Best Practices for Digital Imaging and Metadata Roy Tennant The Library, University of California, Berkeley

Best Practices: Image Capture 600 dpi or greater (or, 6000 pixels in longest dimension) 24 bit color or greater Use a standard target for uniform capture

Best Practices: Image Formats Archival version: uncompressed TIFF Preview: Compuserve GIF Screen: JFIF (JPEG), medium quality Printing: JFIF (JPEG), medium - high quality

Capture Master Image Place on Long-Term Storage Create Version for Printing Create Version for Viewing Create Version for Previewing TIFF JPEG GIF TIFF or JPEG Imaging Workflow Available Online

Metadata Definitions Cataloging Data about data “structured description” “ an object or collection of objects” Structured description of an object or collection of objects

Types of Metadata Descriptive Administrative Structural

Descriptive Metadata Purposes: –to provide access points (discovery) –to describe the intellectual characteristics of an item Example elements: –Author –Title –Subject

Best Practices: Descriptive Metadata Capture as much as you can Use controlled vocabularies and authority control Use standards or draft standards, e.g.,: –MARC –Dublin Core

Administrative Metadata Purposes: –to enable the appropriate management of the object Examples: –Rights –File format –File size

Best Practices: Administrative Metadata Enough metadata to: –Understand what you have –Be able to manipulate/process it via software –Be able to manage it over time Examples: –File date, file type, source type, compression format, color space,

Structural Metadata Purposes: –to provide a structure that enables an object to be used appropriately –to associate a file with other, related files that may comprise a single intellectual item Examples: –Page one –Section heading

Capture enough structural information to: – Present the object as a navigable whole –Allow the user to identify and display key elements (e.g., chapter headings) –Allow the user to limit their search to particular parts Follow standards or best practices as they emerge Best Practices: Structural Metadata

What Elements to Capture Key questions: –What is the least you can get by with? –What is the most that might be needed? –What is a reasonable point between the two? Considerations: –Cost –Usefulness –Access goal Bottom line: get everything you can afford

Initiatives to Watch Dublin Core (for basic metadata elements) – Making of America II (for structural and administrative metadata) – U.S. Library of Congress –