Last Journal Entry

And so it comes, the time of finals and endings. And of the beginning of spring or summer (I've never ended a semester so early before). It's a good time, I would like to see more leaves, but I'll take what I can get with the weather. This semester has been really rough. I've been diagnosed with the most pointless and useless disease on the planet. One with no explanation or cure. It's called interstitial cystitis I've survived my first surgery and fortunately it was a noninvasive one. Although I call shoving various objects up your urethra pretty invasive.

Now on the mend to recovery, I can reflect on this class. Though I have to fully admit it took me a few days to realize that last project was canceled. I'm sorry it didn't work out, because I downloaded Dreamweaver 8 and now I have to teach myself how to use it. Hopefully it will go better than learning Flash did. I'm sure the only reason I couldn't learn Flash was because the project was due the next day. Procrastination: it's a killer. But, I think most people can't help it. Pressure is a motivator. So is fear.

I learned a lot in digital applications. I'm glad I have this journal, I hope that it will be a good reference this summer as I am doing a lot of work with digitizing and writing captions. It'll be a lot of learning and feeling my way around, but we'll see what I can do. I am glad I plunged head-first into my first ever cataloging project. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I don't know how well I did on it, but by the end, things made more sense. Sometimes indicators weren't defined very well, but that is my only complaint for MARC handbooks in the future.

It was my first taste with catalogs, so I hope that I get better in the future. It was also my first time using SQL and it was a good review of digital imaging. I learned more than what I'd already known and felt like I understood standards better. It's like math, I sort of get it the first time around, but the second time fills in the crucial gaps that I've missed.

In the future, I think that MARC should be the first project. We should jump headfirst into it. The sooner we start it, the more time we have to learn it. Then we can learn about digital imaging and write the proposal simlutaneously. And then finish off the last couple weeks with the SQL/website project. I just think then the semester would flow smoother and maybe everything would fit in. I feel bad because I missed most of the last few weeks being squeezed in at the urologist and the hospital. It's been one crazy semester. But I truly feel I still got something out of the class. That leaves me with some satisfaction.

Now, I will leave you and get ready to spend my last few weeks in Toronto. I have a to-do list of all the things I want to enjoy before I head home to Rochester before my internship. Then it's off, the next adventure. And I'll bring what I learned with me. Thank you.

A Little Comment

So, are you checking from your SQL database? Because I keep seeing imagearts.ryerson.ca showing up when I check who's visiting this page. I assume that's you. That's the only way you could access from that site this page.

I saw you on March 13th. You were a new visitor February 13th. Unless you check directly from blogger as well.

Just thought I'd let you know I was keeping track of you too. Very sneaky.

It makes me feel better knowing you actually check them. But I do miss the lack of comments. Because it would be really unfortunate if I was doing these "pertinent" points in every entry and you hated it. Most unfortunate.

Have a great day. Happy Spring Equinox!

Visit to the New Catholic Times Donation

Today I went to visit the New Catholic Times donation, which is stored in the library offices. Right now, the collection is sitting on a desk in seven different cardboard boxes with tops. I took notes for each individual box. I will transcribe them here, so they can easily be references for my digitization proposal, which is due in the following week,

BOX 1--

• photographs range from 1970's to 1990's- mostly gelatin silver
• some photos are in better shape than others--some are yellowing, staining, fading
• in Manila folders loosely by location or subject--they are stored vertically, causing the photographs to curl (they appear RC and this is bad for them)
• Some subjects: Israel, Ireland, Italy, El Salvador, Movements, Life Issues, etc.
• large subjects such as Latin American and Eastern Europe
• "Marriage" subject shows up in two boxes
• some subjects have LOTS of photos and some have only 2 or 3

BOX 2--

• negative and proofs
• DISORGANIZED--some have contact sheets, some don't-- contact sheet have negs stapled in an envelop next to it
• some sheets are marked with the ones that are going to be printed or that were probably favourites
• do any prints in the other boxes correspond to the negatives or contact sheets?
  
• SEVERAL envelops of loose negatives, they are not properly housed
• orange book at the bottom of negatives and contact sheet
• some have roll number on them such as #1463
• SO MESSY, needs organization, there stacks of loose contact sheets

BOX 3--

• Manila folders with gelatin silver photos
• in loose groups--not necessarily arranged by story
• subjects: Abortion, Church & State, Dance, Catholic Groups, Africa, Balkans, Human Life Research (Also Africa--Algeria, with 4 photos in it, why a separate group from Africa?)
• combine groups? organize better? House?
• digitize all? or only important ones?
• some are badly stained--be sure to consider digitizing or finding original of quickly deteriorating ones
• digitize negs first?
• if find photo essays, they should be kept together

BOX 4--

• First Section-- Film (all prints of movies stills) SEVERAL-- some grouped in envelops by film
• mostly bishops, priests, pop-- hierarchy Catholic Leaders
• Media/media Literature--can be the same? better group names?
• Several Bishop folders: American N-Z; Bishops- worlds; Canadian Bishops (better organization???)

