Bibliographic metadata & art

Hello, I don’t know if this idea requires its own talk session or if it could be folded into some of the others, but here goes. I’m currently a cataloging librarian, so naturally my focus is on bibliographic metadata. Since I work in an art library, I catalog a lot of art books, but I sometimes wonder if the cataloging I do is sufficient. In particular, I’ve been wondering if art researchers would appreciate knowing what works of art are reproduced or described in a given publication. This would probably require more time and effort than most cataloging outfits can afford, but I’m hoping that current technology might reduce some of that to manageable levels. A couple ideas:

  • Scanning lists of illustrations/plates into PDFs that can be linked from the catalog record, the way some libraries currently do with tables of contents
  • Using trusted sources of (linked) open data, such as CONA or museum websites, to identify works of art and possibly even verify/record their publication histories

Of course, there are potential issues with this. Simply digitizing published information may not be sufficient; for example, how would one account for artworks that are untitled, retitled, or even mis-titled? Some form of authority control might help, but that would require even more time and research on the part of the cataloger; imagine having to do that for 10, 20, or 100+ works in a single monograph. Finally, where would this information—scans, metadata, etc.—be stored/kept? For now, though, the foremost question in my mind is the one I started with: does anyone, aside from me, want to know what artworks are in what books?

Visual Literacy and DH

Hello all! This is my first THATcamp and I am still figuring out how to participate. I wonder if anyone would be interested in how digital humanities can impact Visual Literacy, especially in higher education settings. ACRL’s Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education is a good starting point. How can it be incorporated into curriculum? What is a librarian’s role in this? What kind of technology can be used to enhance visual literacy on campus? My knowledge is pretty limited, so would like to learn from others about this field. Thanks!

Session Proposal: e-book development + production workflow

Hello, all. This is my first time attending THATCamp, so I don’t know if I’m doing things right. I am a book editor at Getty Publications and would love to learn about workflows in e-book production, specifically for heavily illustrated art books. Is there anyone there who would be interested in leading such a session? Or, is there enough interest in the topic that we could form a sort of research group and contribute knowledge from different sources? Thanks, Beatrice

Introduction/Blank Canvas

I’m Annie, Digital Image Metadata Librarian at UMass Amherst, member of VRA and ARLIS. I have to admit that I’ve been a reluctant cheerleader for digital humanities as a librarian, because I’m not sure how to make it my job. I am, however, a big fan of Open Access and the public domain. READ: what do I need to learn in order to help faculty, students and researchers? It’s only when I’ve come across really cool, successful projects that seem to start with a problem (rather than those that seem to be an excuse to use a solution) that my interest is really piqued. Examples:

I am interested in learning more about working with collection data. Here is a cool Twitter account that uses the MoMA collection data dump: twitter.com/modernart_exe

I have looked longingly at descriptions of Beautiful Data and so many projects of the Berkman Center, but I am still unsure about where I/my job fit into all of this.

 

 

 

Session Proposal: Data Sources for DH

Hi, everyone! I would love to co-host (any want to join me?) a session demoing various data sources and mining methods for work in the digital humanities. I think this would be a great complement to sessions that explore various tools for DH.

After all, once you master the tools, where and how do you get your data?!

Discussion around:

  • Sources attendees have used in the past
  • Ideas for new sources
  • Demos of how to use these methods
  • Anything else related to DH data sourcing, mining, collecting, etc.

 

Looking forward to learning with you all!

Stephanie Ballard

Linked data for cultural heritage metadata

Hi all,

Would love to brainstorm how to implement linked data on a variety of cultural heritage institutional metadata. We’ve been working on a project about artist books and enhancing with Getty LOD vocabs and would love to get a feel for how or if others are thinking about how to enhance their legacy data to be more usable for others. Some thoughts about what would be discussed:

  • What to do with legacy data – what forms it takes, what is best for the objects and what is best for interoperability?
  • Identifying relevant tools for cleaning and enhancing data, such as OpenRefine, Heidelberg tool?
  • Relevant team members for such a project, including domain expert and metadata and systems experts – how to communicate effectively across multiple expertise backgrounds
  • Balancing over- or underenhancement, particularly for works of art
  • What are some ways to visualize connections and relationships between creators and artifacts?
  • How can we ensure that a project is sustainable?

Web Archiving Workshop for Art & Design Resources

As exhibition, publishing, and access, paradigms move swiftly to digital platforms, cultural heritage and memory institutions are compelled to collect and curate completely novel visual and art historical resources with the same breadth and rigor as they do their traditional, paper-based predecessors. Emergent tools and models for web archiving make preserving and accessing archived materials feasible, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. This workshop will demystify the process of establishing a web archiving program based on institutional needs and strengths, will expose participants to the tools and resources they need to start such a program, and briefly train them in software designed to meet their needs at their respective scales of need.

 

CAB Web ArchiveSnapshot from the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015 Web Archive

 

Each attendee to this 60-to-90-minute workshop will devise a collecting scope for web-based resources vital to their institution, then work together in small groups to archive material from the live web using web archiving software. After reviewing the process and its results, attendees will be empowered to articulate the best next steps for their respective programs and propose opportunities for the further use of their web archives in data mining, exhibition, integrated discovery, and other related areas.

This workshop will be led by Karl-Rainer Blumenthal, Web Archivist for the Internet Archive’s Archive-It service and former National Digital Stewardship Resident embedded with the web archiving program at the New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC).