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Retrieving and Using Visual Resources: Challenges and Opportunities for Research and Education Sponsors: SIG-ED; SIG-VIS; SIG-KM; SIG-USE; SIG-DL; SIG-MGT Organizers: Youngok Choi and Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, The Catholic University of America [email protected] , [email protected] Moderator: Edie Rasmussen, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University of British Columbia, [email protected] Panelists: Martha Smith (1) Martha Smith School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University of British Columbia [email protected] (2) Youngok Choi and Ingrid Hsieh-Yee School of Library and Information Science, The Catholic University of America, [email protected] [email protected] (3) Jane Greenberg School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, [email protected] (4) Hemalata Iyer Department of Information Studies, SUNY Albany [email protected] Panel Abstract: Visual resources are used in a variety of settings for many different purposes. Technological advances facilitate numerous applications of digital images and other visual materials in work and leisure, resulting in increasing availability of and demand for such resources. A major challenge for information professionals is to organize digital visual resources effectively to meet the needs of users with different backgrounds and interests. For example, how do we provide access to the content of such resources and design an information system for the general public as well as subject specialists? A related challenge is the education of visual resource professionals because their roles and responsibilities have expanded in the digital era (Iyer, 2007). What knowledge and skills should visual resource professionals of the 21st century possess? How do we prepare them to facilitate the retrieval and use of digital visual resources and manage such resources for short-term and long-term access?

Retrieving and using visual resources: Challenges and opportunities for research and education

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Page 1: Retrieving and using visual resources: Challenges and opportunities for research and education

Retrieving and Using Visual Resources: Challenges andOpportunities for Research and Education

Sponsors: SIG-ED; SIG-VIS; SIG-KM; SIG-USE; SIG-DL; SIG-MGT

Organizers: Youngok Choi and Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, The Catholic University of America [email protected], [email protected]

Moderator: Edie Rasmussen, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University ofBritish Columbia, [email protected]

Panelists:

Martha Smith(1) Martha Smith School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University ofBritish Columbia [email protected]

(2) Youngok Choi and Ingrid Hsieh-YeeSchool of Library and Information Science, The Catholic University of America,[email protected]

[email protected]

(3) Jane GreenbergSchool of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,[email protected]

(4) Hemalata IyerDepartment of Information Studies, SUNY Albany [email protected]

Panel Abstract:

Visual resources are used in a variety of settings for many different purposes. Technologicaladvances facilitate numerous applications of digital images and other visual materials in workand leisure, resulting in increasing availability of and demand for such resources. A majorchallenge for information professionals is to organize digital visual resources effectively to meetthe needs of users with different backgrounds and interests. For example, how do we provideaccess to the content of such resources and design an information system for the general publicas well as subject specialists? A related challenge is the education of visual resourceprofessionals because their roles and responsibilities have expanded in the digital era (Iyer,2007). What knowledge and skills should visual resource professionals of the 21st centurypossess? How do we prepare them to facilitate the retrieval and use of digital visual resourcesand manage such resources for short-term and long-term access?

Page 2: Retrieving and using visual resources: Challenges and opportunities for research and education

The proposed program is designed to facilitate a dialog among practitioners, educators, and apanel of researchers with experience investigating the retrieval and use of visual resources. Toprovide a context for the dialog, panelists will use the first half of the program to highlight whatthey have learned from their research and teaching. These brief presentations will be followed bya discussion between the audience and the panelists. The audience will be encouraged to sharetheir views on the following topics and any additional topics of great interest to them:

How do users search for visual resources in the absence of information systems?How do users find their access to visual resources supported or inhibited by theinformation systems put in place for them?What are the opportunities for practitioners, subject specialists, researchers, andeducators to collaborate and provide learning experiences with visual resources for LISstudents?What competencies are needed by information professionals in order to build and sustaingood visual resource systems?

The program will be of interest to information science educators, specialists in digital assetmanagement, and information professionals who work with visual resources (art and specialcollections librarians, digital librarians, archivists and museum curators).

(1) Martha Smith, “We’re curious, not connoisseurs”: Information Use and Needs of Art MuseumVisitors

Digital and Web technologies have created dramatic changes in art museum information systems whichhave in turn invited an expanding diversity of non-specialist art image and information seekers. Researchis needed to support the organization of and access to basic visual art information content, and thevocabularies which frame this content, for the use of general audiences, whether they are using gallery-based or online information resources.

This study describes a qualitative meta-analysis of empirical studies of adult visitors to physical artmuseums in order to better understand (a) how visitors process information in the galleries amongoriginal artworks using physical, emotional, cognitive, and socially shared interactions, and (b) howvisitors use museum-supplied information.

From this meta-analysis, the study presents a conceptual framework of the types of information-visual,contextual, and interpretive-that museum visitors use in combination with their information-gatheringbehaviors of artwork description, analysis and identification, and interpretation. The framework carriesimplications for museum information system design, including the creation of subject access to artinformation appropriate to the varying levels of art knowledge of general audiences.

