Event: TAPE training course on preservation and digitisation of audio and video collections, Nov. 12 - 16, 2007

I just saw this announcement on the Digital-Preservation discussion list. Unfortunately, the deadline for registering is Sept. 28 (the end of this week).

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TAPE training course on preservation and digitisation of audio and video collections (in English), Vienna, Austria, 12-16 November 2007

The course will be jointly organised by the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, partner in project TAPE, and by the Austrian Mediathek.

Draft Programme

Monday, 12 November

• Welcome
• Introduction: Light and sound; audiovisual carriers vs text documents (DS)
• Audiovisual carriers: Recording principles, composition, stability, handling and storage (DS)
• Format obsolescence and availability of replay machines (NW)
• Long-term preservation strategy (based on IASA-TC 03) (DS)

Tuesday, 13 November

• Carrier Selection and restoration - hands-on (NW, AW)
• Signal extraction from originals - hands on (based on IASA-TC 04) (NW,FL, JSp, FP, JA)

Wednesday, 14 November

• Maintenance of equipment (NW, FP)
• Digital repositories: Small scale approaches audio, hands-on (MR, JSp, FP)
• Visit Österreichische Mediathek
• Digital repositories: Mass storage system (RH, HL)

Thursday, 15 November

• Digital repositories: Linear video file archiving - hands on (FP, JA)
• Meta Data: (CL, CFJ, JSp, RH, HL)

Friday, 16 November

• Planning of preservation and digitisation projects (DS)
• Quality control (NW)
• Wind up and closure

Tutors

• Julia AHAMER (JA)
• Christiane FENNESZ-JUHASZ (CFJ)
• Rainer HUBERT (RH)
• Franz LECHLEITNER (FL)
• Hermann LEWETZ (HL)
• Christian LIEBL (CL)
• Michael RISNYOVSKY (MR)
• Dietrich SCHÜLLER (DS)
• Johannes SPITZBART (JSp)
• Nadja WALLASZKOVITS (NW)
• Andreas WEISSER (AW)

All other information on the course, as well as a registration form, can be found on the TAPE website at

http://www.tape-online.net/workshops.html

Please note that the deadline for registration is 28 September.

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Article: How we funneled searchers from Google to our collections by catering to Web crawlers

In 2006, Marshall Breeding wrote an article entitled "How we funneled searchers from Google to our collections by catering to Web crawlers." As we know, not all software/databases can easily be crawled by Internet search engines. Some databases require extra ($) components, while you must kluge a solution for others. In Marshall's article, he talks about the solution they implemented for the Vanderbilt Television News Archive.

Question -- If your repository is not automatically being crawled by the Internet search engines, what solutions have you put in place to expose your content so that it is crawled? Please let us know. This is a topic that projects are talking about...and an area where we could all benefit from what others have done.

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Technorati tags: Google, Content Management System

Event: PALINET Digitization Expo

I rarely post information on one-day events, because they are general meant for people in that region. This, however, is an event worth driving to because of the topics to be discussed and the opportunity to talk with hardware, software and service vendors. Note that this event is not free. Price ranges from $65 - $95, depending on when you register and if you are a PALINET member or not.

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The PALINET Digitization Expo, October 31 at the Tremont Grand Conference Center in Baltimore, MD, is this year's premier digitization event in the Mid-Atlantic region. Experts in the areas of grant writing, digital asset management, and digital software and services will be on hand to share observations about digitization trends, showcase regional digitization initiatives, and inform attendees about the benefits of digitization.

Tom Clareson and Tom Ceresini, PALINET's digitization experts, will present tips and techniques for writing winning grants and managing digital assets. Representatives from key statewide digitization initiatives in the region, including the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Collaborative Digitization and the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage program, will present their views on the current status of statewide collaborative digitization efforts.

Attendees will be able to meet with representatives from the leading providers of digitization hardware, software, and services and see product demonstrations.

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity. This event follows the PALINET 07 Conference + Vendor Fair on October 29 & 30. Stay for all three days at a discounted rate.

Register today at www.palinet.org/2007conference. Additional details are also on that site (including cost).

