Open Discovery:Collaborative Approaches to
Metadata
26 August 2011
Kira B. HomoElectronic Records Archivist
UO: An Orbis-Cascade Alliance Member
• 36 member institutions• Universities, colleges, and community colleges
in Oregon and Washington• Alliance offers services on a fee basis to both
members and non-members• Fees support the specific program for which
they’re collected
NWDA: An Alliance Service
• NWDA provides access to finding aids for archival collections in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington
• Thirty-four members, both Alliance and non-Alliance
• Includes non-academic institutions• NWDA hosts only EAD finding aids –
institutions host other digital assets separately
Presenting and Locating Unique Materials
• None of the existing or emerging discovery systems present related materials together
• User studies show that current presentations of unique materials lack sufficient context and metadata
• Finding aids provide rich metadata but don’t (usually) include digital content
• Unique materials are difficult to find• Unique materials are largely held in separate,
distinct systems
What Researchers Want• None of the currently available presentations of digital
content or metadata fully meet researcher needs• What they don’t want:
– Sites that focus on a subject– Web 2.0 features– Lots of selection, interpretation, accompanying materials
• What they want: – Search across as much material as possible– See digital content in context– Streamlined means for contacting staff for more
information, getting copies
Alliance IMLS Collaborative Planning Grant 2009
• Developed a Discovery Prototype (later renamed Cross-Search and Context Utility) as one project:– Aggregation of content from DAMs, IRs, and
NWDA database– Successful proof-of-concept for aggregation– Less successful in contextualization – Revealed challenges in harvest and metadata
structure
DAMs
IRs
EADs
Alliance
Cross-Search and Context Utility (XCU): Integrating the Silos
Objects & Metadata
Metadata: Collection-
level
Objects & Metadata
Metadata: Repository &
Access and Copy Info/functions
Alliance hostsAlliance hosted or Institutions
Alliance hosted or Institutions
Alliance hosts in NWDA
XCU
•Expose to search engines•Aggregate with simple keyword search interface•Mine objects and metadata and create new presentation
All Institutions SearchSearch
Title: A.V. Love Dry Goods and Loft Building Photograph CollectionDates: Sept. 1998Quantity: 48 negativesCollection Number: 639Summary: The collection contains black-and-white (more)Historical Note: The A. V. Love Dry Goods and Loft Building was designed in 1925 by the Tacoma firm of….(more)Holding Institution: University of Washington LibrariesGet a Copy More Details Ask a Question
This view shows what the utility does when a researcher comes in from a search engine. This item pulls information from a DAM and an EAD, since both exist.
This side of the page displays item-level data and metadata from a DAM or IR. This example comes from the UW’s Digital Collections site.
This side of the page displays collection-level metadata from the EAD and institution/access information. This example comes from the NWDA database and the Alliance’s institution/contact database.
All Institutions SearchSearch
Title: Visual Resources CollectionSummary: Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest provides over 16,000 images (more)Holding Institution: Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of OregonGet a Copy More Details Ask a Question
This view shows what the utility does when a researcher comes in from a search engine. This item has no associated EAD.
This side of the page displays item-level data and metadata from a DAM or IR. This example comes from the UO’s digital collections site and Oregon Explorer.
This side of the page displays collection-level metadata from the DAM and institution/access information. This example shows information from the DAM’s collection-level metadata and the Alliance’s institution/contact information database.
All Institutions SearchSearch
This view shows the keyword search interface. The emphasis is on entry from search engines rather than an elaborate search interface.
All Institutions Architecture SearchSearch
This view shows a search results page from the keyword search interface. It aggregates data and metadata from DAMs, IRs, and the EAD database. Clicking on the thumbnail image, description, or “Link to Item” takes you to a screen like slides 2 or 3. This page would also have limiters based on user feedback.
Title: A.V. Love Dry Goods and Loft Building Photograph CollectionInstitution: University of Washington LibrariesSummary: Photographs documenting the A.V. Love Dry Goods and Loft Building in Seattle.
Title: Visual Resources CollectionInstitution: University of Oregon Libraries
Link to Item
Link to Item
Title: Seattle (Wash.) Dept. of Community Development, Director’s RecordsInstitution: Seattle Municipal ArchivesSummary: Working papers, correspondence, and subject files of Department of Community Development directors.Link to Item
Title: “Living Autobiography”/”Hidden History” Residential Freshman Interest Group JournalsInstitution: University of Oregon LibrariesSummary: "Living Autobiography" and " Hidden History" Residential Freshman Interest Groups (FIG) were courses taught in Fall term 2007…Link to Item
DAM EAD
Alliance
DAMAlliance
IR EAD
Alliance
EAD
Alliance