Imagining the Northwest

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. The Project Participants 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 Within 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

9. Review of Existing Metadata TCI 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

10. Descriptive Metadata TCI fields • TCI Terms • TCI Class • TCI Notes UO Libraries fields • UO Title • Names • Date in Photo • Place • Subject • General Notes • Type • Sub Type

11. The Results • 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. Source 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 Technical Metadata

15. Capture 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 // More Technical Metadata

16. Administrative Metadata • New Subject Terms • New CrossReferences • Metadata Creator • Image Scanner • Image Editor • Checksum • Review Needed • Cataloger's Notes • Scanning Pass

17. CONTENTdm Overview • Standards Support: • DC, OAI-PMH, XML • Customization: • Application Profiles / Data Dictionaries • Templates • Search Interfaces (example)

18. Metadata Customization • Field Label • Dublin Core Mapping • Qualified or Simple • Data Types • Search and Display options • Controlled Vocabularies for individual fields

19. Vocabulary Implementation • CONTENTdm: • Import list and Add/Delete terms • Create from contents of a field • X-refs such as: teepees USE tipis

20. CONTENTdm Usability • Global Update • User-Friendly client • Default values for fields • Challenging Java-based Administrative Web Interface

21. 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!

22. 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

23. Future Work • Continue collaborating with TCI on this and other projects • Continue with other photograph collections using CONTENTdm. • Interoperability • XML • OAI • Z39.50