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Talking to LIS/MLS students

My Thursday has gotten rearranged. I was suppose to talk to an SLA chapter in Connecticut, but the date turned out to be a bad one for their membership. (Something that couldn't have been predicted upfront.) So -- since I'm going to be in NYC anyway -- I'll guest lecturer at two introductory library science classes at the Pratt Institute's Manhattan campus on 14th Street. I was told that the students are interested in digitization and social networking tools, so I have two "easy" topics to discuss. Then I heard that they're also interested in alternate careers, so I guess I won't run out of things to talk about!

Pratt is known for its programs in art and design (broadly speaking), two areas that are being impacted by the digital world. Those areas are creating digital content that must be preserved. If some of the students come from those disciplines, I may want to focus on digital preservation, since it may hit "home" more quickly.

The students at Pratt are fortunate that the library council (consortia) in New York City working with its members on digitization programs, and frequently offers training classes. If the students don't have access to training at Pratt, they can attend workshops on relevent topics through the council. They may also have many opportunities for internships in the area. They might even shadow a person/team that is involved in a digitization program for a day. Those options, however, are not available to every library student at every school. Not every school is located where there is so much activity. I'll have to remind the students at Pratt that they are lucky.

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Digitization workflow documentation

The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries have workflow tracking documents on their web site, along with some sample status sheets and logs. I like the documents they created to record production information. Those documents could easily be modified to fit any digitization program.

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Journal: DPC/PADI What's new in digital preservation

There is likely something in this journal for everyone. DPC/PADI What's New in Digital Preservation "is a quarterly summary of selected recent activity in the field of digital preservation compiled from the Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) Gateway, the digital-preservation and padiforum-l mailing lists and other sources." The current issue (#16) covers April - August 2007.

There doesn't seem to be a way to subscribe to this ejournal. However, there are often announcements about it on various discussion lists.

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Siva Vaidhyanathan on Google (podcasts)

First Monday has three podcasts where Siva Vaidhyanathan talks about Google and Google Book Search -- problems, concerns, etc. -- in ways that everyone can understand.

1. Siva's lecture “The Googlization of Everything: Digitization and the Future of Books.” MP3 (1:14)
2. Siva discusses how the Google Book Project threatens copyright. MP3 | Transcript (12 minutes)
3. Siva describes his experience on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” talks about what makes Google a success and more. MP3 (15 min.)

If you have only 15 minutes, listen to the second podcast. You will quickly understand the problems he sees with Google Book Search. What really stood out to me was the impact this project could have on the concept of Fair Use in the United States. Could this project result in a stricter interpretation of Fair Use? Could Fair Use be based on the use not on the copy?

Related posts:

• Sivacracy.net
• Siva Vaidhyanathan & the library's role in the participatory media culture

Updated 9/22/2007.

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Technorati tags: Digitization, Google, Copyright

Event: International Workshop on Digital Preservation of Heritage: Research Issues in Archiving and Retrieval, Oct. 29 - 31, 2007

A three-day workshop on digital preservation will be held in Kolkata, India on Oct. 29 - 31, 2007. Speakers are coming from around the world for this event. They expect 100 participants.

The themes to be discussed include:

• Acquisition of heritage materials
  
• Digitization and public access
  
• Storage issues including standardization and compression
  
• Metadata standards: tagging and extraction
  
• Interface format for description of manuscripts
  
• Heritage archival: right managements and other issues
  
• Cross lingual information retrieval

For more information, visit the web site.

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Blog post: Digital Asset Management and the Semantic Web

Writing in the Creative Commons blog, Mike Linksvayer talks about features of digital asset management software (DAM software) being integrated into consumer software.

My hope -- that eventually we'll just have software that handles -- from birth to death -- all types of digital assets, and we won't have to worry about what to call it.

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Technorati tag: Digital Asset Management

Maintaining your digitization project after its completed

Actually, completion is an illusion. There is always something that must be done after a project is officially completed:

• Fixing typos and grammar errors. No matter how hard you try, they will exist.
• Reviewing content that has drawn questions and determining if something should be modified.
• Adding new information, metadata, or images.
• Fixing broken URLs.
• Preserving the digital assets.

