Open Discovery:Collaborative Approaches to

Metadata

26 August 2011

Kira B. HomoElectronic Records Archivist

Introduction

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

Digital Asset Discovery:The Problem

Examples of digital asset management at UO Libraries

Discovery Mechanisms

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

The Future of Discovery?

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

Keeping Our Fingers Crossed

• Alliance has applied for a grant to develop the Cross Search and Context Utility

• Grant awards will be announced this fall