards compliance

RecapDetermine what you want your users to be able to do (your access goals)Consider your constraints, opportunities, and long-term goalsCapture images at the best quality you can standCollect metadata in an amount and form that supports your access goals as well as interoperability with relevant standardsBuild repurposeable digital repositories, which will enable uses you cant even imagine yet