The Champaign-Urbana Historical Clock Society collection is going to be arranged digitally based on location. The web portal start page will contain an interactive map of the CU area with pins for each clock. When clicked a brief version of the record will appear with an image and basic information about the clock. A link to the full record will be offered. Also, there will be a digital copy of the historical clock tour available for users. The web portal will also offer information about collecting historical clocks. The homepage of the portal will offer navigation to all of the resources available (including a link back to the interactive map). We decided a web portal would be the best way to access this collection for our users because the clocks are sprinkled throughout the Champaign-Urbana area. Providing digital access helps alleviate potential barriers (physical and otherwise) to accessing this collection (Design Principle #4, Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections). Presenting this collection in a digital manner will allow the user to efficiently visit all of the historical clocks in one place, enhancing the historical context of the collection. Otherwise, it would take a considerable amount of time to visit each individual clock.
The actual clocks will not be collected by us. They will remain in their current locations. For each historical clock in the collection, we will generate record. An image (a digital surrogate) will be attached to each of these records. The digital surrogate image and the map showing the location will make the clock recognizable to users. According to the CCO, representing the geography and location for each clock is important because as “cultural works” they may have “geographic associations” that may imply something to the users. Also, we plan to implement user tagging within the record. This will add a social element as well as assist in describing the clocks in terms the users may feel are more appropriate. This approach will also help include any community lore or nicknames that apply to the clocks.
The metadata for the collection will encoded in XML using Dublin Core as the descriptive metadata standard. We will also take into consideration the CCO (Cataloging Cultural Objects) guidelines. The CCO can be used to help map how the various elements relate and will help us determine a controlled vocabulary as well as required fields.
The Dublin Core elements that would be included are:
-Title
-Creator
-Publisher
-Subject
-Description
-Date
-Type
-Format
– [Physical] Location
Using the above elements will help generate records that will benefit the user of the online collection. According to Design Principle #2 of the Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections, “Collections should be described so that a user can discover characteristics of the collection.” When considering the various ways to organize this collection, we also considered using Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS). In the end, Dublin Core will make the most sense for this collection because we are taking a combined approach to making the records accessible—not only are we using traditional fields, but we also want to implement user tagging. Therefore, we will not require records that are needlessly complicated and chose the simpler approach with Dublin Core. Using MODS would have made more sense if there had been existing MARC records for the clocks that needed to be updated with richer metadata.
“A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections” (Specifically the organization section) http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/framework3.pdf
Baca, M. “Cataloging Cultural Objects : A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images.” American Library Association. (2006)Permalink: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=173242&site=ehost-live
Harpring, P.” CCO Overview and Description.” Visual Resources Association Bulletin. 34, no. 1 (2007): 34-44. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=27697316&site=ehost-live