Differing Ideas of Digital Preservation

Photo by Cristina Zaragoza on Unsplash

As a developing field, what digital preservation means can be different depending on the type of organization. Consider the data created in different disciplines such as the various sciences and humanities.  What do these disciplines expect to preserve?

Consider a personal field of interest and the data produced.  Briefly discuss the data that needs to be preserved.  (Examples of fields of interest: art, photography, geology, chemistry, history, sociology, genealogy, dance,  language, literature --- choose what interests you!)

Before starting UNT, I was a research assistant in a psychology laboratory. One of the projects we were working on was called Selfies for Science. The goal of the project was to help human facial recognition by creating an ethnic, diverse database. Participants would sign a waiver, answer a questionnaire, come into the lab, scan their student ID, and then we would take headshots of them in various lighting, poses, and facial expressions. We’d take video of them moving their head from left to right and walking down a hallway. Finally, we’d ask them to submit two selfies (without a filter) that were taken at least six months apart.  

In this situation, each participant had 96 items (e.g., photos, video) that corresponded to them but that had to be anonymized. Data we had to save included the person’s name, randomized participant number, all 96 items, student ID, and signed waivers. Metadata we had to be sure was also included was the distance the camera was set away from the participant (e.g., close, medium, far); the facial expressions of the participant (e.g., happy, sad, scared, angry, neutral); the lighting condition (e.g., bright, neutral, dark); facial pose (e.g., front, profile, slightly turned). In addition to the metadata of the photos, we also need to save the participant features data (e.g., hair color, length, distinguishing marks). There are probably other data I’m forgetting now.  

In this case, as much information as possible is expected to be preserved because the lead researcher is interested in sharing the data with other researchers. Though the Selfies for Science project was aimed at creating a more diverse, ethnic facial database, other projects that can be done with the data are numerous. In order to make research easier for others, (meta)data is preserved so that those who use to use or download the data can use the items for their research accordingly.  

Metadata VS Schema

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This week you were introduced to two terms - Metadata and Schema.  Many times these terms seem to be used interchangeably.  Please describe two (2) examples that illustrates the difference.

Metadata is information about data. According to the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, there are three types of metadata: descriptive, structural, and administrative. Each type helps provide information on the data itself. Different types of data can have different types of metadata. For example, a book can have metadata such as page number, physical book dimensions, whether there are illustrations, maps, etc. However, a piece of art in a museum would need to have very different metadata such as medium, physical dimensions, time period, creator, etc.

 

A schema is the structure of the metadata. It provides information on how the metadata is set up, which fields are mandatory,  and what each field of metadata contains within. It is like a map of the information so that users can input metadata uniformly. It also explains the relationships between different fields. Metadata schemas have been created for broad use, for example, Dublin Core which is adaptable enough to be used for various objects. Data that need very specific information and therefore a specific schema has also been created, for example, the Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO) schema for visual art and media.

If we were to catalog the Mona Lisa some metadata information might include:
Title: Mona Lisa
Painter: Leonardo Da Vinci
Medium: oil painting
Created date: 1503-1507
Subject: portrait of a female
Location: Louvre

If we were to catalog this into a CCO schema, it might look something like this:

Class: painting
Work Type: painting
Title: Mona Lisa
Creator display: da Vinci, Leonardo | Role: painter
Creation date: Earliest:1503 Latest:1507
Description: Portrait of a female, slightly smiling. 
Current Location: Louvre. Paris, France.

New Job, Who Dis? Part II

 

From Intern to Coordinator 

I received some very exciting news recently...I was asked if I wanted to stay on at SwRI as a regular employee!

So today was my first official day as a regular employee. My time at SwRI has been great - I've learned so much about the library and have even learned about myself. For instance, I would not have thought that I liked working with rare books. Turns out, I am fascinated by their history and loved putting the virtual exhibit together. 

I've worked a lot of different types of jobs in my life but this is the first job that truly fits; not only what I can do now, but one that will allow me to learn and grow as well. The fact that librarianship is ever-changing is part of what drew me to the profession, to begin with. But the fact that I can use my skills in Adobe and video (at my current skill level) and not feel intimidated that I cannot create advanced, complex work is perfect. I love that I can be both creative and logistical. I like that I'm allowed to try different things, learn about areas that interest me, and that I get to work on multiple projects.


Beyond thrilled to be in an environment where I can apply my skills and experience to aid the various amazing projects going on here.