besser--ucla/getty summer instit-intro 8/6/01 1 ucla/getty summer institute for knowledge sharing...

Besser--UCLA/Getty Summer Instit-intro 8/6/01 1

UCLA/Getty Summer Institutefor Knowledge Sharing (opening)

Howard Besser

UCLA School of Education & Information

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard


UCLA/Getty Summer Institutefor Knowledge Sharing-

_ Interoperability_ Importance of Standards_ Best Practices for Managing Digital Projects_ Implications of Digital Projects_ Longevity_ From Digital Collections to Digital Libraries

& Museums


Key problems we’re facing

_ Discovery_ Interoperability-_ Longevity-


Traditional Digital Collection Model

DL

DL

DL

DL

useruser

search & presentation





Ideal Digital Collection Model

DL

DL

DL

DL

useruser



For Interoperability Digital Collections Need Standards

_ Descriptive Metadata for consistent description

_ Discovery Metadata for finding_ Administrative Metadata for viewing and

maintaining_ Structural Metadata for navigation_ ... Terms & Conditions Metadata for

controlling access...


Metadata is not just indexing terms

_ CBIR attributes used for retrieval on color, shape, texture, etc._ Structural attributes used for page-turning_ Administrative attributes used for managing a digital work

over time_ IPR attributes to limit unauthorized use_ Identification attributes to determine what application software

is needed to view a particular digital work

_ Can be located anywhere


Why are Standards and Metadata consensus

important? Managing digital files over time Longevity Interoperability Veracity Recording in a consistent manner Will give vendors incentive to create

applications that support this


Why Standards? Why do we need standards?

– To make information universally available to users– facilitate sharing and interchange of information– To preserve information (make it safe from

changes in hardware and software) Standards only work if communities widely

accept them, but they’re necessary for communities to work together


Important Planning Considerations

File Formats Choosing Interoperable Systems Adhere to standards Vendors with large installed base Refreshing and/or Migration


Key Considerations for Imaging Projects

Image Quality– Archival– Current online delivery

Intellectual Property Standards

– Modular and Layered Architecture– Terminology– Technical imaging information


Best Practices for Managing Digital Projects-

_ Who will your users be?_ Best Practices Guidelines_ Workflow and Management Issues


Why are you Managing this Information?

Organizational mission & type Users Uses


Scanning Best Practices

_ Think about users (and potential users), uses, and type of material/collection

_ Scan at the highest quality that does not exceed the likely potential users/uses/material

_ Do not let today’s delivery limitations influence your scanning file sizes; understand the difference between digital masters and derivative files used for delivery

_ Many documents which appear to be bitonal actually are better represented with greyscale scans

_ Include color bar and ruler in the scan

_ Use objective measurements to determine scanner settings (do NOT attempt to make the image good on your particular monitor or use image processing to color correct)

_ Don’t use lossy compression_ Store in a common (standardized)

file format_ Capture as much metadata as is

reasonably possible (including metadata about the scanning process itself)


Why Scale is important


Digital Object Behaviors

_ Book example


Metadata Standards(from MOA2, now METS)

_ Administrative Metadata– for enhancing resource management

_ Structural Metadata– for reflecting internal hierarchies and

relationships btwn parts

_ Raw/Seared/Cooked


More general issues of Digital Projects-

_ Workflow and Management Issues_ Implications for the Collection_ Implications for the Institution_ Implications for Scholarship & Interoperability

– Digital libraries– Metadata

_ Longevity Issues


Workflow and Management Issues-

_ Managing multiple image files_ Persistent Identification_ Making your works accessible throughout

the Net


Workflow and Tracking Procedures

_ Need careful planning_ Procedures for managing many different

files at many different stages_ Linking of file versions


The number of variant forms of a work can be enormous

different views of the same object different scans of the same photo different resolutions different compression schemes different compression ratios different file storage formats different details of the same image ...

