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Reimagining Metadata Practices for a Large Digitized Image
CollectionElliot Williams
University of Miami LibrariesTwitter: @elliot_dw
Slides: https://bit.ly/2Kb9N4Q
Acknowledgements
• Laura Capell• Beatrice Skokan• Joanne Nicoletti• Carolina Meneses
All images from the Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection.
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
Slides: https://bit.ly/2Kb9N4Q
University of Miami Libraries
• Digital collections program has been active for over ten years• Digitization and metadata are housed in separate departments from
distinctive collections• Special Collections is one of three distinctive collections units within
the Libraries• CONTENTdm repository
Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection
• Brazilian geographer, taught at University of Brazil and University of California, Berkeley
• Studied deforestation in the Amazon• Collection only includes slides, no
corresponding manuscript material• Approximately 18,000 photographic
slides
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
• Collection content varies• Much seem to be related to his research in the Amazon, but
others are more personal and travel-related• Covers a very wide geographical range – Brazil, California, East
Asia, Pacific Islands, Europe• Unprocessed at the time that digitization began• Digitization was spurred by preservation concerns
Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection
Aggregation for description and access
• Preserve and take advantage of contextual relationships between images
• Images are repetitive, so grouping was more efficient• Reflects creator’s understanding and arrangement of his
collection
Metadata Strategy
• More “archival” approach to digitized image collections• Standard metadata practice is heavily item-specific, so
required some adjustments• DPLA Archival Description Working Group white paper:
http://bit.ly/dplaCollections
Metadata Strategy
• Each title includes “photograph set” to indicate that the digital object is more than one image (e.g. “Bali photograph set”, “Brazilian forest reserves photograph set”)
• Each record includes a physical description note that indicates how many items make up the digital object (e.g. “27 color slides”)
• Each record includes a summary note that attempts to provide a description of the contents of the digital object as a whole
• Original label that was written on the paper tab is included in the digital object metadata
Metadata in Practice
• Some rearranging of images into groups was necessary.• Summaries are difficult and time-consuming.• Not all sets are cohesive.
Impacts for Users
• Changes the scale of interaction – hopefully for the better• Maintains connections between individual images – context
matters • Adds more interpretive work for users to understand how
digital collection is arranged• Challenge of maintaining original order in digital interface
Questions? Comments?
Elliot [email protected]
Twitter: @elliot_dw
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
Reimagining Metadata Practices for a Large Digitized
Image CollectionElliot Williams
University of Miami LibrariesTwitter: @elliot_dw
Slides: https://bit.ly/2Kb9N4Q
Acknowledgements
• Laura Capell• Beatrice Skokan• Joanne Nicoletti• Carolina Meneses
All images from the Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection.
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
University of Miami Libraries
• Digital collections program has been active for over ten years• Digitization and metadata are housed in separate departments from
distinctive collections• Special Collections is one of three distinctive collections units within
the Libraries• CONTENTdm repository
Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection
• Brazilian geographer, taught at University of Brazil and University of California, Berkeley
• Studied deforestation in the Amazon• Collection only includes slides, no
corresponding manuscript material• Approximately 18,000 photographic
slides
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
• Collection content varies• Much seem to be related to his research in the Amazon, but
others are more personal and travel-related• Covers a very wide geographical range – Brazil, California, East
Asia, Pacific Islands, Europe• Unprocessed at the time that digitization began• Digitization was spurred by preservation concerns
Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg Photograph Collection
Aggregation for description and access
• Preserve and take advantage of contextual relationships between images
• Images are repetitive, so grouping was more efficient• Reflects creator’s understanding and arrangement of his
collection
Metadata Strategy
• More “archival” approach to digitized image collections• Standard metadata practice is heavily item-specific, so
required some adjustments• DPLA Archival Description Working Group white paper:
http://bit.ly/dplaCollections
Metadata Strategy
• Each title includes “photograph set” to indicate that the digital object is more than one image (e.g. “Bali photograph set”, “Brazilian forest reserves photograph set”)
• Each record includes a physical description note that indicates how many items make up the digital object (e.g. “27 color slides”)
• Each record includes a summary note that attempts to provide a description of the contents of the digital object as a whole
• Original label that was written on the paper tab is included in the digital object metadata
Metadata in Practice
• Some rearranging of images into groups was necessary.• Summaries are difficult and time-consuming.• Not all sets are cohesive.
Impacts for Users
• Changes the scale of interaction – hopefully for the better• Maintains connections between individual images – context
matters • Adds more interpretive work for users to understand how
digital collection is arranged• Challenge of maintaining original order in digital interface
Questions? Comments?
Elliot [email protected]
Twitter: @elliot_dw
https://merrick.library.miami.edu/specialCollections/asm0261/
