Unit 9

This week we entered our collection into EPrints. I have found from the three repositories that we have entered our collections into so far that my metadata differs slightly depending upon the set-up of the repository, as well as ease of use. I found that Drupal allowed me to customize my metadata to my collection the best. Due to the academic focus of DSpace and EPrints, the metadata was less detailed and slightly different. For example, I chose the option for my image as be "Submitted" in EPrints, whereas this was not an element in the other repositories.

I can definitely see the challenges and expenses that could be involved on a larger scale. A larger organization would want to either create or adopt one certain controlled vocabulary (whereas mine has varied depending upon the ease with which I can personalize the taxonomy). I refer to the application profile which I created at the beginning of the semester in order to keep things as consistent as possible (for example, I wrote a copyright statement which I use when that is an option). However, if I was focusing on a collection in one repository, I would need to spend more time on consistent metadata, as well as documenting it thoroughly for anyone else who is entering data.

Unit 8

The EPrints installation went pretty well for me: the only hiccup I ran into was getting an error message on my password when trying to use the sudo command. However, I looked at the Tech Dicussion board and realized that the problem was that I was logged in as eprints, which isn't part of the sudo group. I found DSpace to be the most difficult installation and the one I had the most technical issues with, so EPrints was a little bit easier. So far I like the layout and the fact that it includes LOC subject headings (even though I need to make my own subject headings anyway). I am still not entirely clear on how adding your own taxonomy works, so I expect to spend a lot of time on that this next week. I think it's interesting how Drupal, DSpace and EPrints all have their own methods of dealing with taxonomies.

I did a little bit of branding: in addition to changing the welcome message, I added one of my images as a logo. The first method I tried did not make any change, so I tried the second method and it worked. It was pretty straightforward with the instructions handy, but I might have difficulty figuring it out on my own. For these types of changes I think I prefer the GUI environment such as Drupal has.

Unit 7

This week we spent a little bit more time with DSpace, inputting items into our collection. Unfortunately I am having some technical issues: I keep getting an error message when I go to actually submit an item. However, I have posted in the Tech forum for the class so hopefully I will be able to resolve it soon. Besides that, I feel that I am understanding the submission process and workflows reasonably well.

Since we were able to choose our own topic for a blog post this week, I decided to look a little bit more into the types of metadata that are ideal for images. I found an interesting report on image metadata for the FILTER (Focusing Images for Learning and Teaching - an Enriched Resource) project: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/filter/report/report.html#1.4. This report provides a list by Howard Besser of the University of Michigan where metadata standards should be developed:

-The technical information required to view the image (such as image type, file formats)
-Information about the image capture process (information about the type of image digitized, information about the scanner used, etc.)
-Information about the quality and veracity of an image (for example, whether it is a high-quality image done by a museum or an image digitized by an individual).
-Information about the original object (nature and origin, legacy content metadata, etc.)
-Information about an image's authenticity (cryptographic techniques or digital signatures)
-Information about rights management (viewing/reproduction restrictions, contact info, etc.)

It was very interesting reading these over and gaining more insight into what might be beneficial to include in the fields for a digital image repository. I have included many of these elements in my test collection, but there is some information I don't have, such as details about the scanner I used and information on the images' authenticity (which I think is beyond me for this class project). I am an art enthusiast and would love to work in a museum or similar setting, so I am enjoying learning more about the ways that image repositories in particular are set up and used.

Unit 6

This week we installed and configured DSpace in order to enter some repository items from our own collection. The install took quite a bit of time and I have to admit that despite my best efforts I could not follow everything that was going on. Although the instructions are clear, I still feel that I am missing some context just because the command line is still so new to me and unlike others in class I do not been lucky enough to yet have real-life experience with these tools. Luckily I did not run into any major problems, and I made sure to take all of the recommended snapshots. I had one issue with the WinSCP transfer due to my own misunderstanding. I noticed some differences in the alternate installation instructions, but I don't know enough to know how significant these differences are. I am hoping that if I continue to study and practice it will make more sense.