In-House Training for Digital Projects

Abby ClobridgeBucknell University

2006 ASIS&TDL – ED Panel: Education for Digital Librarianship – Employers’ Needs

Bucknell University

• Approx. 4,000 students

• Information Services & Resources – a merged library/IT organization

• ISR: 90 FTE

• Digital collection building activities– Help needed: metadata production, metadata

clean-up, long-term sustainability for program

Metadata Training Workshop

Metadata Training for Technical Services Staff

Why?

• Increase in pre-cataloged materials

• Long-term plan to transition catalogers’ job responsibilities

• Digital library production needed help

Metadata Training for Technical Services Staff

Barriers for Training:

• Money

• Timing

• Geography

• Focus on how-to rather than theory

Introduction to Metadata Workshop Series

• In-house program specifically designed to teach technical services staff about metadata

• Semester-long program

• Reading assignments

• Focus on practical knowledge needed to create metadata for digital collections

Strategy for Workshop Series

• Changes in information retrieval over past 20+ years

• User search behavior

• Digital objects

• Introduction to major metadata schemes – Dublin Core, VRA Core 3.0

Strategy for Workshop Series

• Using non-LC authority files

• Working with locally-created vocabularies, thesauri, rules for description

• Developing controlled vocabularies for specific collections

Strategy for Workshop Series

“Advanced” Tract: Metadata Librarians

• Cataloging– MARC, AACR2– FRBR, RDA

• More technical information: – Relational databases– The big picture: project phases for building

digital collections

Overarching Questions

• Why is this different from traditional cataloging?

• Why can’t we use MARC and AACR2?

• Why don’t we use Library of Congress Subject Headings?

• No authority files? No definitive source?

Hands-On Exercises

• Creating metadata for digital objects from our collections: – Step 1: in MARC using AACR2– Step 2: in Dublin Core– Step 3: in VRA Core 3.0– Step 4: locally-created hybrid schemes.

Hands-On Exercises

• Creating metadata for digital objects from our collections: – Images of art– Materials from Special Collections– Materials from the University Archives– Three-dimensional objects

Hands-On Exercises

• Some issues to consider: – user needs – part vs. whole– Digital surrogates vs. objects– cataloging without authority data

Quantity, Usefulness, & Necessity

• Not necessary to be exhaustive.

• Balance between what information is useful or necessary and what is excessive.

Traditional Cataloging vs. Metadata for Digital Objects

• Heavier reliance on judgment when cataloging digital objects.

• Fear of “not enough.”

• Progress over perfection.

Digital Projects Internship

Digital Projects Internship

• Anticipated need for further help.

• Formal internship program.

• Offered for credit or small stipend.

Job Posting: Digital Libraries Internship

Bucknell University’s Information Services & Resources, a merged library and IT organization, is offering a paid summer internship for a library/information science student interested in learning more about digital libraries. This position is designed to provide experience in all aspects of an academic digital library/technology environment. Responsibilities will include (but not be limited to) assisting with digital image processing, metadata work, and other tasks associated with building a digital collection. During the summer of 2005, ISR will be building a large digital image collection to be used for teaching art history and related courses during the fall semester, so there will be opportunities for hands-on experience in a wide variety of areas.

Learning Objectives – Fall 2005:

• Understand different rationales for embarking on digitization projects – preservation of originals, increased access, storing born-digital materials.

• Understand metadata standards, why they are used, and limitations within the pedagogical realm.

Learning Objectives Continued

• Understand end-user behavior for searching digital collections in an academic environment; understand metadata and its relationship to database searching; understand how the purpose of the project effects how the collection is built.

Learning Objectives Continued

• Understand preservation methods used in digital asset management; understand issues involved in long-term storage of digital assets.

• Understand copyright issues involved in providing access to art images.

Internship – Work Accomplished

• Produced metadata for over 600 art images. Researched artists, artwork, locations in various databases and thesauri.

• Oversaw process for student assistants who were scanning 500 images from University Archives. Prepared images to be scanned. Quality control for scanned images.

• Created metadata for 500 scanned images from University Archives.

Second Intern – Summer 2006

• Past experience working as a student assistant in the technical services unit of a small academic library. No formal training in metadata or digital libraries.

• Preparing to start library/information science graduate program.

• No real experience, but an aptitude and interest in cataloging and metadata.

Work Accomplished

• Under the supervision of the Metadata Librarian, worked to clean up metadata for 2000 records in one collection.

• Assisted with the creation of an in-depth thesaurus tracing the changing names of campus buildings over the past 150 years.

• Created original cataloging for additional images for the collection.

Benefits of Interns

• Free/cheap labor, high level of dedication, high level of interest.

• Able to teach hands-on side of metadata.

• General familiarity with organization of information, why data needs to be consistent.

Considerations

• Significant time on part of manager for mentoring, teaching, training.

• Work can be monotonous – plan accordingly.

• Level of commitment.

• Be careful hiring – “I want to help, but I don’t want to do anything boring.”

Final Thoughts

• Building an in-house education program can be successful – although quite time-consuming.

• Vastly different experience educating technical services staff, public services staff, and interns.

• Further help from the LIS community would be appreciated…