AHDS-Introduction to Creating Digital Resources.doc

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Introduction to Creating Digital Resources

Content written on: 10th October 2003 by Hamish James.

Content updated: 11th December 2003 by Hamish James.

Introduction to Creating Digital Resources..............................................................................1

Purpose of this Guide.......................................................................................................... 1

Creating 'Fit for Purpose' Digital Resources.........................................................................2

The Project Team................................................................................................................. 2

Planning.............................................................................................................................. 2

Early lannin!............................................................................................................. 2

"rials# rototypes and ilots........................................................................................3

"he ro$ect "imetable................................................................................................. 3

ro$ect %ana!ement................................................................................................... &

Developing a Digital Resource.............................................................................................

Desi!n......................................................................................................................... &

'electin! Hardware..................................................................................................... (

'electin! 'o)tware...................................................................................................... (

Creatin!# *c+uirin! and Di!itisin! Content..................................................................(

Di!itisation................................................................................................................... (

Creatin! ,ew Content.................................................................................................-

Documenting the Resource................................................................................................. !eneral Documentation.............................................................................................. -

/esource Discoery %etadata....................................................................................

Purpose of this Guide

"his !uide introduces ey issues that anyone plannin! to create a di!ital resource )orresearch# learnin! or teachin! in the arts and humanities should consider. n addition to this introductory!uide# the *HD' has a ran!e o) other !uidance desi!ned )or anyone plannin! a di!ital resource in thearts and humanities:

*HD' uide to ood ractice series

*HD' Case 'tudies

*HD' uidelines )or Documentin! Di!ital /esources

"hose preparin! a technical appendi4 )or an *rts and Humanities /esearch 5oardapplication will also )ind the *HD' ,otes on 6ritin! the *H/5 "echnical *ppendi4 use)ul.

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"he *HD' proides sub$ect )ocused specialist adice throu!h its )ie Centres )or History#7isual *rts# er)ormin! *rts# *rchaeolo!y and 8an!ua!e# 8in!uistics and 8iterature. ) uncertain# pleasecontact the *HD' E4ecutie.

Creating 'Fit for Purpose' Digital Resources

* place can be )ound within the arts and humanities )or irtually any ind o) di!ital resource#

ran!in! )rom transcribed te4ts to immersie irtual reality models. "hese resources are created usin! awide ariety o) tools and techni+ues# and with so many options it can be di))icult to select the bestapproach. n)ormation technolo!y o))ers a hu!e ran!e o) possibilities and it can be di))icult to select thebest option# or een to understand how best to assess the options. 9eep in mind the ma4im )it )orpurpose. "he tools and techni+ues that you use to create a di!ital resource should be determined by theintended purpose o) that resource it is important to ensure that technolo!y is used to support theresearch or peda!o!ical ob$ecties o) a pro$ect# whilst not comin! to dominate them.

One o) the bene)its o) thinin! about buildin! a di!ital resource that will be )it )or purpose#instead o) one that is led by the aailable technolo!y and e4pertise# is that it helps eep the )ocus on theresearch# learnin! and teachin! ob$ecties o) the pro$ect# rather than on the technical methodolo!y that isused to achiee them. t should be possible to describe the !oal o) a di!ital resource creation pro$ect inthe arts and humanities in non;technical lan!ua!e# and )rom this it should be possible to describe non;

technical criteria that can then be used to assess the possible technical approaches.

Di!ital resources are o)ten e4pensie to create# and as well as ensurin! the )inishedresource meets the re+uirements o) the pro$ect# it is worth spendin! some time main! the resource)le4ible enou!h to be used by others in the )uture# perhaps )or entirely di))erent purposes. * ey# andprobably the most important part# o) this is documentation. * well documented resource en!enderscon)idence# and is both easier and more liely to be reused.

Documentation should coer proenance# methodolo!y# technical standards and unresoledproblems. Documentation is discussed in more detail in the *HD' uidelines )or Documentin! Di!ital/esources.

The Project Team

* di!ital resource creation pro$ect relies on the e4pertise o) the pro$ect team to achiee its!oals. Di!ital resource creation pro$ects in the arts and humanities re+uire both sub$ect e4pertise andtechnical e4pertise.

6hen technical wor is outsourced# it is important that pro$ect sta)) deelop a solid worin!nowled!e o) the releant technical issues so that they can understand and properly assess therecommendations o) their technical contractors. 6hen technical sta)) are brou!ht into a pro$ect# it isimportant that their wor is not carried out in isolation )rom the sub$ect matter o) the pro$ect. One o) themost aluable commodities a di!ital resource creation pro$ect can hae is sta)) who understand both thesub$ect area and the technical issues.

/emember that technical decisions are interwoen with the oerall sub$ect )ocusedob$ecties o) the pro$ect# so it is important to ensure that technical decisions are not made in isolation)rom wider considerations.

Planning

Early Planning

%any pro$ects do not ade+uately plan how they will create their di!ital resource. lannin! iso)ten le)t too late and there is too little o) it. Early plannin! does not needed to be especially detailed to beuse)ul. * short one or two pa!e pro$ect brie) that describes the pro$ect


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and the liely content will help to clari)y the pro$ect


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Project $anagement

* lar!e team o) academics# research students and technical specialists can be inoled inthe pro$ect# and !ood pro$ect mana!ement is ital in ensurin! that wor is coordinated and deliered ontime. ro$ects should clearly identi)y who has the authority to act i) the pro$ect is not !oin! to plan.Bsually# a sin!le pro$ect mana!er is best# possibly supported by a mana!ement or adisory committee inthe case o) lar!er pro$ects.

Di!ital resource creation pro$ects need to be mana!ed with a de!ree o) )ormality. /eportsand meetin!s should be used to trac pro!ress a!ainst the pro$ect timetable and to help identi)y problemsas early as possible. n many pro$ects# technical tass are undertaen and mana!ed somewhatseparately )rom other parts o) the pro$ect# and in this situation it is important to ensure that the timin! andob$ecties o) technical wor remains coordinated with other pro$ect ob$ecties. lannin! the technicalwor in distinct sta!es# moin! )rom desi!n documents throu!h to prototypes and then periodic reiews o)on;!oin! wor be)ore the )inal resource is completed# can help. Each o) these milestones proides anopportunity to $ud!e how much concrete pro!ress has been made.

De%eloping a Digital Resource

Design

t is use)ul to thin about desi!nin! a di!ital resource in terms o) the )ollowin! threeelements:

"he underlyin! data the resource contains

"he so)tware ?and hardware@ that is needed to mae sensible use o) the data

"he user inter)ace throu!h which the user interacts with the so)tware to retriee# search# and

manipulate the data

"he so)tware and user inter)ace can be thou!ht o) as layers that lie on top o) the actual data#main! it easier to wor with the data but# at the same time# constrainin! the way in which a user canaccess and manipulate the underlyin! data your di!ital resource contains. Consider as an e4ample# a

collection o) di!ital ima!es based on the wors held in an art !allery. "he di!ital resource could simplyconsist o) a set o) ">> ima!es. Howeer# you will also want to proide users with some in)ormation abouteach ima!e. =ou could create H"%8 pa!es that contain both the ima!e and the in)ormation about it# butnow the user will hae to hae access to a web browser i) they are to iew the resource properly. =ou maythen wish to allow users to search )or speci)ic ima!es by eyword. "his could be done by creatin! adatabase o) eywords that can be +ueried )rom the webpa!e# but now you will need to run a databaseserer alon!side the web serer. Each additional piece o) )unctionality complicates the resource )urther.