In a workshop yesterday, someone used the term "slipstream" as a way of updating the content online. I had not heard that jargon before and don't see a definition that works well with web sites. But what the person described is something we know. Web sites can be easily maintained and new information can be added quickly. In fact, some of the content management software we're using can facilitate that work. So it is easy to slip in updates, make changes, and keep our projects looking fresh. In fact, given our current technology, there is no reason for a project's site to look old (as long as there is a person to do the work).

By the way, one idea to consider is to use Java scripting on the homepage so that images are randomly displayed there. That instantly makes a site seem "fresher."

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Can I destroy my originals after I digitize them?

People sometime wonder if they can save room in their collections by destroying the original documents after they have been digitized. Let's consider the implications.

• What if the digital assets were not created correctly and are problematic? If you have destroyed the originals, then you cannot go back and re-digitize them.
• What if the digital assets are corrupted or destroyed...and for some reason you cannot use the digital backups? If you have destroyed the originals, again you cannot go back and re-digitize.
• What if someone wants to see the original item because they want to inspect the paper, ink, etc.? If you've destroyed the original item, then they can't do that.
• What if you destroy the original item under the assumption that another institution is keeping their copy of the original item? If you do that, recognize that the other institution may decide to get of theirs, leaving only the digital copies for anyone to use.
• What if you keep only the digital assets, but do not properly maintain and preserve them? Then you may end up with nothing, since digital assets can easily be corrupted and then you'll have nothing (neither version).

If you do not have room for the originals in your collection, consider:

• Storing them off-site or in compact storage.
• Donating them to an institution that values the original items.
• Checking to see if there are other copies available in the world and understand their long-term disposition first before deciding what to do with your original hardcopy materials.
• Microfilming and digitizing them, then placing the microfilm in an archive. We know that microfilm can last for a long, long time under proper conditions. Microfilm can be read without computer technology. It can be digitized.
  

The bottom-line is that destroying the originals after digitizing them should not be taken lightly. Really think about the implications. Put yourself 10 - 20 years in the future and think about what the implications of your decision might be. Is destroying the originals a decision that you will regret (or that your successors will regret)?

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Guiding principles to use with collaborators

Last week, a client and I began to think about their possible collaborators. As ideas streamed forth about "who" and "how", we began to think about the expectations they would have of their collaborators. I had a copy of the NARA draft Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access, which contains their "Principles for Partnerships to Digitize Archival Materials" on pp. 20 - 22. This led to brainstorming, note taking, and many ideas. After a while, we realized that some of our principles were similar to those that NARA is proposing, while some were quite different. The client liked the idea of stating core principles upfront and placing them in the digitization plan. The principles help to set some clear expectations, while providing some "wiggle room."

If you have not looked at the draft plan from NARA, you might want to take a look at their principles and then decide if you should draft a version for yourself. Considering setting down thoughts/expectations in writing before you find yourself in a collaborative effort.

Related post: Public comments sought on NARA's "Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access"

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Technorati tag: Digitization

White Paper: Towards an Open Source Repository and Preservation

UNESCO recently published a white-paper entitled Towards an Open Source Repository and Preservation System: Recommendations on the Implementation of an Open Source Digital Archival and Preservation System and on Related Software Development, written by Kevin Bradley, Junran Lei, and Chris Blackall.

This 38-page "report defines the requirements for a digital archival and preservation system using standard hardware and describes a set of open source software which could used to implement it. There are two aspects of this report that distinguish it from other approaches. One is the complete or holistic approach to digital preservation. The report recognises that a functioning preservation system must consider all aspects of a digital repositories; Ingest, Access, Administration, Data Management, Preservation Planning and Archival Storage, including storage media and management software. Secondly, the report argues that, for simple digital objects, the solution to digital preservation is relatively well understood, and that what is needed are affordable tools, technology and training in using those systems." (p. 3)

The nine recommendations made in this report are:

