Tim,

We are working on this same issue at Brown as well. Our original model
is to create enormous METS records that package everything we know about
a digitized book. We are now moving to a more atomized model where we
will have a metadata records and object records (both recorded in METS).
In this model, a METS record will represent the work and point to pages
where each page exists as a media object on its own. In our case, this
decision was hastened by the need to treat prints within a book as works
onto themselves. We'll be putting some samples on our website soon.

patrick

-----Original Message-----
From: Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Riley, Jenn
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 8:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [METS] General preference for digitized books


Hi Tim,

We're facing this issue as we're implementing a new Fedora-based
repository at IU. We need a "book-centric" representation (one METS with
a structMap and fptr for all pages, a dmdSec with a MARCXML record,
etc.) for our page-turner <http://metsnavigator.sourceforge.net/>, but
that's not necessarily what our repository needs. It needs things like
page-level technical metadata for page images, a place for a TEI
representation of the whole book, etc. I've very much come to the point
of view that there is no one right representation for all purposes, but
that there are many that each serve their own purpose. Our repository
has one METS syntax for ingesting the book, a set of different syntaxes
for storing the various parts internally, and (potentially, we haven't
actually done this yet!) a different one for sharing the "book" with
other repositories. I've been thinking all of these are separate from
the one we generate for the page-turner, but it may be one of the
existing representations will work for that too - we're still in the
process of making that decision.

Jenn

========================
Jenn Riley
Metadata Librarian
Digital Library Program
Indiana University - Bloomington
Wells Library E170
(812) 856-5759
www.dlib.indiana.edu

Inquiring Librarian blog: www.inquiringlibrarian.blogspot.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Au Yeung
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:45 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [METS] General preference for digitized books
>
> I think it was a comment at a conference that implied that
> the "community"
> was moving away from the large master document approach to
> the object for each digital file that struck me. Since we're
> reviewing our approach anyways I thought I'd fire it out to
> the community that's closest to these kinds of things that
> I'm familiar with.
>
> I suppose the question might be better phrased that if an
> ideal system could be developed that was broadly accepted,
> what shape might those digitized books take within that kind
> of system and possibly why?
>
> Tim
>
>
> > Preferred by who? :)
> >
> > Preference in these cases will depend on local technology
> environments
> > for processing XML, anticipated use/reuse of the material,
> and a host
> > of other local, contextualizing factors. One size doesn't fit all.
> >
> >
> > On May 9, 2007, at 5:22 PM, Tim Au Yeung wrote:
> >
> >> We're reviewing our implementation of our digitized books
> store and I
> >> just wanted to poll to the community:
> >>
> >> What do you think is the preferred representation of a
> digitized book
> >> where the composition is primarily of image-based pages --
> a single
> >> large METS document covering all of the file pointers to
> the various
> >> images and a series of dmdSecs for descriptive information on the
> >> book, the chapters and the pages or a series of METS
> documents with
> >> the top-level book METS document containing the primary
> metadata and
> >> structMap but no file pointers and individual chapter and
> page METS
> >> documents containing corresponding file pointers and descriptive
> >> metadata related to that page or chapter?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Tim
> >>
> >> --
> >> ---------------------------------------------
> >> Tim Au Yeung
> >> Manager, Digital Object Repository Technology Libraries
> and Cultural
> >> Resources University of Calgary
> >> (403) 220-8975
> >> ytau(at)ucalgary(dot)ca
> >
> > Jerome McDonough, Asst. Professor
> > Graduate School of Library & Information Science University of
> > Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
> > 501 E. Daniel Street, Room 202
> > Champaign, IL 61820
> > (217) 244-5916
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
>