Copyright © DSTC Pty Ltd PANIC Preservation and Archival of New media and Interactive Collections Sharmin Choudhury Jane Hunter [email protected]

Copyright © DSTC Pty Ltd

PANICPANICPreservation and Preservation and

Archival of New media Archival of New media and Interactive and Interactive

CollectionsCollections

Sharmin Choudhury Jane Hunter

[email protected]


OutlineOutline

• Issues and problems involved• Alternative approaches• Other projects• Project objectives• Our proposal• Work to date• Conclusions • Future Work• References


ExamplesExamples

• Ken Goldberg - Ouija 2000 – Robot arm controlled by Internet users, moves planchette across a Ouija board

• Mark Napier – Net Flag – Java applet program accessed over the WWW, that provides an interface for the creation of a hypothetical flag for the Internet


The ProblemThe Problem

Long term access to New Media Artworks• Composite Multimedia objects

– Digital (images, video, audio, web, programs) + Physical• Act of preservation can alter fundamental characteristic

of the work• Highly proprietary – software & hardware dependent• Random interaction with the physical world • Highly fragile, and sensitive to environment• Difficult to capture – boundary problem• High mobility – travelling exhibitions• No standards or best practice guides


IssuesIssues

• Obsolescence of physical storage device• Obsolescence of file formats• Translation to new display device, playback

software – may alter the “look”, “feel”, “meaning”

• Artist’s input is essential – need to capture/recreate key ideas, intentions, aspects, components


Alternative Alternative ApproachesApproaches

• Maintenance of obsolescent hardware/software

• Metadata encapsulation: digital objects stored with their metadata

• Emulation – mimic original software application on current environment

• Migration – convert format to successive sequence of new formats

• Reinterpretation – completely reconstruct the artwork based on specifications.

Most Conservative

Most radical


The two extremesThe two extremes

• Maintenance: Impractical– Costly: space and on-going maintenance– Wear and tear– Loss of expertise– Unforseen problems

• Re-interpretation: copyright problem– Loss of artistic integrity– Loss of intention/key message– Impossible to recreate fully or comprehensively– Some artists like dynamic re-interpretation


Between the Between the extremesextremesMetadata

encapsulationEmulation Migration

Advantages •Standards such as METS available for encapsulation

•Allows future access tools to be developed

•One emulator lots of digital objects

•Data untouched

•Look and feel preserved

•Simple

•It works

•Extends the longevity

Disadvantages •On its own not a complete solution

•Difficult to know what to capture

•Time consuming

•Expensive

•Overkill for data archiving

•Cost

•Technical difficulties

•Old interface knowledge

•Labor intensive, time-consuming

•Corrupt or alter object incrementally

•Backwards compatibility needed


Other projectsOther projects

• General digital Object– NDIIPP– CEDARS– CAMiLEON– PANDORA

• Concentrating on New media artwork– Archiving the Avant Garde


OutlineOutline

• Issues and problems involved• Alternative approaches• Other projects• Project objectives• Our proposal• Work to date• Conclusion• Future work• Reference


Project ObjectivesProject Objectives

• Analyse and compare current preservation strategies using case studies

• Extend/refine current preservation strategies for new media e.g., extend METS, MPEG-21?

• Determine optimum canonical/standardized platform-independent formats for multimedia– TIFF, MPEG-2/MPEG-4, MP3/AIFF, SMIL

• Develop metadata schemas, metadata input, workflow design, software registries, automatic migration tools

• Recommendations, best practice guidelines


Our ProposalOur ProposalStep 1. Conversion to standard high-quality platform-

independent format – BWF, MPEG-2, TIFF, MPEG-4– SMIL/SVG

Step 2. Encapsulation of object with metadata– Descriptive, presentation, intent, preservation

Step 3. Semi-automated Migration– Migration-on-Request, Typed Object Conversion– Software version Registries– Notify agents of objects requiring reformatting when

new version released


Our ApproachOur Approach

• Maintenance

• Metadata encapsulation

• Emulation

• Migration

• Reinterpretation

Most Conservative

Most radical

Our approach


Nam June PaikThe elements (1989)Qld Art Gallery – Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 2002

http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/content/apt2002_standard.asp?name=APT_Artists_Nam_June_Paik