BOX 5--

• Mostly Persons folders, or icons
• many are staining or yellowing
• no organization to the folders
• another large film folder in the back--condense
• some persons are religious affiliated, ordinary or celebrity--NO DISTINCTION between folders
• mostly gelatin silver-- at least on B/W copier prints and 1 colour
• many prints have writing, stamps or captions

BOX 6--

• Less folders-- many aren't labeled or appear to be labeled wrong
• Subjects: Homelessness, Kenya, Christmas
• So much AFRICA--should there be one subject with sub categories
  
• not many photos, mostly gelatin silver (some are fading)
• what kind of organization could we have? Many of these are labeled on the wrong side or crossed out

BOX 7--

• more Manila folders of prints organized roughly by topic/subject
• SUBJECT: seniors, Phillipines, unemployment, Nuclear Power, Nicaragua, workers, New Foundland/Labrador, youth, United States
• poor categories redundant
• most in envelops are NOT part of an essay together
• staining, fading discoloration
• World Economic Protest 2002--color photos, latest envelops
• There are some color photos in this folder
• Poverty subject--no place names so can't add them to world places, very tricky and problematic with these subjects
• do we know any photographers???

This collection needs organization. This is the first and foremost problem that needs to be addressed with this collection. More issues and ideas will be addressed in this digitization plan.

Database Processing, Chapter 2 (Week 7)

Journeying deeper in database processing, including delving deeper into SQL and how it works. Some important points to note follow:

1. SQL is a data sublanguage. This means it is not a complete programing system, but rather it only creates and processes database data and metadata. These are called SQL statements and can be used in a number of ways. One of them is submitting them directly to the DBMS for processing.
   
2. The data extraction process selects only a few columns of the operational data. They use the example of Cape Codd Outdoor Sports and their database.
3. The framework for SQL query statements are SELECT/FROM/WHERE. For example SELECT Department, Buyer FROM SKU-DATA; These SQL statements transform tables. In the query results, they do not eliminate duplicate rows.
4. The DISTINCT keyword in query searches to remove duplicate rows, so there are less results to sift through. This is really important when there can be results of 100,000 or more to sift through
5. in order to SELECT ALL in a search use the * (asterisk) symbol. It will query all columns of a table.
6. The query to get specific rows from a specific table can use the WHERE in the query statement. For example:
   SELECT * FROM SKU-DATA WHERE Department = 'Water Sports';
7. In the WHERE section, if the column contain texts or date data, the comparison value must be contained within quotation marks (' '), for numeric data there doesn't need to be any notes EX. WHERE SKU > 200000;
8. You can also do a query for a single table and specified rows by changing how the SELECT section looks. For example: SELECT SKU-Description, Department
9. The Column used in the WHERE clause does not have to be the same as the column in the SELECT clause
10. In SQL queries, standard practice is to write SELECT, FROM, WHERE on separate lines
11. You cannot execute SQL queries unless your computer has Access installed. In Access you can create a "New Query" by clicking on the query tab on the left-hand side of the Access window.

This reading was a little confusing, but I know the SQL queries will get easier as time go on. Practice makes perfect. This much is true, especially for computers. If not, I can always call my older brother for help. He's known as the "computer prodigy."

Database Processing, Chapter 1 (Week 6)

This reading comes from D. Kroenke's Database Processing: Fundamentals, Design and Implementation (No link available), Chapter 1. The reading involved mostly different kinds of databases and different ways to create databases, all the easy technical overview to think about before getting started on a database project. Now on to the pertinent points of the reading:

1. The first kind of database applications available are SAP Applications. They are sometimes called client-server applications because the program is the client that connects to the database server. SAP applications connect to the database via a corporate network. These applications are written in Visual Basic, C++ or Java.
2. The second kind of applications are called e-commerce applications or any applications the run on a Web server. Users can connect to these applications from Web browsers like Explorer and Safari. Some common Web servers are Apache and Microsoft's Internet Information Server.
3. The third kind is Reporting Applications. They publish the results of database queries on corporate portals or a Web site.
4. The last kind of application is XML Web services. This application is on the leading edge of database processing. It uses a combination of XML markup language as well as other standards to create program-to-program communication. The code that comprises an application can then be distributed over several computers.
5. DBMS manages the database. The best DBMS available is Oracle from the Oracle corporation though it is much more difficult to use than the SQL server.
6. Database: a self-describing collection of integrated tables. Integrated tables are tables that store both data and the relationships among the data. Self-describing means that the collection contains a description itself.
7. Triggers are used to main database accuracy and consistency as well as to enforce any data restraints.
8. Stored Procedures are used for database administration tasks and are sometimes a part of database applications.
9. There are THREE types of Database design: Existing data, New Systems Development and Database redesign.
   