Image Families


Identification/Provenance

how to deal with different versions (browse, hi-res, medium res) derived from the same scan or different encoding schemes (TIFF, PICT, JFIF)

Vocabulary Standards to express this– VRA Surrogate Categories– CIMI's "Image Elements”


Persistent IDs--the Problem

_ Need to separate work ID from work location

_ URNs probably won’t be ready until 2003_ Becomes a business process issue when one

organization maintains the resource and another organization references it (ie. licensed from vendors or managed by separate administrative structures)


Making your works accessible throughout the Net

_ Open Archives and Metadata Harvesting (DLF/Mellon)

_ An administrative and political issue as much as a a technical one


More general issues of Digital Projects-

_ Workflow and Management Issues_ Implications for the Collection_ Implications for the Institution_ Implications for Scholarship & Interoperability

– Digital libraries– Metadata

_ Longevity Issues


Implications for the Collection

_ We’re already familiar with Reformatting_ Advantages & Disadvantages of

Digitization-_ Protection-_ Unauthorized Use-


Broad Advantages & Disadvantages of Digitization

_ Advantages_ good PR_ show off collection_ let people see items without

having to needlessly pull them

_ Disadvantages_ Can look like Edutainment_ Can commodify the works and

make the repository look like it sold prestige to the highest bidder

_ Authenticity called into question_ Decontextualization_ Representational problems-


Problems withHow Works are Represented

_ once a digital work is on the WWW, anyone can physically copy it and use it as they see fit

_ often items are seen outside their context_ for images: using the normal method of mounting images on the

WWW, the credit line often becomes separated from the image


Don’t advocate strong copyright or protection for the wrong

reasons_ the people who find your content valuable

are mostly your traditional audiences_ barriers before use will inhibit positive uses

of your material_ threat of pursuit after misuse can effectively

deter commercial misuse_ you can prevent commercial misuse without

strong protection or copyright


Instead of fearing lost income, worry about Unauthorized Use_ Elimination of credit or attribution line

(particularly for images)_ Someone else implying ownership_ Maintaining the Integrity of the Work


Protection Methods^

_ Encrypting or encapsulating the digital file_ Marking the digital image with ownership

(visible or not)– http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/f95/Papers-projects/Projects/Trowbridge/labels.html

_ Image quality– Onscreen quality is far lower than printed quality– http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/f95 /Papers-projects/Projects/Trowbridge/resolution.html


Effect on the Institution

_ Creating/Maintaining a WWW site_ Wear and tear on the original_ Handling external requests for Special Collection

material_ Increase or decrease in requests to see originals?_ New Audiences_ Implications on the Institution’s Public Image


Scholarship and Interoperability

_ Why Digital Libraries need standards for interoperability

_ Metadata concerns_ Digitization means New Audiences-


Digitization meansNew Audiences

_ more access for more people_ outreach to new groups_ but new groups have different usability requirements

– different user interfaces

– different vocabulary

– new methods of navigation

_ we already have enough differences btwn different institution types (& even within the same type)– MESL results

– Organization & indexing reflects the biases of the original intent when records were formed


Serious Longevity Problems

_ What we know from prior widespread digital file formats

_ Images separating from their metadata_ Inaccessibility of software needed to view

an image_ Inability to even decode the file format of

an image


The Short Life of Digital Info: Digital Longevity Problems-

_ Disappearing Information_ The Viewing Problem_ The Scrambling Problem_ The Inter-relation Problem_ The Custodial Problem_ The Translation Problem


The Viewing Problem

Digital Info requires a whole infrastructure to view it

Each piece of that infrastructure is changing at an incredibly rapid rate

How can we ever hope to deal with all the permutations and combinations


The Scrambling Problem

Dangers from: Compression to ease storage & delivery Container Architecture to enhance digital

commerce


The Inter-relation Problem

-Info is increasingly inter-related to other info

-How do we make our own Info persist when it points to and integrates with Info owned by others?

-What is the boundary of a set of information (or even of a digital object)?


The Custodial Problem

How do we decide what to save? Who should save it? How should they save it?

– -methods for later access: emulation, migration, etc.

– -issues of authenticity and evidence


The Translation Problem

Content translated into new delivery devices changes meaning– -A photo vs. a painting– -If Info is produced originally in digital form in

one encoded format, will it be the same when translated into another format?

