Imagining the Northwest
A Digital Library Partnership in Oregon
Corey Harper, Nathan Georgitis and Carol HixsonCatalog Department, University of Oregon Libraries
Presented October 1, 2003 at:
DC-2003: Supporting Communities of Discourse and Practice- Metadata Research & Applications
What we’ll be covering… Introduction to the collection and the project Cultural perspectives and descriptive metadata Development and application of controlled
vocabularies Managing metadata in CONTENTdm CONTENTdm, OAI and Interoperability Future work
The Moorhouse Collection
Government agent and amateur photographer
8,000 glass plate negatives, ca. 1880s – 1920s
Ceremonies, events and landscapes
Persons and artifacts from many tribes
Some posed, some not
The Moorhouse Collection
Government agent and amateur photographer
8,000 glass plate negatives, ca. 1880s – 1920s
Ceremonies, events and landscapes
Persons and artifacts from many tribes
Some posed, some not
The Moorhouse Collection
Government agent and amateur photographer
8,000 glass plate negatives, ca. 1880s – 1920s
Ceremonies, events and landscapes
Persons and artifacts from many tribes
Some posed, some not
The Project ParticipantsWithin the UO Libraries Catalog Department University Archives &
Special Collections Image Services Metadata Implementation
Group
Project Goal Make the images available in
a culturally sensitive context
Independent Partners
WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education)
TCI (Tamástslikt Cultural Institute) of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
NWACC (Northwest Academic Computing Consortium
Review of Existing MetadataTCI database Image descriptions, names, class terms, subject terms Classification: People / Regalia / Interior Photograph Subjects with subdivisions: Moccasins, Beaded – Floral Terms like Wickiup and Capote Coat reveal cultural
perspective
UO Libraries database and WPA index Titles, brief descriptions, names, dates and subject terms Terms like Indian village and Indian costume reveal
cultural perspective
Descriptive Metadata
UO Libraries fields
UO Title Names Date in Photo Place Subject General Notes Type Sub Type
TCI fields TCI Terms
TCI Class
TCI Notes
TCI Notes: An outside photograph of a rock formation commonly referred to as Elephant Rock. This photograph is taken facing the north side of the formation. This rock formation is significant in Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) oral history and acts as part of the northeast boundary of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
TCI Terms: Elephant Rock TCI Classes: Outside Photograph; Native American Folklore
Subject: Rocks; Rock formations; Landscape Place: Elephant Rock (Geographic feature), Gibbon, Oregon General Notes: Photograph of Elephant Rock near Gibbon, Oregon
The Results
Development of Controlled Vocabulary Began with TCI subject and class terms Terms searched in TGM, then LCSH Equivalent terms, x-references, and sources noted If no equivalent found, term retained New terms suggested at time of cataloging Sources tracked in separate document
Application of Subject Terms and Description of Images Followed accepted principles and best practices Sara Shatford, “Analyzing the Subject of a Picture” Generic and Specific: Indians of North America and
Cayuse Indians Of and About: Indians of North America and Employment Three levels of meaning: description, analysis,
interpretation Meet the needs of the Target Audience
Technical MetadataSource Format
Glass-plate negative
Source Dimensions
6.81 X 5.09 inches
Source Condition
Format image/jpg
Image (File) Size
155.372 kb
Image Width
851 pixels
Image Height
636 pixels
Color Space 256-level Greyscale
More Technical MetadataCapture Date
2003-04-16
Capture Method
Scanned in TWAIN 32 negative mode on UMAX PowerLook III flatbed scanner
Resolution 125 dpi
Digitization History
Adobe Photoshop used to adjust levels from 0 - 1.00 - 255 to 0 - 1.16 - 255. Images saved in greyscale. JPEG compressed from greyscale tiff at 125 dpi with quality settings at 6 of 12.
Additional Formats Held by UO
PH036_2229.tif -- Original RGB scan -- 4085 X 3051 pixels -- 600 dpi -- 36,523 KB // PH036_2229ag.tif -- Greyscale tiff -- 4085 X 3051 pixels -- 600 dpi -- 12,197 KB //
Administrative Metadata New Subject Terms New CrossReferences Metadata Creator Image Scanner Image Editor Checksum Review Needed Cataloger's Notes Scanning Pass
CONTENTdm Overview Standards Support:
DC, OAI-PMH, XML Customization:
Application Profiles / Data Dictionaries Templates Search Interfaces (example)
Metadata Customization Field Label Dublin Core Mapping
Qualified or Simple Data Types Search and Display options Controlled Vocabularies for individual
fields
Vocabulary Implementation
CONTENTdm: Import list and Add/Delete terms Create from contents of a field X-refs such as: teepees USE tipis
CONTENTdm Usability Global Update User-Friendly client Default values for fields Challenging Java-based Administrative
Web Interface
CONTENTdm / DC Challenges Dumb Down Principle
Not available unless searching multiple collections
Element Repeatability One field for each, separated by delimiters
(i.e. semi-colons) Optional vs. Mandatory Fields
Title Element is Mandatory!
Interoperability OAI-PMH
Generally, support seems limited to oai_dc format (unqualified)
CONTENTdm only exports fields that are mapped to some DC element, and only in the unqualified format
Use of XSLT
Future Work Continue collaborating with TCI on this
and other projects Continue with other photograph collections
using CONTENTdm. Interoperability
XML OAI Z39.50