Lacquer cabinet

6 TV monitors with

Laser discs

Roots, 3 silk flowers

And 3 glass beakers

195x126x65 cm

The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection

Case Study 3Case Study 3

http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/content/apt2002_standard.asp?name=APT_Artists_Nam_June_Paik


Our ApproachOur Approach• Maintenance


• Emulation

• Migration


Most Conservative

Most radical

Our approach


Metadata workflowMetadata workflowArtwork created

Artist defines/Alters

Structure of workPreservation

metadataIntent metadata

Presentationmetadata

Used by archivist Used by archivist Used by curators

Determinepreservationboundaries

Preserve theessence of the

artwork

Display artwork inexhibitions

Individualmultimedia

objectsOverall layout

Used by curatorConverted by

tool to

master format

Stored in

Multimediadatabase

Periodicallychecks

Registry of formats/softwares

Preserve andreinterpret work

If new versionavailable

Notify relevantauthority

Discriptivemetadata

Used by/Alteredcurators

Record of work


Extended METS Extended METS SchemaSchema<mets>

<dmdSec> Descriptive Metadata Section</dmdSec> <amdSec> Administrative Metadata Section <techMD> Technical Metadata <AMD Schema> specific to audio files, e.g., sampling frequency </AMD> <IMD Schema> specific to image files, e.g., bits per pixel, color space</IMD> <TMD Schema>specific to text files, e.g., character set, encoding used</TMD> <VMD Schema> specific to video files, e.g., bit rate,compression codec.</VMD> </techMD> <rightsMD> Rights metadata </rightsMD> <sourceMD>Analog source technical info <AMD Schema> specific to audio files</AMD> <IMD Schema> specific to image files</IMD> <TMD Schema>specific to text files</TMD> <VMD Schema> specific to video files</VMD> </sourceMD> <digiProvMD>events that occurred in reformatting or migrating entities.</digiProvMD> <amdSec>

<behaviorSec>behaviours</behaviourSec> <fileGrp>links to files that are part of this digital object </fileGrp> <structMap>SMIL + metadata required to present and navigate this digital object </structMap></mets>


The metadata input The metadata input tooltool

• Used to add most of the metadata– Descriptive,

– Presentation

– Intent

– preservation

• Basis for migration tool• Sets up registry notification system• http://maenad.dstc.edu.au:8080/panic/panic.jsp







SMILSMIL

• W3C Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language

• Simple XML for choreographing multimedia presentations

• Able to define regions for video, audio, images

• Defined using a graphical SMIL editor: Fluition


Convert to SMIL:1 Image6 Video Frames

Image Region

6 Video regions

Example – Case Study Example – Case Study 33


Our ApproachOur Approach

• Maintenance


• Emulation

• Migration


Most Conservative

Most radical

Our approach


Migration strategyMigration strategy

Convert to a master format that is lossless(TIFF, MPEG-2, WAV)

Multimedia Objects

Images Video Audio Text

JPEG2000 mp3 PDF

PDF

Using the conversion module to generate a copy of the multimedia objects in thecurrent standard format for use

mp4

Conversion modulewritten as necessary


ConclusionsConclusions• Possible to determine optimum approaches for

different classes/genres of works• Ancillary materials essential – interviews,

plans, photos, documentary evidence, metadata

• Platform-independent Standards essential – MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MP3, SMIL, metadata schemas and vocabularies (METS)

• XML – reduces database obsolescence


Future WorkFuture Work

• Implement migration strategy

• Compare MPEG-21 to METS

• Simple software registry vs web services

• Platform independent formats for shockwave, flash


ReferencesReferences

http://metadata.net/panic/

Documents

Copyright © DSTC Pty Ltd PANIC Preservation and Archival of New media and Interactive Collections Sharmin Choudhury Jane Hunter [email protected]