Presentation from Digital Curator Dave Thompson on systems and processes for digitisation at the Wellcome Library for our fourth Digitisation Open Day.
ICT role in 21st century education and its challenges
Systems and Processes: making order out of chaos
1. Systems & processes; making
order out of chaos.
Digitisation Open Day, January 2014
Dave Thompson
Digital Curator, Wellcome Library
2. Digitisation – process overview
Funding, staff, equipment, IT,
storage, data management
planning
Refine & review processes document & share
Identify resources
Plan project
Identify
Plan
Digitise
material
process
process
Document &
share
Digitisation
Open Days
Deliver
3. Lets be clear. Sticking
something under a
camera or on a scanner
is the last step in a
longer process.
5. There are simpler models…
http://www.library.cornell.edu/dlit/MathArc/web/StoryFrameset.html
6. We have three basic systems…
1. Workflow management system – ‘Goobi’ –
production.
2. Digital object repository – ‘Safety Deposit Box’ –
storage.
3. Front end - ‘the player’ – access.
Remember, this doesn’t include cataloguing or bibliographic systems. Here
we’re just talking about the process of creating, storing & delivering digital
content. You have to assume that those other systems are also in place.
7. The formats
• JPEG2000 is our master image format.
• Create dissemination images (JPEG) on the fly.
• Also use PDF, MPEG2, MP3
We don’t have a system of ‘preferred formats’ for digitisation. We use a small
number of ‘master’ formats for efficient data management but we give
consideration to the way in which we disseminate information. JPEG2000 is a
flexible format that allows us to present digitised content in a variety of ways,
whilst allowing for the automated creation of different sizes of JPEG.
8. Goobi
• Manages & tracks the production of content.
• Workflow driven. Highly automated. Project
based.
• Allows us to set very granular access conditions.
• Scalable & highly adaptable to different projects.
Goobi is our workflow tracking & management system for the production of
digital content. Automating as many of Goobi’s processes as possible allows
our work to be both efficient & scalable. Goobi is also the system with which
humans interact the most.
13. How SDB works – behind the scenes
• No public access to SDB.
• Little direct staff access to SDB content.
• High levels of automation of ingest, Goobi.
• Platform for dissemination mediated by the player.
A centralised repository of & for digital content is a key part of both
preservation of & access to your content. It’s a single place where we both
store & manage our content.
15. How the player works
• Makes HTTP request to SDB for content based on
SDB PUID (Objects unique & permanent ID).
• Draws & implements access conditions from
METS file.
• Permitted user actions drawn from METS.
• Draws DMD from live catalogue.
The player acts as a single point of access to our content, we have a unified
delivery mechanism through which all content is delivered. Aim is to provide as
seamless & as easy as possible access to all digital content. Easy for the
user to understand & an interface with which they can quickly become familiar.
16. The systems overview
• Goobi. Manages & tracks the production of
digitised content.
• SDB. Repository that stores digitised content
along with its DMD & AMD.
• Player. User interface to view digitised material.
17. Lessons from Goobi
• Design your workflows (Human & digital) in
advance. But be flexible.
• Automate as much as possible, saves time &
more efficient.
• Document processes & procedures.
• Share what you learn.
18. Lessons from SDB
• Plan your systems integration, which system talks
to which, and how.
• Plan workflows & processes.
• Data management plan. Your eggs in one basket.
• Plan what you’ll do when it all turns to custard.
19. Lessons from the player
• The point of digitisation is access & managed
access is part of preservation.
• Automate access in terms of what a user can do
with content.
• Single point of access for all digital content.
• Test user interface & develop with user in mind!
20.
21. So, to wrap up…
• Digitisation is an end to end process that brings
together objects & metadata.
• Have to think about the whole system to deliver
results. Process is one of combining metadata
from different systems.
• Document plans & document process.
• Be prepared to be flexible & to change as
necessary. But try to stick to the plan!
22. Thank you
Questions now, questions later…?
Dave Thompson, Digital Curator
Wellcome Library
d.thompson@wellcome.ac.uk - @d_n_t
http://wellcomelibrary.org/