1. UNESCO establish a steering committee based in the MoW Sub Committee on Technology to support the development of a single package open source digital preservation and access repository
2. Support and resource a pilot project with a number of communities or institutions who can articulate their requirements and act as beta testers of such a system
3. Through that and other committees and projects, influence and support the development of specific software, as discussed in this report
4. Investigate the development of solutions to the system gaps noted in this report, particularly in the area of preservation planning and archival storage systems
5. Support the integration of a number of open source tools to develop a single package open source repository system based on existing open source platforms as described in this report
6. Encourage the development of federated and cooperative approaches through the adoption of standard data packages
7. Ensure that, low cost notwithstanding, the solution is based in international standards and best practice.
8. Support and expand existing training and education to include technical training in the envisaged system in parallel with work on intellectual property and cultural rights.
9. Liaise with existing open source distributors such as Ubuntu, or with development communities, such as the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (or other suitable) to support these aims.

There is much detail in this report, including information on assumptions, issues and constraints. It also includes comparisons of Greenstone, Fedora and DSpace, which some may find useful. It notes that "DSpace and Fedora are currently the best supported repository systems."

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

CLIR Seeks Public Comment on White Paper: Preservation in the Age of Large-Scale Digitization

From the Digital-Preservation discussion list.

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CLIR Seeks Public Comment on White Paper: Preservation in the Age of Large-Scale Digitization

The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) seeks public comment on a white paper examining preservation issues relevant to large-scale digitization projects such as those being done by Google, Microsoft, and the Open Content Alliance. The paper, Preservation in the Age of Large-Scale Digitization, was written by Oya Rieger, Interim Assistant University Librarian for Digital Library and Information Technologies at Cornell University Library. It is available at http://www.clir.org/activities/details/mdpres.html.

The paper identifies issues that will influence the availability and usability, over time, of the digital books being created by large-scale digitizing projects, and considers the relationship of these new resources to our print collections. It concludes with a set of recommendations for rethinking a preservation strategy.

In issuing this paper, CLIR aims to stimulate discussion among stakeholders and to generate productive thinking about collaborative approaches to enduring access. To this end, CLIR invites those who submit comments to indicate whether they would like their comments posted publicly on our Web site. CLIR will make public only those comments accompanied by permission to post (let us know if the comments are to be anonymous or signed), and all such comments will be moderated. Comments received without permission to post will be shared only with CLIR staff and the author.

Public comment is sought through Friday, October 5. Please address comments to Kathlin Smith (ksmith@clir.org). CLIR will issue a final print and electronic report later this fall.

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Quote from Peter Kareiva on being a prolific writer

In a week where I have much to write (elsewhere), but little to blog, this seems appropriate.

We live in an age where there is an abundance of information on every topic. Some people have successfully added to the collective wisdom in their field of expertise (insert name here of those you can think of). How do they do it?

It is reported that Peter Kareiva, chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy, is a prolific writer because he never sleeps. His response:

That's a total myth...I'm fast and I don't worry. I have published lots of mistakes. I think a lot of people are slow when they write because they think they're going to get it right. That's arrogant; you're going to get it wrong. But you're adding to the discussion. The standard of comparison is, What's the world like now, and can I improve things no matter what I do?

Nature Conservancy, Autumn 2007, p. 23

May we each find ideas and information to add to the discussion on digitization. If not today, then maybe tomorrow...

Public comments sought on NARA's "Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access"

The National Archives and Records Administration web site states:

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is seeking public comment on its draft Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access, 2007-2016. This draft plan outlines our planned strategies to digitize and make more accessible the historic holdings from the National Archives of the United States.

The document is divided into several sections. The first section, INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND, provides information on NARA's mission, our archival holdings, and our past experience with digitization, to give you the context of the draft Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access, 2007-2016. Section II, PLAN OVERVIEW, describes our planned goals, activities, and priorities for digitization. Sections III through V provide listings of current digitization activities being carried out by NARA and through partnerships to digitize and make available archival materials. Appendix A contains draft operating principles that we are using as we enter into partnerships and Appendix B references relevant NARA guidance that applies to handling of archival materials being digitized and the technical guidelines for image creation and description. We particularly invite your comments on Sections II, III, V, and Appendix A.