(2) Youngok Choi & Ingrid Hsieh-Yee, Subject Access to Images: Query Analysis of OPACSearches

Many institutions have created digital collections that provide previously unknown or inaccessiblematerials online. As the availability of digital images increases, so do the challenges related to digitalimage retrieval in these collections. One of them is the problem of mismatch between user needs andimage retrieval by words or concepts. To resolve this problem, new types of image retrieval systemsbased on color, shape or texture have been developed. However, studies show that searching images by

Page 3: Retrieving and using visual resources: Challenges and opportunities for research and education

words remains the preferred method (Eakins, Briggs, & Burford, 2004), and concepts are consideredimportant in image retrieval (Attig, Copeland, & Pelikan, 2004; Enser, 2000; Frost, et al., 2000). Tosupport searching images by words, it is not only necessary to describe visual information to provideaccess, but also to understand user behavior in searching for images.

While image searching on the Web has been investigated recently (e.g., Goodrum & Spink, 2001,Jorgensen & Jorgensen, 2005; Pu, 2005), subject access to images in OPACs or metadata-based imagecollections is relatively new. Major concerns include what vocabularies are needed to support subjectaccess effectively, how to adapt cataloging practices to address the unique descriptive needs of images,and how to address the needs of the diverse user communities of images. This presentation will highlightcharacteristics of user queries for subject searches of images in an OPAC and contrast the effects ofretrieval by the Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) and keywords on search success. Thetypes of support needed for subject access to images will be discussed with the audience.

(3) Jane Greenberg, Engaging Students in the Metadata Enterprise for Studying ScientificSpecimens

Specimen images are critical to scientific study and advancement of knowledge. Digital herbariums andscientific image repositories are growing in numbers and being used by scientists daily (Datta, et al.,2007). These sources also allow students, at all levels, access to primary scientific resources as theystudy scientific phenomena (Greenberg, 2000). Students studying any scientific discipline, and accessingthese repositories, need to understand the value of metadata. Equally important is their need to engagein the metadata enterprise for organizing and accessing of their own specimen images as part of theirlearning process.

We are addressing this challenge in the “Bot 2.0: Botany through Web 2.0, the Memex and SocialLearning” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Students are learning about plant life in thepiedmont region of North Carolina by participating in hands-on learning experiences, through bothindependent and collaborative approaches using social networking technology. An emphasis of our workis on plant identification and specimen labeling, including the creation of metadata for digital images. Thispresentation will present preliminary results of the first phase of our Bot 2.0 project, and the metadatacomponent of the summer BotCamp experience. The presentation will identify key learning areas andreview how we have integrated LIS organizing information and metadata into the curriculum.

(4) Hemalata Iyer, Visual Resources Management: Determining Professional Competencies andGuidelines for Graduate Education

This presentation is derived from the ongoing research funded by the IMLS Librarians for the 21stCentury grant: “Visual Resources Management: Determining Professional Competencies and Guidelinesfor Graduate Education” and reflects the changing role of the visual resources professionals and theskills required of them. With the advent of digital technologies, the visual resource professional hasbroken out of the traditional mold of the slide librarian and museum curator. These professionals areentering into a variety of environments, and claim a diverse range of job titles and responsibilities. Theresearch seeks to assess the competencies and skills required in the field of visual resources in the 21stcentury. The results of the content analysis of VR related job announcements and a web-based survey ofVR professionals will be presented. The analysis of the data has uncovered trends that will haveimplications for the future of the profession. The skills and competencies needed by the professionals indifferent environments are assessed and the implications of the findings to education and training of

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these professionals are discussed.

References

Attig, J., Copeland, A., & Pelikan, M. (2004). Context and meaning: The challenges of metadata for adigital image library within the university. College & Research Libraries. 65(3). 251-261.

Datta , S., et al. (2007). Experiences with tracking the effects of changing requirements on Morphbank:a web-based bioinformatics application. ACM Southeast Regional Conference, Proceedings of the45th annual southeast regional conference, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 413 - 418.

Eakins, J. P, Briggs, P., & Burford, B. (2004). Image retrieval interfaces: A user perspective.Proceedings of the third International Conference on Image and Video Retrieval. 628-637.

Enser, P. (2000). Visual image retrieval: seeking the alliance of concept-based and content-basedparadigms. Journal of Information Science. 26(4). 199-210

Frost, C. O., et al. (2000). Browse and search patterns in a digital image database. InformationRetrieval. 1(4). 287-313. Full text available: http://www.si.umich.edu/~cfrost/papers/fidel.html

Goodrum, A., & Spink, A. (2001). Image searching on the EXCITE Web search engine. InformationProcessing and Management, 37. 295-312.

Greenberg, J., et al. (2000). The Plant Information Center (PIC): A Web-based Learning Center forBotanical Study. WebNet 2000: 217-226.

Iyer, H. (2007). Core competencies for visual resources management.http://www.mcn.edu/conference/resources/CoreCompetenciesVisualResourcesManagement.pdf

Jorgensen, C., & Jorgensen, P. (2005). Image querying by image professionals. Journal ofAmerican Society for Information Science and Technology. 56(12). 1346-1359.

Pu, H. (2005). A comparative analysis of Web image and textual queries. Online InformationReview. 29(5). 457-467.