Digital Library Investigation

Transcription

1 Digital Library Investigation Cambridge Digital Library Overview The Cambridge Digital Library is part of the University of Cambridge located in Cambridge, England. It is a college level research university that has a library housing an extraordinary accumulation of books, maps, manuscripts and journals. (Cambridge about page, n.d.) The digital library is designed to try to allow these ever growing archives to be accessible to as many people as possible. Grant Young, the director of the Cambridge Digital Library project stated "This is one of the great research libraries that over the past 600 years has been amassing amazing collections from all parts of the world and all cultures, so we really felt that we should be making that more accessible. (Keller, 2012) Cambridge is hoping to achieve an evolution in their services in order to extend and adapt them. As Barner says in his research article on library evolution the institute should change and adapt itself with spirit of time so it can serve best those who need it. (Barner, 2011) 1

2 The digital library focuses on two areas of strength within our collections. (Cambridge about page, n.d.) These are the Foundations of Faith and Science, the collections are broken down within these two categories. (See Foundations of Faith collection, figure 1) Figure 1 Cambridge Digital Library was birthed from a 1.5 million pound donation from the Polonsky Foundation. This donation allowed them to buy the equipment and labor needed to start scanning and digitizing objects. In 2012 the online library housed 3,700 items online, with internet users being able to browse through 35,000 pages of history for free (Keller, 2012), these numbers continue to grow yearly. There are numerous funders for the various collections and different departments are used for different projects, but there are few outside contributors. This paper will outline the author s opinion on the functionality and overall look of the website as well as the website s following elements: Administrative Aspects, Collection Content, Information Organization, Collection Storage and Preservation, Collection Access, and Technical and Service Aspects. Administrative Aspects The purpose of the digital library collections is to build a substantial online resource so that our collections can be much more accessible to students, researchers and the wider public. (Cambridge about page, n.d.) The digital teams working on these objects seek to organize, digitize, and publish the analog collections held within the research library. The overall direction for the website is to eventually catalog all of the collections, and implement a strategy for storing them that aids long term digital preservation while still maintaining open access to all users. The demographics for this digital library are very broad. As Anne Jarvis, the University Librarian, states we want to make our collections accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection and a thirst for knowledge." (Cambridge about page, n.d.) This wide reaching mentality means that the collections are used by researchers, students, faculty, and general users. The most likely users are researchers though. The University of Cambridge is 2

3 known for its research materials, and while students will be a large portion of visitors, researchers will still be the main source of viewership. The library is owned and managed by Cambridge, however there are numerous departments that run the workings of the digital library. These include things like the Conservation Team, Digital Library Team, Christian Works, and Digital Content Team. (See Figure 2) Each has their own head of the department and several assistants with specialized knowledge within the field. Figure 2 While there are few outside partnerships or affiliations, there is a lot of outside funding that runs the digital library. As mentioned in the overview primary funding came from the charity the Polonsky Foundation, subsequent funding was received from institutions like Jisc who funded the library s Windows on Genius project or the Arts and Humanities Research Council who funded via grant the Sanskrit Collection and Spanish Chapbooks. Individual projects are generally run by grant for as long as the project is being worked on. Publications are sometimes attached to the projects via links on their main page. These publications largely consist of blogs written to inform users of how the grant funding works or legends for viewing the items within the collections. There are often separate publications for research purposes as well. (See Figure 3, Sanskrit Manuscripts) The picture below showcases a link to a blog that details more information on the grant as well as the research project itself, and then a secondary link for a legend. Figure 3 3

4 Collection Content As Chadwell wrote It is also going to be imperative that we keep our users developmental, education and entertainment needs in mind more than we ever did in the print realm. (Chadwell, 2009) The collection development policy is provided at which is part of the main Cambridge Library site. However it holds for all digital objects as well as the policy is neutral with respect to format, whether print or digital. (University, n.d.) The scope of the collection is the same as the library s mission which is to provide easy access to their collections. The policy focuses on the different types of media handled and that the digital collections seek to to make content from the Digital Library freely available for use within teaching and research. (University, n.d.) While the collections don t contain materials from multiple institutions the digitization of materials is a collaborative effort between the funders, special collections, and the digital curation team. The origins of these materials stems mainly from special collections selections and funder requests. Many different types of objects are shown within the collections. They contain various things such as books, manuscripts, maps, 3D objects, photos, and audio. As mentioned there are the two main Foundations. One concerns subjects relating to science and the other concerns religion. Collections are broken up into these different categories and collections are picked often based on these categories. The collections appear to use only existing resources or created resources, no subscription services are used. Subscription services would hinder their open access policies. 4

5 Information Organization Content is organized by collection for example Newton Papers, Sanskrit Manuscripts, etc. Once in a collection a brief description along with extra resources and a quote is provided for the user. (See figure 3) Figure 3 You can browse the collections or use the search bar to find specific collections. This is the same navigation system used within the collections. Although within the collections thumbnail guides are also provided. This is my first critique of the website, the collections should also be broken down by type or have other categories a user might be able to use as a pathfinder. It was difficult to find specific collections unless you knew specifically what you were looking for. Metadata standardization is key. After speaking with Huw Jones, Head of the Digital Library Unit, I found out that For descriptive metadata, we use METS/MODS for bibliographic material, EAD for archives and TEI for manuscripts. (Jones) METS is a very common 5