All comments are due by Nov. 9, 2007. Comments may be sent to Vision@nara.gov or by fax to 301-837-0319.

The draft is a 24 page document with one section (NARA-led Digitizing Projects) marked as "Pending."

Section IV is a "List of Formal NARA Partnerships to Digitize Archival Materials." Include are partnerships with Google, EMC, Univ. of Texas, iArchives, and the Genealogy Society of Utah. Appendix A lists "NARA Principles for Partnerships to Digitize Archival Materials." These are principles that they are testing and which are subject to refinement. The principles provide leeway and acknowledge that there is no single required partnership model.

I find item 4 on that list to be interesting and wonder how it will be implemented. That item states (my emphasis added):

Public access to publicly owned resources will remain free. Partners may develop and charge for value-added features, but access to the digital copies ultimately should be readily accessible and free. NARA acknowledges partners’ potential proprietary interest in the digital copies and to value-added features, and also emphasizes its own need to maintain and provide an “archival view” of the materials that allows us to understand the actions of government (e.g. who created the records? Why? How were the records used? What is their original order? How do they relate to other records of the same person or organization?). NARA also acknowledges that there may be a variety of models to achieve free on-line public access to digitized materials.

• Partners shall provide NARA without charge a full set of the digital copies produced by the partnership. These copies shall adhere to NARA’s technical specifications. Ultimately, NARA will have unrestricted ownership of these copies, including the right to make these copies freely available online.

I wonder how the NARA copies will compete with the copies held by the partners? Will NARA be able to offer its copies immediately for public use or does the word "ultimately" mean "eventually"? Could free mean that you access them for free, if you view advertisements?

I hope people will look at the document in its entirety and give NARA feedback, especially since we in the U.S. may have to live with the impact of this document for many years to come.

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Technorati tag: Digitization

The secret to using and keeping volunteers

Many programs find it necessary to use volunteers in order to get work completed. I often speak out against using volunteers because I know that volunteers may not have the correct knowledge or work ethic for the job, although they are often enthusiastic. Yet I've seen volunteers be very effective in digitization programs when they did have the correct skills.

The Nature Conservancy is an organization that relies heavily on its volunteers. Gleaned from is Autumn 2007 magazine (p. 62) are these ideas for keeping and using knowledgeable volunteers:

• Make them responsible for specific tasks.
• Give them some authority, if they have the correct knowledge to make good decisions.
• Help them fall in love with what they do. If they love what they do, they do it well and for a long time.
  

The Nature Conservancy has found that these three ideas help them keep volunteers for many years. If it works for them, it should work for us when we need volunteers to pitch in and help.

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Technorati tag: Staffing

What I learned from Pavarotti about collaborations

A friend emailed me today about a YouTube video of Pavarotti and James Brown performing together. That led me to a video of Pavarotti and Barry White...and then of him singing with Bono. Pavarotti used his collaborations to expand the number of people who heard opera music. He believed that the more people that heard it, the better.

We know that collaborations can make our projects stronger and more durable. The lesson we should learn from Pavarotti is that collaborations also give us a way of telling more people about what we do and why. Collaborations can help us broaden the number of people who support our projects and who might advocate on our behalf.

Undoubtedly, Luciano Pavarotti used collaborations to open people's ears and eyes. Let us do the same.


BTW -- I've used this photo from Flickr twice which has a Creative Commons license on it. Now I see that the same photo is posted Flickr in at least two different accounts, so I'm not sure who really owns the rights to it. If there is a problem with my use, I hope someone will alert me so I can remove it.

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Technorati tags: Collaboration, Pavarotti

What I learned from Pavarotti about marketing

In early 2001, Luciano Pavarotti performed in Rochester, NY in the local indoor arena to a sold-out crowd. It was his only performance in Rochester during his long career. The local newspaper said his voice wasn't as good at it used to be, but the crowd saw and heard a man who had a wonderful voice and who performed with passion.

I went to the concert with a couple of friends and we sat in cheap seats (~$40 if I remember correctly) that were actually next to the stage (on the side...remember this was an arena). So we could not see him straight on, but from a side view. There were others -- in cheap seats -- who sat literally behind the stage and saw the entire concert from behind! They, however, were very appreciative and cheered loudly.