The many charts in the reading, made understanding these notes much easier. They were comprehensive and drawn out to show steps and relationships. For copyright reasons, I cannot copy them here, but attest to their usefulness.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following annotated bibliography is on creating good metadata for visual images--practices, standards and methodologies. I began my search for articles on Wilson Web, found through the Library Literature and Information Science Full Text journal at Ryerson University.


1. "Cataloging Cultural Objects: Toward a Metadata Content Standard for Libraries, Archives,
and Museums." Technical Services Quarterly 24, no. 1 (2006): 73-5. Library and
Information Science, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article is a report of the ALCTS CCS Program from the American Library Association Annual Conference, Chicago, June, 2005. It contains valuable information on Metadata standards for all digital collections, including image-based ones in museums. This report in the article explains new found data about what the American Library Association things should be a standard for metadata in today's changing world.

2.Attig, John et al. "Context and Meaning: The Challenges of Metadata for a Digital Image
Library within the University." College and Research Libraries 65, no. 3 (May
2004):251-61. Library and Information Science, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article tackles the challenges and needs for strong, rich metadata in digital collections in the university environment. The article also discusses three metadata schemas, VRA, Dublin Core and MRS as well as about the Mellon-funded project, the Visual Image User Study at Penn State and how it has created a centralized image delivery service. It also discusses the use of discipline-specific vocabularies for metadata.

3. Murphy, James L. "Link It or Lump It: Basic Access Strategies for Digital Art
Representation." Journal of Library Administration 39, no. 2/3 (2003): 139-60. Library
and Information Science, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article discusses how to represent digital art as metadata. It includes suggestions for picking certain standards such as MARC21 and why it is important to maintain standards for metadata as well as cataloguing these metadata pieces. While it talks about operating digital art collections as a whole, it does discuss the uses and purposes as well as standards for metadata. Since digital art is a new concern, this article addresses the best way to approach creating metadata for these new art objects.

4. Huithwaite, Ann. "AACR2 and Other Metadata Standards: The Way Forward." Cataloging and Classification Quarterly 36, no. 3/4 (2003):87-100. Library and Information Science, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article discusses several important popular metadata standards in use today such as Dublin Core and the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, which are both very popular today. Not only does it go over what they are, but gives suggestion as to what type of collections they are used for and what they're strengths are. This is important to check out what types of metadata standards are used in different types of collections and how they are used before picking one for a digital collection.

5.Ercegovac, Zorana. "Special topic issue: integrating multiple overlapping metadata
standards." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 50, no. 13 (1999):
1165-223. Library and Information Science, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article discusses how to deal with a potential complicated issue when there are several different metadata standards in use and how to deal with it. Ideally, one collection should use only one standard, but in some smaller institutions, this might not be the case. This is how to deal with these kind of problems and how to troubleshoot going forward to change the metadata to the same standards so they are compatible in collections.

6. Ahronheim, Judith R. "Descriptive metadata: emerging standards." Journal of Academic
Librarianship 24, no. 5 (1998): 395-403. Library and Information Science, via Wilson
Web, click on here for link.

he writer discusses standards for the creation and sharing of metadata that aim to allow better specification of resource content and enhance the use of Web resources. She reviews cross-disciplinary metadata activity and considers individual communities that are developing standards that will be of interest to the academic library community. Moreover, she provides a basic resource list that should supply up-to-date information on the standards discussed.

7. Campbell, D. Grant. "Metadata, Metaphor, and Metonymy."Cataloging and Classification
Quarterly 40, no. 3/4 (2005): 57-73. Library and Information Sciences, via Wilson Web,
click here for link.

This articles discusses a distinction common in literary studies that is used here to distinguish between metadata applications for discovery and metadata applications for use. Metadata systems for resource discovery, such as the Dublin Core, are continuous with the traditions of bibliographic description, and rely on a principle of metonymy: the use of a surrogate or adjunct object to represent another. Metadata systems for resource use, such as semantic markup languages, are continuous with the traditions of database design, and rely on a principle of metaphor: the use of a paradigmatic image or design that conditions how the user will respond to and interact with the data.

8.. Baca, Murtha. "Fear of Authority? Authority Control and Thesaurus Building for Art and Material Culture Information." Cataloging and Classification Quarterly 38, no. 3/4 (2004): 143-51. Library and Information Sciences, via Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article discusses the tools used in authority control of metadata and how they have evolved over the years. It also gives examples how metadata without authority control and give bad results for end-users. Collection-specific thesauri and subject indexes, and vocabulary-assisted searching and query expansion are also discussed.

