UKOLN is supported by:

Introduction to Collections and Collection-Level DescriptionBridget Robinson

Collection Description Focus

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

                                                             

Introduction to Collections & Collection-Level Description

• Collection Description Focus

• What is a collection

• What is collection-level description

• Why collection-level description

• Who is using collection-level description

                                                             

Collection Description Focus

• Developing consensus– Gathering information– Building a community– Facilitating dialogue– CD Forum

• Disseminating good practice– Organising events

– workshops, briefing days

– Giving presentations– Publishing articles and papers– Developing training resources

– recommendations, guidelines, Online Tutorial

                                                             

Collection Description Focus

• Supporting implementers– point of contact, advice– support for CLD in programmes

– Research Support Libraries Programme– JISC programmes for building the IE– JISC Learning & Teaching (5/99) programme– NOF-Digitise– Resource regional cross-domain research projects

                                                             

What is a collection?

• Collection– “an aggregation of items”

• Aggregations of, e.g.– natural objects: fossils, mineral samples…– created objects: artefacts, documents, records…– digital resources: documents, images, multimedia

objects, data, software…– digital surrogates of physical objects: documents,

images…– metadata: catalogue records, item descriptions,

collection-level descriptions

                                                             

What is a collection?

• Various criteria for aggregation, e.g.– By location– By type/form of item– By provenance of item– By source/ownership of item– By nature of item content

• Any number of items• Permanent, temporary• Discrete, distributed• Collections created with intent/purpose

– “consciously formed”– collection development policies

                                                             

What is a collection?

• Museums– collections of physical objects/items– collections of digital objects/items– collections of metadata records

• describing physical objects• describing digital objects

• Collections are made available to the users through services

                                                             

User wants to know…

– Which collections are relevant to their requirement?

• subject/coverage of items?• type?• legal status?• conditions of access/use?• etc

– What services make those collections available?• location?• access?• etc

                                                             

What is collection description?

– Michael Heaney, An Analytical Model of Collections and their Catalogues

– Hierarchic• info about collection as whole, and about items (and

relationships between items and whole)– Analytic

• info about items in collection

– Indexing• info derived from items in collection

– Unitary• info about collection as whole, not about items• “collection-level description”

                                                             

Why collection-level description?

– Enable collection provider to• disclose information about collections

– overview of otherwise uncatalogued items– summary where item-level detail

inappropriate/unavailable

• manage collections– in collaboration with other providers

• inform strategic planning – e.g. Resource

• assess priorities for item-level cataloguing– e.g. Full Disclosure

                                                             

Why collection-level description?

– Enable user to • discover/locate collections

– physical/digital

• select collections to explore/search on basis of summary description

– physical/digital

• compare collections as broadly similar objects • understand conditions of access & use

                                                             

Why collection-level description?

– Enable software agents to • select (digital metadata) collections to search

on behalf of user – e.g. on basis of profile/preferences

• perform searches across multiple (digital metadata) collections

                                                             

Collection of physicalobjects

Collection ofmetadata records

Collection of books

Collection of digitalitems

Database of CLDs

CLDs provide high-level “map” of landscape for user, researcher, visitor….

                                                             

CLDs in museums

– Focus on description of (unique, physical) object• for management more than discovery?

– But notion of “collection” is used• collection management• collection mapping/assessment

– Various criteria • type/form of item• subject• ownership/source

– Some CLD (maybe not called CLD…!)• e.g. guides to holdings, directories

                                                             

CLDs in museums– Little standardisation?

• some use of Dublin Core MES (CIMI testbed)• some use of Encoded Archival Description DTD (NHM)• some use of RSLP CD schema

– Crossroads (West Mids)

– Find It In London

– Regional collection mapping exercises• West Midlands, South-West Region• growing interest in

– sharing data within profession

– using data to support disclosure as well as management

– Resource Framework for Collections Management

                                                             

CLDs in Museums

• Cornucopia– the online database of museum, library

and archival collections. – Based on systems architecture used for

Crossroads project– Collection-level descriptions based on

RSLP schema– due to be launched soon– http://…….

                                                             

• AIM25

• Archives Hub

• Cecilia

• Collections Navigator – NHM

• Cornucopia

• Crossroads

Who’s using Collection Description?

                                                             

Who’s using Collection Description?

• EnrichUK.net:

• ITAM: MIMAS Collection Description

• Reveal

• The Science & Culture website

• SCONE