strategies for successful digital collections tschera connell and rob luikart usain conference april...
TRANSCRIPT
Strategies for Successful Digital Collections
Tschera Connell and Rob Luikart
USAIN Conference
April 30, 2008
Agenda
Ohio State University’s Institutional Repository: The Knowledge Bank– Lessons Learned
Ohio State University Extension’s Ohioline– A Digital Collection Case Study
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The Knowledge Bank
A Functional definition of an institutional repository
– Services
– Content
– Preservation
Services: Visibility
IR materials receive priority indexing and rankingfrom search engines
Visibility This paper downloaded 2339 times in one year
Longevity1900 article downloaded 5858 times in 2007
Community Collection Development
Food , Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Research Forum Faculty publications Annual reports Videos of Ohio Rivers Newsletters
Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center Books & reports Events and seminars Poster presentations
Assistance in adding content to KB
Project planning
Consultation Rights management Digitization of materials Formats & standards Metadata
Customized displays
Customized input forms
Training
Submission assistance
Customized Collection Display
Customized Item Metadata Display
Customized Input Forms (Display)
Customized Input Forms (Display)
Names
Subjects
Customized Input Templates (Display)
Born digital
Here today, gone tomorrow?
Goal: to provide stable environment of born-digital materials
Methods of preservation for analog & digital different (Seaman)
Levels of Stable Environments
Preservation: ensuring essence of content is accessible for current & future use (bit preservation)
Functional preservation: the file does change over time so that the material continues to be immediately usable in the same way it was originally
Curation: maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital info for current and future use
Curation
Defined: management of data through its lifecycle of interest
Activities enable:
data discovery and retrieval,
quality of data
re-use over time
Thank You
Tschera Harkness Connell
Head, Scholarly Resources Integration Department
Ohio State University Libraries
Agenda: Ohioline Case Study
Ohio State University Extension’s Ohioline– A Digital Collection Case Study
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Ohioline – A 20th Century Digital Collection…
Hundreds of Factsheets, Bulletins and other Educational Materials Covering a Wide Array of Subjects:– Agriculture, Natural Resources, Family and Consumer
Sciences, Community Development, 4-H and Youth
Containing Information, News and Educational Resources of:– OSU Extension, the College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the Agricultural Technical Institute, and Research and Extension programs supported by the colleges of Human Ecology, Veterinary Medicine, and Biological Sciences
Produced by Ohio State University Extension
Ohioline – Backed by a Brand Identity…
Ohio Link to Information, News and Education
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Ohioline – Embraced by a Large Audience…
2007 Statistics:– 71 Million Total Hits
– 31 Million Page Views
Breadth of Audience– 15 Million Unique Visitors
– Over 5 Million Google.com References
Popularity of Content– Brown Recluse Spider Fact Sheet Received 890,000
Page Views
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Ohioline – Based on Obsolete Technology…
Based on a Web 1.0 Architecture– HTML Pages and PDFs
– No Content Management
– “Companion” CD (!?!)
– “Flat” Web Site
– Limited Search Capabilities
– Poor Navigation
OhioLine – Served by a Declining Base of Contributors…
Difficult to Get New Material onto Ohioline– Faculty Creating their Own Brands (i.e. Bug Doctor)
Dissatisfaction with Extension’s Peer Review Policy
Slow and Inflexible Publication Process– Layout, Markup, Editing, Review, Proofing
– All this for a PDF?
Unhappy with the Presentation Technology– No Chance for Reuse or Repurposing
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OhioLine – Using an Outdated Business Model
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What To Do?
That’s It! Redesign Ohioline!– The Brand is REALLY IMPORTANT
– Make the Web Site Sexier
– Get More Stuff on the Site
– Add Cool Stuff like New Media “Build It and They Will Come” Oh, and Fix the Technology Problems
– Make the Search Work…You Know, Like Google but Without the Budget
Don’t Bother Me With The Facts (or Boy, Were We Wrong)
Focus Group Research Results– Ohioline Brand is Irrelevant to Most Users – only the
Content Matters
– Users Ignore the Web Site Navigation and Access Content Directly via Google Search
– Some Target Audiences are Located in Areas Without Broadband Service
– High Value Audiences are Not Aware of Relevant Content
– No Linkage to Extension’s Business Model
– Where is the Born Digital Publishing Process?
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About Those Technology Problems
Considerations from the Web 2.0 Generation:– Change the Contribution Model (Wikis, Blogs, Social
Networks)
– Use a Digital Repository (Knowledge Bank)
– Enable Reuse and Repurposing (XML and MetaData)
– Improve Delivery (RSS Feeds, Portals)
– Improve Visibility (Search Engine Strategies)
– Enable Rich Media Presentations Address Born Digital Considerations
What To Do Redux
Take a 21st Century View of the Business– Extension’s Next 100 Years
Incorporate the Digital Collection into Delivery of Extension’s Business Mission– Create a Web Presence for Extension and make the
Digital Collection the Centerpiece
– “Brand” to Extension
Manage the Value of Digital Assets, Not a Web Site
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Taking a 21st Century View
Rethinking the Technology, Content and Delivery Architecture– Participation: What can I contribute
– Context: What I need to know here and now
– Proactive Platform Management
– Community Management of Content
– Needs Determine Quality (not Peers)
– Rich User Interface
– Tagging for Improved Human (and Machine) Access
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A New Approach
Plan to Adopt the Knowledge Bank as the Digital Repository for the Collection– Place Emphasis on the Preservation and Curation of
Extension’s Digital Assets
Refocus from Redesigning Ohioline to a New Extension Business Model– Address 21st Century Needs
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Thank You
Robert B. Luikart
Chief Information Officer
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
The Ohio State University
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Questions?