6 repository format because of its great versatility and ease of use for encoding information. METS is a versatile metadata schema that is useful in a variety of contexts both for its flexibility and for its interoperability. (Ralson, 2013) (See figure 4 for bibliography) Figure 4 Their use of TEI comes as no surprise as well considering The standard is extremely flexible and accommodating to most textual genres despite its bias towards humanities, and more specifically, literary texts. (Dalmau, 2010) The standardizations they use are very common amongst digital preservationists. Controlled vocabulary is key for the digital library. Jones told me that they use VIAF for names, the Getty Thesaurus of Geographical Names for places and Library of Congress for subjects. (Jones) Having had experience working within an archive these are the standards used by most libraries when digitizing. They are easy to understand and provide stellar metadata standardization. Collection Storage and Preservation 6

7 The collections contain mostly digitized data since they are digitizing requested collection or from the analog collections. All master copies and preservational copies are kept in TIFF file format. Downloadable versions are available on the collection s website and those are in JPEG file format. This follows standard guideline differences between preservation and dissemination different representations for the material preserved and disseminated, e.g. TIFF files for preservation and smaller, low-resolution JPEG files for dissemination. (Eld, 2012) They use a mixture of 8 scanners that are overhead and flatbed. They scan and then digitize the object uploading it to their cloud server. Finally they create metadata for the object. Preservation and access formats are currently in a transitional period so Huw didn t want to say too much about them. He did mention that they are open access and told me how their master copies are their main priority. We are as open as possible, and by default put both images and metadata out under CC BY-NC. Occasionally we have to be more restrictive, where we are dealing with other rights holders (Jones) Collection Access They try their best to only use open source software during and after digitization to ensure open access. However they do use Photoshop for some aspects of their digitization. The software they use is all housed internally and used by the digital archiving teams. Various 7

8 technologies are used, but mostly Library of Congress digitization tools and programs as well as XHTML based programs are used. The proprietary software used is always owned by Adobe. Searching and browsing features are provided freely for users. Browsing is difficult because collections are not broken down, but just thrown together. So a user must scroll through massive amounts of collections to find what they want. Search functions are top notch though, going through all metadata and records to find keywords. You can search for a keyword, this can also be things like media types or figures. I searched for Tennyson (See figure 5) Figure 5 As you can see, every instance of the word appears and I can refine by search as needed. A user can also use Advanced Search to refine their initial search. You can look within the full text of each item or search by things like subject, author, and location. (See figure 6) Figure 6 8

9 Records and items are then displayed in a list format with a large thumbnail of the item pictured on the right. This is a great layout for users and potential users. With a vague knowledge of what you are searching for you can find a lot of matching results that you can then refine and scroll through leisurely. It s easy to look at, and even easier to peruse. Their privacy policy is listed on their terms and conditions page. It is pretty open stating that it logs most data when you make a request or visit the site. This user information is protected though, it is not sold to third parties and rarely given to them except by law. As the policy states Summary statistics are extracted from this data and some of these may be made publicly available, but those that are do not include information from which individuals could be identified. (Cambridge Terms page, n.d.) Accessibility of web pages is a major factor for Cambridge. They incorporate a limited set of access keys (Cambridge Terms page, n.d.) as well as focusing on navigation. Including setup for navigation using both right and left hands. They are WAI compliant as well. If there are any needs not met an is provided to make a request. Technical and Service Aspects The access policy for the site is very basic. As long as a user does not do anything unlawful then they have free and open access to all materials. Use by students and staff of the university follow slightly different rules, but these mostly pertain to physically being on campus. The University also reserves the right to close off portions of the website for technical or administrative purposes at any time which would bar access to users. The policy is straightforward and understandable, it seems to be enforced well. The digital collections on this site work wonderfully. Information is readily available and easy to look through. There are also plenty of options to share and download material for use. You can save, print, and share everything in the collection. Fostering open access was something 9

10 that Huw told me is a huge priority for Cambridge, and because of this their website is top notch for discovering and obtaining items. If a user is uncertain though of anything on the site, or any issues with copyright, there are services to aid them. An FAQ is provided on a separate help page. This is apparently a common practice for most digital libraries as four of the five digital libraries that contain explicit Help, FAQs is the main component. (Hong, 2007) However if the question a user has isn t answered they are welcome to contact the library to ask questions. Copyright restrictions are very open for the library. Material from the site may be accessed, downloaded and printed for your personal and non-commercial use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to material posted on the site. (Cambridge Terms page, n.d.) If there are specific copyright restrictions, they are listed in the downloading portions of the item. Final Thoughts While browsing leaves something to be desired, the Cambridge Digital Library provides users with a wealth of information at their fingertips. Efficient and thorough use of metadata allows users to find items quickly, and refine searches to ensure the best results possible. One of the best research sites I ve seen I would recommend the use of this digital library for anyone seeking info on religious and science fields. 10

11 References Barner, K. (2011). The library is a growing organism: Ranganathan's fifth law of library science and the academic library in the digital era. Library Philosophy and Practice,, 1-9. Retrieved from Cambridge Digital Library. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from Chadwell, F.A. (2009) What s Next for Collection Management and Mangers? User-Centered collection management, Collection Mangement, 34(2), Dalmau, M., & Schlosser, M. (2010). Challenges of serials text encoding in the spirit of scholarly communication. Library Hi Tech, 28(3), doi: Eld Maj-Britt Olmütz Zierau. (2012). A holistic approach to bit preservation. Library Hi Tech, 30(3), doi: Hong (Iris) Xie. (2007). Help features in digital libraries: Types, formats, presentation styles, and problems. Online Information Review, 31(6), doi: Keller, D. (2012, December 19). Cambridge Digital Library looks to turn traditional library inside out Retrieved March 25, 2017, from Ralson, K. (2013). METS: Flexibility v. interoperability. Library Philosophy and Practice,, 0_1,1-25. Retrieved from University. C. (n.d.). Collection Development Policy framework. Retreived from 11