Unfortunately there are no "out of the box" software solutions for
building "trusted digital repositories" [1] -- in part because
digital asset management is still a relatively young and
rapidly-evolving sector of the software industry -- but also because
it will always take more than just software alone to achieve "trusted
digital repository" status: It also requires organizational
commitment, accountability and sustainability.
That being said, here at the Center for Jewish History we are using
Ex Libris' DigiTool [2] digital asset management system as the core
software infrastructure for our developing trusted digital
repository, and we feel it provides most, if not all, of the
necessary software functionality.
That's certainly not to say that it's perfect -- the implementation
process has been very slow and at times difficult and frustrating,
and the ongoing maintenance is also non-trivial. And I understand
that it's definitely not cheap.
However, it IS based on the OAIS reference model [3], supports (to a
greater or lesser extent) many of the key community standards we need
to use (e.g. MARC, Dublin Core, METS, MODS, EAD), provides a range of
automated ingest processing functions and is one of the few digital
asset management / institutional repository products designed
explicitly for the museum/library/archive sector. And although the
software certainly isn't perfect, the support has generally been
exemplary -- which is critical for a relatively small organization
like us, because we don't have the in-house technical resources
necessary to implement one of the open-source alternatives like
Greenstone, D-Space or FEDORA.
It also allows us to make selected content available, either to the
web-using public at large, or to a smaller user-group defined by IP
address range (so we can optionally limit access to on-campus use and
thereby leverage the U.S. Fair Use copyright provisions for
educational institutions, for example).
Anyway, here's a link to our public interface, CJH Digital
Collections: http://digital.cjh.org/
And here are some links to "showcase" digital objects that
demonstrate some of the capabilities of DigiTool as a delivery system
-- click the thumbnail to access the digital objects:
Vierfelder Family Chronicle (uses complex METS structural metadata):
http://digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=220578
Anschlage (METS structural metadata, both book and page-level metadata):
http://digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=114837
Interview with Alfred Poll, oral history, LBI (METS audio and transcript):
http://digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=121144
Abe Grubere Collection (EAD archival finding aid)
http://digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=119581
Maurand, C., Jewish Refugee Family from Morocco... engraving, ASF
(JPEG2000 viewer)
http://digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=50515
Cheers,
T.
1. http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/past/trustedrep/
2. http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/category/DigiToolOverview
3. http://public.ccsds.org/publications/archive/650x0b1.pdf
--
Tony Gill
Director, Gruss Lipper Digital Laboratory
Center for Jewish History http://www.cjh.org/
Telephone: +1 (917) 606-8212
CJH Digital Collections: http://digital.cjh.org/
At 05:07 AM 2008-02-07, you wrote:
>Hello Jonathan et al Alone with colleagues I am drafting a
>Digitisation Strategy for National Museum N.Ireland. We equally have
>serious quantities of digital collections that need to be better
>managed now and in times to come. Part of our thinking is also to
>migrate towards achieving 'Digital Trusted Repository' status. So I
>look forward to any feedback on Image/Digital Asset Management and
>indeed any views on 'Digital Trusted Repository' status. Clifford
>Harkness Head of Archival Collections Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
>National Museums Northern Ireland ----- Original Message ---- From:
>Jonathan Moffett <[log in to unmask]> To:
>[log in to unmask] Sent: Wednesday, 6 February, 2008 2:56:35 PM
>Subject: Image/Digital Asset Management Systems Dear All, The
>Ashmolean Museum is currently creating digital images at a rate of
>over 60Gbytes per week. Two projects are responsible for all this
>image capture, both of which are likely to continue at this
>production rate for at least the next two years. Rather belatedly we
>are now thinking of implementing an image management system, or
>maybe even a digital asset management system. The aim would be to
>give the departments that create images an effective solution for
>storing their creations centrally, while allowing departments who
>use images to have access to a central "image repository" from which
>they can extract various version, be they high-quality for catalogue
>publication, low resolution for the web, or something in between.
>Does anyone have any advice on choosing and implementing a
>image/digital asset management system? And/or, can anyone recommend
>a consultant with experience of implementing a digital asset
>management system? Comments, thoughts, etc. greatly appreciated.
>Thanks Jonathan Moffett PS I have looked at Ed Bremner'a and John
>Faithfull's comments from March last year, but maybe things have
>moved on since then? -- Dr Jonathan Moffett Oxford University's
>Museums' IT Manager & Ashmolean Museum WebMaster
>[log in to unmask] Museum
>Website: http://www.ashmolean.org For disclaimer, see :
>http://www.ashmolean.org/email
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Cheers,
T.
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