Here is the lesson.

Pavarotti did not ignore the people in the cheap seats. In fact, he went out of his way to wave often to the people who sat behind the stage. They -- like those in the very expensive seats -- were part of his audience. He knew that they appreciated his music and new that they might come to another concert, purchase a CD, etc. In other words, everyone there potentially was a customer who could spend more if he made a personal connection with them.

Our clients -- our users, our patrons -- are everyone who uses our services. We should treat them all the same and make the person who uses our services once feel as important as the person who uses our services many times. Why? Because everyone is a potential supporter and a potential donor. In looking for support, we often look for the "big fish", but what if many people were able to give a little money? Wouldn't all those small donations add up? And if those who could support us with small donations feel ignored, what does that say to those who might support us with big donations? That night in 2001, Pavarotti ignored no one and we all became his supporters.

Luciano Pavarotti will be missed. Yes, his voice will live on in many recordings. I hope, too, that the lesson he taught me in marketing is not lost.

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Technorati tags: Marketing, Pavarotti

Article: Using “captchas” to digitize books

Captchas are "those strings of distorted characters that websites force you to recognize and type in order to establish that you are a person and not a malevolent computer." Now the pioneer of Captchas has found a way to put all of those -- and us -- to use doing something productive: helping to decipher words that can't be read by OCR (optical character recognition) in old books.

According to the article, Luis von Ahn...

created a tool, called ­"recaptcha," that pairs an unknown word with a known one. He distorts them both and puts a line through them--standard techniques for creating captchas. A user must decipher both captchas to access a site. The accurate typing of the known word serves the security purpose of captchas and adds a measure of confidence that the unknown word was identified correctly and can be used in place of the OCR's gibberish. Volunteers have begun deploying recaptchas, and the technique has been used to decipher two million words for the Internet Archive's book digitization effort.

The article does not say where this technology is being used. It would be cool to know where. I'd actually be interested in doing them just for fun (and to help out).

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Addendum (2 p.m.): Thanks to Kathleen for checking out the web site and adding some info in a comment below. Yes...we can all help with this effort, although not a plug-in for Blogger yet.

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Technorati tag: OCR

Event: Driving the long-termpreservation of electronic records, Oct. 9 - 11

Found on a discussion list.

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Ark Group presents the 2nd annual two-day conference:

Driving the long-term preservation of electronic records in your organisation
Developing an effective strategy to manage and retain your digital records
9-11 October 2007, London

The need for digital documents and data to be stored and safeguarded in the long-term is becoming a future business-critical issue. The rate of change in computing technologies is such that digital content and information could be rendered inaccessible and unusable within just a few years...

Ensuring you can have access to and can continue to use your organisation's digital resources is an absolute business and compliance imperative. But digital resources will not survive or remain accessible by chance - a robust digital preservation strategy is required. Ark Group's 2nd annual event 'Driving the long-term preservation of electronic records' has been designed to help you preserve commercial electronic information and combat technological obsolescence.

Following on from the success of last year's conference, we have created an event which explores ways for you to record and preserve your organisation's information for future reference. Throughout this two-day event we will look at how to identify areas of risk; engage the business; preserve the varying types of information found at your organisation and ensure an accessible repository.

Speaker highlights include:

• Frances Boyle, Executive Director, Digital Preservation Coalition
  
• Ian Hodge, Services Manager, The National Archives
  
• Richard Wright, Archive Technology Manager, BBC Future Media & Technology, BBC
  
• Dave Thompson, Digital Curator, Wellcome Library
  
• Roger Lloyd, Barclays Wealth Archive Manager, Corporate Real Estate Services, Barclays
  
• Simon Hopkins, Senior Conservator, West Sussex Record Office

Would you like further information about this event? For more information, please call Leigh Duncan on 02087855964 and quote 858/07-DPC or reply to this message (please use this link to ensure a speedy response!)

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Event: Principles of Digital Preservation: a hands-on approach, Oct. 1 - 5

Found on a discussion list.

