We've moved past guidelines and are on to indexing our assigned images. I'll be looking at 10 football images (5 from 1975, 5 from 2010) and 5 art images from the DePol Collection., which have already been uploaded to the Omeka Repository. As I approach the indexing process, it is interesting to guess which elements might be easiest to enter, and which are going to be a bit more on the challenging side. It reminds me of the same debate over which elements I wanted to work with, and which I didn't.
Elements I think MAY be simpler to deal with:
Date Created and Date Modified-My own elements (for the DePol Collection), the temporal information for both creation and modification/digitization should be pretty easy to locate and enter.
Source-Seems to relate to derivation of the digital image. Has a drop-down menu, BIG plus.
Identifier-Depends on the specific guidelines, but this may be something like the image's unique file name.
Rights-I see another drop-down menu, at least for football. I like drop-down menus.
Format-File formats are easy to find, and particulars such as the resolution are located in the file properties.
Type-Generally standard categories of resource types from which to choose.
Elements that MAY NOT be so simple to deal with:
Title-Will really be sticking to the guidelines for this one. I don't relish trying to think up titles on my own-creativity NOT a strong suit.
Subject-Errrr....depends how much flexibility we have in the guidelines. There are a LOT of subjects out there. Good controlled vocabulary will make things much simpler though. I feel much more comfortable on the football images with this one than the art images. I love art, but am anything but an expert at it.
Description-More for the art images than the football images. See above about art expertise (lack thereof).
Abstract-Summary of the resource...I have major issues with brevity in my writing.
Relation-Many of these images are related to each other, so it will be interesting to see how this element is handled in the guidelines.
So there are my predictions going into the indexing process. We'll just have to see what ends up being more challenging than expected, what is simpler than expected, and which elements just gave me a headache. I have a lot of faith in my classmates and their guidelines, however, so am really looking forward to this aspect of the project. I think it will be informational, and maybe even a little enjoyable.
I am hoping that some of the image will come with titles, especially the art work. Your predictions are ones that I can agree with.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. There is a lot I agree with, and I too have similar anxieties. I blame LS506 for instilling me with this sense of urgency to input data in a very exact way (ISBD, RDA, Authority files, urghh.) I suspect DC element entry might not be as strict and demanding.
ReplyDeleteNone will come with official titles, but you should have enough info from the linked spreadsheet to meet the requirements of the Title indexing guidelines ... interpretation and judgement will be needed! Ask questions via the class OPLN! :)
ReplyDelete--Dr. MacCall
one other way to thinking at such a high level about the metadata indexing process is from the efficiency perspective: Which elements do you think will be most efficiently accomplished? This is one reason why we have "descriptive cataloging" as a separate process from "subject cataloging" ... likewise, you'll find that you'll need to *plan* to take longer with certain element indexing than others. It's at this level of analysis that you can manage the metadata department and your future legions of indexers most effectively and efficiently...
ReplyDelete--Dr. MacCall
That's a great tip Dr. MacCall, and was kind of the template I set up for approaching this part of the project. I tried to knock out a lot of the objective, straight-forward elements first, knowing I could get them done quicker, and then have the rest of the time left for tackling elements like Title, Subject, and Description. I think I may be giving them a little "too much respect" at the moment in terms of difficulty, but have been happy with my progress so far.
Delete