9. McCallum, Sally. "MARC/XML Sampler." International Cataloguing and Bibliographic
Control 35, no. 1 (2006): 4-6. Library and Information Sciences, via Wilson Web, click
here for link.

The close relationship of MARC/XML to the recent ISO standards work associated with MARC in XML is described. Sketches of interesting applications follow with uses that range from MARC/XML as a switching format to a maintenance tool to a record communication format for new XML-based protocols.

10.Dean, Rebecca J. "FAST: Development of Simplified Headings for Metadata." Cataloging and Classifcation Quarterly 39, no. 1/2 (2004): 331-52. Library and Information Sciences, va Wilson Web, click here for link.

This article discusses the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and their use. In recent trends, driven to a large extent by the rapid growth of the Web, are forcing changes in bibliographic control systems to make them easier to use, understand, and apply, and subject headings are no exception. The purpose of adapting the LCSH with a simplified syntax to create FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) headings is to retain the very rich vocabulary of LCSH while making the schema easier to understand, control, apply, and use

"It all Begins with a Cataloguer" (Week 5)

And I do like that they spell it the British way. This chapter, "It all begins with a Cataloguer" is from Introduction to Art Image Access from the Getty Institute. It was a dense reading and a lot on how cataloguers must think and work and how they must develop a methodical way of researching and describing art in order to make it accessible to the end-user. The cataloguer and the end-user are closely linked in the process of cataloguing art. What the cataloguer does will inevitably affect how the end-user searches the catalogue and what results they will have within their searches.

There were several key points in the reading involving the cataloguer and tips on how the calaloguer can do their job:

1. Two elements which good cataloguing depends on are structure and methodology. Structure centers on what the cataloguer knows about the general practices and rules of analysis/classification along with his/her knowledge and experience. Methodology is dependent on a good cataloguing structure as well as the cataloguer's ability to apply metadata standards, controlled vocabularies and classification systems.
2. The cataloguer's "perspective" must be that of a professional viewer/analyst so that all subjective elements are ignored and only structure and consistency are followed when viewing an image for the first time.
3. The FIRST STAGE in the cataloguing process is initial exposure to the work--a formal analysis and interpretation. It is important that the cataloguer does not view subjectively, because emotions can affect how the image is described. There must be a degree of formality when viewing these images because the end-users may very well view the work differently and therefore the cataloguer's description is obsolete.--There must be a structure when viewing a work to be catalogued.
4. The first stage in the cataloguing process corresponds with Erwin Panofsky's "three levels of image description." Structure in viewing an image is a learned process that involves training the brain both to slow its natural inclination to focus on selected subjective elements and to see the entirety of the work with all of its constituent parts.
5. After viewing, the critical stage of analysis and interpretation follows. Cataloguers who are best at this stage are those with good generalists and have knowledge of most subjects. Cataloguers with highly specialized knowledge will often produce records with too narrow of a focus that lack access points that end-users would likely use. The is bad for cataloguing
6. Cataloguers also do not use only the work of art of their analysis and interpretation, they draw on external sources about the work as well. They can come from wall labels, reference works, literary works and so on. But formal education is the most important external source a cataloguer can bring to the process of analysis and interpretation.
7. DO NOT FORGET TO RECORD SEEMINGLY OBSOLETE INFORMATION. relationships change over time and things can become important in time.
8. CONTEXT also adds to understanding of the subject matter. When works are from a narrative sequence this is especially important.
   
9. Three additional indirect sources of information for the cataloguer involve the ARTIST, DATE and STYLER of the work of art. Sometimes in image classification it is hard to distinguish subject matter and what tangentially related to content (ie. style, date)
10. When classifying a work of art in a catalogue, STANDARDS ARE IMPORTANT. They are infact, the most important part. Some standards such as the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules are often used in classification.
11. Free-text descriptions in catalogue system enable the cataloguer to give a very detailed mental image of the subject matter of the work of art...BUT they give inconsistency. It is better to use controlled descriptors, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which make it easier to search for end-users.

Overall, a good cataloguer has knowledge and expertise in this field and structure will lead to a useful catalogue for the end-user. A cataloguer must always have the end user in mine.

The second half of this week's reading was " A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections" from NISO. This .PDF file was a good 38 pages of reading and a lot to go over. It includes case studies from Illinois State Library, New Jersey Digital Highway Project and from the University of Oregon. They also have early chapters on COLLECTIONS, OBJECTS, METADATA and PROJECTS. I didn't read through the entire file, but did a broad general overview. There are several useful links to go to in the file for more information and research if going into creating your own digital collection. There are principles and guidelines to follow in each chapter as well.

It's a very in-depth and useful guideline for the future. If there is no need for it now, I recommend saving the file and using it in the future.