– Behaviors


Pieces of the Solution (1/2)

-We need to insist upon clearly readable standardized ways for digital objects to self-identify their formats

-We should discourage scrambling -We need to better understand information

inter-relates to other Info, and what constitutes “boundaries” of Info objects


Pieces of the Solution (2/2)

-People and organizations wishing to make information persist need guidelines of how to go about doing it

-We need to better understand how translating from one storage or display format to another affects the meaning of a work

-We need to save the “behaviors” of a digital object, not just it’s “contents”


Conceptual Approaches to Digital Preservation

_ Refreshing always necessary due to volatility of physical strata– Impact on evidential value

_ Migration -- advantages & disadvantages_ Emulation -- advantages & disadvantages


Migration/Refreshing

_ Impact on evidential value


Pragmatic Issues

_ Save Metadata!!! (Descriptive, Administrative, Structural, …)

_ Separate master from delivery_ Consistent file-naming conventions_ Good work-flow_ Develop cooperative long-range plans


Metadata can be the first line of defense

Can tell you– where the file is (if you can’t find the file)– where more info about the file is (if you have the

file but most other metadata has become separated)

– what the file format is– what the compression scheme is– what application program and version is needed

for the file


Groups Working onthe Big Longevity Problem

http://sunsite.Berkeley.EDU/Longevity/

CPA Task Force Getty “Time & Bits” Conference & Follow-ups Emulation experiments in US and Europe

NEDLIB, CURL, Michigan

LC- Mellon-funded E-Journal Archive experiments-

Internet Archive Long Now


Library to Lead National Effort to Develop Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (1 of 2)

U.S. Congress Provides $100 Million Special Appropriation in

Support of Project http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2001/01-006.html

_ Response to NAS report LC 21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress_ The Library of Congress has been empowered by the U. S. Congress to develop a

national program to preserve the burgeoning amounts of digital information, especially materials that are created only in digital formats, to ensure their accessibility for current and future generations.

_ "This collaborative strategy will permit the long-term acquisition, storage and preservation of digital materials, that will assure access to the growing electronic historical and cultural record of our nation," said Dr. Billington. "Just as the Congress enabled the Library of Congress to begin the last century by making its printed catalog cards widely available, the Congress has enabled its Library to begin this century by building a digital record and making it available in the information age.”


Library to Lead National Effort to Develop Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (2 of 2)

U.S. Congress Provides $100 Million Special Appropriation in

Support of Project http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2001/01-006.html

_ In December 2000, the 106th Congress appropriated $100 million for this effort, which instructs the Library to spend an initial $25 million to develop and execute a congressionally approved strategic plan for a National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. Congress specified that, of this amount, $5 million may be spent during the initial phase for planning as well as the acquisition and preservation of digital information that may otherwise vanish.

_ The legislation authorizes as much as $75 million of federal funding to be made available as this amount is matched by nonfederal donations, including in-kind contributions, through March 31, 2003. The effect of a government-wide recission of .22 percent in late December was to reduce this pecial appropriation to $99.8 million.

_ The Library will consult with federal partners to assess joint planning considerations for shared responsibilities. The Library will also seek participation from the nonfederal sector and will execute its overall strategy in cooperation with the library, creative, publishing, technology and copyright communities in this country and abroad.


Moving from Digital Collections to Digital Libraries/Museums

_ What’s the difference?– not experiments– real users– service– longevity

_ Recent history of Library Automation-


Ideal Digital Collection Model

DL

DL

DL

DL

useruser



Developmental Stages

_ Experiment with methods_ Build real operational systems_ Build interoperable operational systems_ Make the system useful for users

– For DL Initiatives– For OPACs– For I & A Services– For Image Retrieval


One Final Question:Who will collect the digital works of

today that should become the Special Collections of tomorrow?

_ web sites_ zines_ electronic journals_ listserve and email discussions_ drafts of works that later become famous


UCLA/Getty Summer Institutefor Knowledge Sharing

http://www.getty.edu/gri/standard/intrometadata/

http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/technology/tas/Standards/

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Imaging/Databases/

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/moa2/

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Longevity/

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/

http://lcweb.loc.gov/ead/

http://purl.oclc.org/metadata/dublin_core/

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/image-meta.html

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/Metadata/UC-May00/

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Metadata/sp2000.html

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/

http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/f95/special-collectns.html

http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/f95/Papers-projects/Projects/Trowbridge/

besser--ucla/getty summer instit-intro 8/6/01 1 ucla/getty summer institute for knowledge sharing...

Documents

uclagetty summer institintro

uclagetty summer institute

longevity slide

digital files

particular digital work

user search presentation

standards vendors

software standards