Collection-level description in practice Collection-Level Description

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Collection-level descriptionin
practiceCollection-Level Description
NOF-digitise projectsNOF-digitise programme
seminar,London, 22 February 2002

• Bridget Robinson Pete Johnston
• UKOLN, University of Bath
• Bath, BA2 7AY

Email cd-focus_at_ukoln.ac.uk URL http//www.ukoln.ac
.uk/
UKOLN is supported by
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Collection-level description in practice

• Collection-level description
• before CLD
• in archives
• in museums
• in libraries
• in RSLP
• in the JISC/DNER
• in the NOF-digitise programme

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CLDs before CLD.

• Resource managers/providers create CLDs without
  calling them CLDs!
• summary guides
• directories
• descriptions of institutions holdings
• etc

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CLDs in archives

• Description of aggregates as central feature of
  descriptive practice
• Multi-level description
• Collections defined by provenance of items
• Archival emphasis on context of item
• CLD embedded in standards for archival
  description
• International Standard for Archival Description
  (General) (ISADG)
• Encoded Archival Description (EAD)

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CLDs in archives (2)

• AIM25
• http//www.aim25.ac.uk/
• RSLP project
• ISAD(G) collection(fonds)-level descriptions
  (some sub-collections)
• archives/manuscript collections in HE
  institutions learned societies in London area
• also exports XML (experimentally!) as
• EAD documents RSLP CD RDF/XML records simple DC
  records via OAI

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CLDs in archives (3)

• Archives Hub
• http//www.archiveshub.ac.uk/
• JISC service at MIMAS (Manchester)
• EAD collection(fonds)-level descriptions for
  archive collections in UK universities colleges
• some hierarchical descriptions
• EAD supports description down to item level
• Z39.50 target

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CLDs in museums

• Tendency to focus on description of object
• But notion of collection is used
• collection management
• collection assessment/mapping
• Various criteria
• type/form of item
• subject
• ownership/source
• Some collection-level description
• little standardisation?
• some use of EAD, Dublin Core

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CLDs in museums (2)

• Cornucopia
• http//www.cornucopia.org.uk/
• Resource service
• CLDs for UK museums
• data from range of existing sources
• mapping to RSLP CD schema
• cross-domain considerations e.g. subject
  terminologies

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CLDs in museums (3)

• 24 hour Museum
• http//www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/
• developed by mda/Campaign for Museums now
  independent charity
• summary CLDs
• also details of events, exhibitions, trails,
  teaching resources etc

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CLDs in libraries

• Tendency to focus on description of item
• well-established standards (MARC, AACR2)
• Until recently, collection-level description
  informal, unstructured
• Subject-based collections
• items dispersed
• complex relationships
• Standards
• some use of MARC for CLD (especially in USA)
• adoption of RSLP CD schema in RSLP programme

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CLDs in libraries (2)

• SCONE
• http//scone.strath.ac.uk/
• RSLP project
• CLDs for holdings of libraries in Scotland
• complex relationships between collections
• support
• collaborative collection management
• landscaping in CAIRNS
• implements RSLP CD schema

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CLD in RSLP

• Support for researchers
• discovery of/access to collections
• collaborative management of collections
• Collections in RSLP
• projects describing primarily (but not
  exclusively) collections of physical items
• projects also describing digital catalogues
  (which describe physical items) i.e. collections
  of metadata records
• projects creating new digital collections of
  collection descriptions

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CLD in RSLP (2)

• RSLP CD Model Schema
• Michael Heaney (Oxford), Andy Powell (UKOLN)
• means of consistent collection description in
  RSLP
• simple, generic
• Adopted by number of RSLP projects
• use RSLP CD schema as base descriptive schema
• or use other schema internally and map to RSLP CD
• more later today!

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CLD in RSLP (3)

• Regional
• RASCAL
• http//www.rascal.qub.ac.uk/
• Mapping Wales
• http//www.mappingwales.ac.uk/
• Subject-based
• Caribbean Studies, Black/Asian history CASBAH
• http//www.casbah.ac.uk/
• BUFVC Researchers Guide Online
• http//www.bufvc.ac.uk/

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CLD in DNER

• Collections in DNER
• collections of resources
• text, images, data...
• collections of metadata about resources
• subject gateways, library catalogues
• digital items, physical items
• distributed
• local institutions
• JISC content providers
• external collections

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CLD in DNER (2)

• Collections available to users through services
• Network services make digital collections
  available at digital locations
• Real services make physical collections available
  at physical locations

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CLD in DNER (3)
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CLD in the NOF-digitise programme

• Collections in NOF-digitise
• projects creating new digital collections of
  resources (images, audio, video etc)
• projects creating new digital collections of
  metadata records (describing digital items)
• (projects maybe also describing physical
  collections?)

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CLD in the NOF-digitise programme

• Collection-level descriptions
• one CLD for all project resources as single
  collection?
• multiple CLDs for sub-collections?
• by item form/type?
• by subject?
• CLD for consortial super-collections?
• CLDs might be created
• by project
• by consortium
• by NOF on behalf of project

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Introducing OAI MHP

• OAI Metadata Harvesting Protocol
• lightweight protocol which allows data providers
  to expose metadata records for retrieval by
  service providers
• data providers (projects) supply metadata as XML
  documents
• Must provide simple DC (OAI provides XML Schema)
• May provide other metadata formats (in XML)
• OAI provides a standardised means for NOF portal
  - and other portals - (service providers) to
  gather metadata records from projects (data
  providers) into central database

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Resources
Resource discovery within a project
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CLD in the NOF programme project view
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NOF Portal Web site
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Acknowledgements

• UKOLN is funded by Resource the Council for
  Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint
  Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK
  higher and further education funding councils, as
  well as by project funding from the JISC and the
  European Union. UKOLN also receives support from
  the University of Bath where it is based.
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/