I was so pleased to read this. Even if the terminology is imperfect, at
least the concepts have been found to make sense.
Priscilla Caplan
Miguel Ferreira wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> At the Portuguese National Archives we are developing a digital
> repository for preserving authentic digital objects based on Fedora
> Commons. The repository fully supports PREMIS and has adopted all of its
> current terminology. For example, we completely abandoned the term
> "digital object" (because it was dubious) to begin talking about
> Representations, which are composed of Files, which are composed of
> Bitstreams/Bytestreams.
>
> I'm not sure which terminology other institutions are using both locally
> and internationally, but to us at the University of Minho and the
> National Archives, the PREMIS terminology as it is now makes perfect sense.
>
> Best regards,
> Miguel Ferreira
>
> - -
> Miguel Ferreira (researcher)
> Department of Information Systems
> University of Minho Campus de Azurém
> 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
> http://www.dsi.uminho.pt/~ferreira/
> Phone: +351 253 510 261 / FAX: +351 253 510 300 / Ext.: 510261
>
>
> On Oct 28, 2007, at 3:27 PM, Evan Owens wrote:
>
>> Hi Priscilla,
>>
>>
>>
>> We use rendition rather than representation as the term in our own
>> work at Portico. I don't think that the GPO's use of rendition is
>> problematic: a PDF rendition is a single format single object while
>> an HTML rendition is a compound object made up of one or more files.
>> In our internal content model, the logical object (a journal article)
>> includes a basket of components (XML, PDF, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, MPEG, etc.
>> etc.) which can make up multiple renditions (print, web HTML, web
>> PDF). We classify all the pieces in this basket by function: PDF are
>> page renditions, HTML are web renditions, and most of the rest are
>> components referenced by the renditions. We are just now encountering
>> for the first time PDF files with links to external objects such
>> spreadsheets; it looks like the PDF is getting to be more like the
>> HTML in terms of compoundness. Our basic assumption for e-journals is
>> that there are multiple renditions of a given intellectual object;
>> that isn’t true for all kinds of content of course. But I still like
>> rendition as a term.
>>
>>
>>
>> I recently found a diagram from November 2003 that I did for one of
>> the early PreMIS discussions trying to sort out migration
>> relationships (horizontal) and compound rendition relationships
>> (vertical). We didn’t end up implementing this exactly this way at
>> Portico, but the picture is interesting. I’ve included it below.
>>
>>
>>
>> ---- Evan
>>
>>
>>
>> *Figure *1
>>
>> <image001.jpg>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: PREMIS Implementors Group Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
>> Of Priscilla Caplan
>> Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 1:00 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: [PIG] should we use a different term for representation?
>>
>>
>>
>> This question came up at the last Editorial Committee call and we
>>
>> decided to test the waters by asking the PIG: Should we use a different
>>
>> term for "representation"?
>>
>>
>>
>> In PREMIS, a representation is defined as a "Digital Object
>>
>> instantiating or embodying an Intellectual Entity. A representation is
>>
>> the set of stored Files and structural metadata needed to provide a
>>
>> complete and reasonable rendition of the Intellectual Entity." All
>>
>> semantic units in the PREMIS data dictionary are defined as appropriate
>>
>> to Files, Bitstreams or Representations.
>>
>>
>>
>> The original working group used the term "representation" partly to
>>
>> avoid confusion with the FRBR term "manifestation". The two concepts
>>
>> are close enough to cause confusion but not identical. We were aware of
>>
>> the meaning of "representation information" in OAIS, but we thought the
>>
>> OAIS concept and the PREMIS concept were different enough that there
>>
>> would be no confusion.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm not sure that has been the case. There does seem to be some
>>
>> confusion over what a PREMIS representation is, but I don't know if any
>>
>> of it is due to confusion with the OAIS representation.
>>
>>
>>
>> In any case, it may not be wise to use the same term with two different
>>
>> meanings within the same (preservation) community. So, should we try to
>>
>> come up with a different term for the PREMIS representation now, as the
>>
>> Data Dictionary is being revised? Or leave it be, since nobody has
>>
>> actually complained about the term (that we know).
>>
>>
>>
>> And those who think we should use another term, what term might be
>>
>> preferable? I have thought of "rendition" but the US Government
>>
>> printing office uses that term in their FDsys with a different meaning,
>>
>> as an "Instance of a publication expressed using a specific digital
>>
>> format". Something has to convey the idea that a representation may
>>
>> consist of more than one file, and that the files can have different
>>
>> formats. Perhaps "assembly"?
>>
>>
>>
>> p
>>
>>
>
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