Expectations of a Blog Entry ::

Find an online exhibition and review it addressing the four characteristics referred to below. There are no "correct" exhibitions to look at, they don't have to be "good," and if the exhibit you've chosen for the week does not comply with these guidelines, that's fine, just discuss that in your blog entry. Blog entries should be short, bullet points are okay, and I expect this assignment to take between 20-40 minutes per week.

Address the four points explained below: 1) Selection decisions = how did they decide what to digitize [addressed in "Collection Principles" below]; 2) What kind of metadata are they providing for each image, and for the collection as a whole [addressed in "Metadata" below]; and 3) tell as much as you can about the characteristics of the digital object ["Object Characteristics" below]. Finally, address an issue that will, for the most part, be guesswork, based on the three points above - 4) who is the intended audience for this digitizatio project.

We will try to discuss interesting exhibits in class. I've provided lists of online library, archive and museum exhibitions on the "RESOURCES" page.

These guidelines come from: A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections: http://www.niso.org/framework/Framework2.html#collections

Collection Principles

1. A good digital collection is created according to an explicit collection development policy that has been agreed upon and documented before digitization begins.
2. Collections should be described so that a user can discover characteristics of the collection, including scope, format, restrictions on access, ownership, and any information significant for determining the collection's authenticity, integrity, and interpretation.
3. A collection should be sustainable over time. In particular, digital collections built with special internal or external funding should have a plan for their continued usability beyond the funded period.
4. A good collection is broadly available and avoids unnecessary impediments to use. Collections should be accessible to persons with disabilities, and usable effectively in conjunction with adaptive technologies.
5. A good collection respects intellectual property rights. Collection managers should maintain a consistent record of rightsholders and permissions granted for all applicable materials.
6. A good collection has mechanisms to supply usage data and other data that allows standardized measures of usefulness to be recorded.
7. A good collection fits into the larger context of significant related national and international digital library initiatives. For example, collections of content useful to education in science, math, and/or engineering should be usable in the NSF-funded National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

Object Characteristics

1. A good digital object will be produced in a way that ensures it supports collection priorities, while maintaining qualities contributing to interoperability and reusability.
2. A good object is persistent. That is, it will be the intention of some known individual or institution that the good object will remain accessible over time despite changing technologies.
3. A good object is digitized in a format that supports intended current and likely future use or that supports the derivation of access copies that support those uses. Consequently, a good object is exchangeable across platforms, broadly accessible, and will either be digitized according to a recognized standard or best practice or deviate from standards and practices only for well documented reasons.
4. A good object will be named with a persistent, unique identifier that conforms to a well-documented scheme. It will not be named with reference to its absolute filename or address (e.g. as with URLs and other Internet addresses) as filenames and addresses have a tendency to change. Rather, the stable identifier can be resolved (mapped) to the actual address.
5. A good object can be authenticated in at least three senses. First, a user should be able to determine the object's origins, structure, and developmental history (version, etc.). Second, a user should be able to determine that the object is what it purports to be. Third, a user should be able to determine that the object has not been corrupted or changed in an unauthorized way.
6. A good object will have associated metadata. All good objects will have descriptive and administrative metadata. Some complex objects will have structural metadata.

Metadata

1. Good metadata should be appropriate to the materials in the collection, users of the collection, and intended, current, and likely future use of the digital object.
2. Good metadata supports interoperability.
3. Good metadata uses authority control and content standards such as controlled vocabularies that are in line with user expectations to describe the content of objects and collocate related objects.
4. Good metadata includes a clear statement on the conditions and terms of use for the digital object.
5. Good metadata supports the long-term management of objects in collections.
6. Good metadata records are objects themselves and therefore should have the qualities of good objects, including authority, authenticity, archivability, persistence, and unique identification.