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The nestor training event team is...

...happy to announce, that the first joint DPE/Planets/nestor training event - 'Principles of Digital Preservation: a hands-on approach' will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania 1 - 5 October 2007. This event is being held in cooperation with the international conference "Communication of memory in archives, museums and libraries: the interaction of science, policy and practice" which will provide participants with further networking opportunities to meet with other researchers, international experts, and practitioners across disciplinary and national boundaries.

This training course will introduce participants to a number of key digital preservation principles and provide them with an opportunity to apply this knowledge through a number of hands-on exercises.

All information about Benefits of Attendance, format, Course Programme & Lecturers, Course Fees, Venue, accomodation and registration is available at http://www.wepreserve.eu/events/dpe-planets-vilnius-2007

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Seadragon and Photosynth: New ways of viewing digital images

A discussion on Imagelib pointed to a video (7:42 min.) that demonstrates Seadragon and Photosynth, both technologies for manipulating images. Both technologies are owned by Microsoft. I don't have the words to describe either technology, so I suggest that you watch the video.

As we continue to digitize, we need to be looking at the technologies being developed that may display our works. How people may view digitized materials may change in ways that we can't even imagine.

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Technorati tag: Image Manipulation

My Sept. - Dec. speaking schedule: Can we do coffee?

Now that we have come to the unofficial end of summer (Labor Day), the workshop and conference schedule for every group heats up, and that means that my travel schedule is heating up too. My complete schedule is on the left side of this blog, with new events being added frequently.

Digitization related presentations and workshops include:

• Sept. 5 & 12: Planning Digitization Projects (done in two parts), Jamestown, NY
• Sept. 18: Developing Digitization Projects, Fairport, NY
• Oct. 19: Gearing Up! Digitization 101, Tallahassee, FL
• Oct. 29: Federated Searching Feedback: Walking the Talk?, Monterey, CA (Internet Librarian)
• Nov. 7: Copyright Basics, Jamestown, NY

The workshops in Jamestown are part of a project I'm doing with Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.

Over the last two years, I've become known for talking about social networking tools in a way that "makes sense" to those who wonder what the big deal is. This summer, my workshops on Second Life have indeed taken on a life of their own. Here is a list of the workshops and presentations I'm giving this fall on social networking tools:

• Sept. 8: Social Networking Tools: Connecting with your clients & colleagues 21st century style, Rochester, NY
• Sept. 19: Using Social Networking Tools at Work, Binghamton, NY
• Sept. 27: Social Networking for Special Librarians, Connecticut (Exact location TBA)
• Oct. 17: Social Networking Tools, Buffalo, NY (NYLA)
• Oct. 27: Libraries on the MUVE in Second Life, Monterey, CA (Internet Librarian)
• Oct. 30: Building Communities in Second Life, Monterey, CA (Internet Librarian)
• Nov. 6: Introduction to Second Life, Buffalo, NY
• Nov. 16: Introduction to Second Life, Potsdam, NY
• Dec. 11: Introduction to Second Life, Rochester, NY

For more information any of these events, please contact me or the sponsoring organization. If you are at any of these events, I hope we get an opportunity to chat or even to set an have a cup of coffee. It would be great to be able to sit and talk about whatever is on your mind.

I can hear you ask, "What do social networking tools and Second Life have to do with digitization?" Social networking tools allow us to be a hyperlinked group of people engaged in many conversations. We can converse with -- and learn from -- each other (colleagues), companies that sell products we're interested in, and our users (or prospective users). Many digitization programs are incorporating social networking tools into their planning processing and even into their completed products (web sites).

For me, social networking tools have expanded my network, thus allowing me to interact with more people. These tools have become a critical component of how I communicate with others. They've allowed me to use better/faster ways of exchanging information, obtaining needed answers, and just keeping in touch.

Second Life may portent what our interface to the Internet will look like in the future -- or not! It is does provide a place for exchanging ideas, creating prototypes, and experimenting with different technologies. I do hope that how we might view digitized collections in the future will be influenced by how exhibits can be currently mounted in Second Life.

So amazingly enough, it does all tie together!

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