* di!ital resource should be desi!ned so that it


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*udio 'treamed )rom 6eb# destop C# editin! so)tware

'till ma!es 6eb# published print +uality# OC/ ?)or ector ima!es: '# C*D@

%oin! ma!es'treamed )rom 6eb# pro!ressie download# D7D player# destop C# editin!so)tware# "7 broadcast

5asically# desi!nin! a di!ital resource inoles answerin! the +uestion# what are youdeelopin! s it a database# a website# a ' ?eo!raphical n)ormation 'ystem@# a catalo!ue or someother type o) resource Each type o) di!ital resource entails a di))erent approach to or!anisin! in)ormation; a data model ;which will be appropriate )or some tass# but not )or others. erhaps the simplest datamodel is embodied in plain te4t )iles. "hese )iles simply store a se+uence o) numeric codes whichrepresent characters. *ll you need to now is which character each code represents. * )ar moresophisticated data model many people hae some e4perience o) is the relational data model# used bymost database so)tware applications# such as %icroso)t *ccess. "his data model imposes a ran!e o)constraints on how the content o) a database can be or!anised ?it must be arran!ed in discrete )ields#each record must be uni+ue and so on@ which ensure that data is or!anised consistently and predictablyso that the alidation# searchin! and display o) data can be automated.

Di))erent data models are implemented usin! di))erent sets o) standards# )ile )ormats andso)tware# so it is ery important to understand the type o) resource you are buildin! be)ore proceedin!.>or e4ample# layin! out a table as H"%8 )or a web pa!e is appropriate i) you want people to read thetable# but storin! the table as delimited te4t and loadin! it into a spreadsheet would be more appropriate i)you plan to per)orm comple4 calculations on the table.

/esource "ype "hin!s to inesti!ate

"e4ts %8# "E# Dublin Core# D>

Dataset /elational data model# '8# normalisation# %8

' 7ector and raster data models# poly!on topolo!y# Open ' standards

8ibraryF*rchieCatalo!ue

%8# O*# Dublin Core# sub$ect speci)ic metadata schemas ?e.!. DD# 7/* Core@#'8"# controlled ocabularies

6ebsiteH"%8# 63C web accessibility standards# database connectiity ?OD5C# *DO#JD5C@# scriptin! lan!ua!es ?H# Jaascript# *'@

*udio Clips 8ossless compression %3# samplin! rates# bit rate

'till ma!es/esolution and colour depth# ">># ,# lossless compression# ,'O technicalmetadata# 7/* Core 3.0 metadata# Dublin Core

%oin! ma!es Compression# %E )rame rate# resolution and colour depth# screen siGe# or more detailed in)ormation about di))erent types o) di!ital resources and the issuesinoled in desi!nin! them# you should read the *HD' uide to ood ractice series. "here are somebasic characteristics that apply across all types o) di!ital resource that su!!est it has been well;desi!ned:

/epetitie tass can be easily automated

Data structures are consistent# well de)ined and documented

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Data is created accordin! to consistent rules

"he presentation o) data can be easily chan!ed

) you )ind that one o) these points doesn


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"here are two main )actors in the di!itisation process that will a))ect the accuracy o) the )inal di!italsurro!ate: the characteristics o) the di!itisation tool ?scanner# di!ital camera etc.@ you use# and the )ile)ormat used to store the di!ital surro!ate.

%aterial to Di!itise "ools "hin!s to nesti!ate

8ie per)ormance Di!ital camcorders

Di!ital 7ideo ?D7@# %E# =B7 colour space#

resolution# >irewire ?E 13I&@# lossycompression

aintin!s# pictures#dia!rams

'canner# di!ital camera?optical@ resolution# dynamic ran!e# /5colour space

6ritten documents'canner# optical characterreco!nition so)tware# eyboard?transcription@

transcription ?optical@ resolution# dynamicran!e# /5 colour space# B,CODE# double;eyin!# spellin! and !rammar so)tware#optical character reco!nition ?OC/@ so)tware

*udio recordin! 'ound card with analo!ue to di!ital Hardware compression# oice s music

%oin! picture

recordin! 7ideo capture card

'i!nal standards supported ?*8# ,"'C#

'EC*%@# hardware compression

Creating .e* Content

*s well as bein! use)ul )or editin! di!itised material# so)tware such as word processors#H"%8 editors# C*D paca!es and other tools# can be used to create new di!ital content )rom scratch.6hen more than one person will be creatin! material# it is important to use the same so)tware# orestablish how content can be shared and inte!rated be)ore wor be!ins. "his is especially importantwhen the a lar!e number o) e4ternal ?to the pro$ect team@ contributors will be proidin! content.

t is important that eerybody creatin! material understands the terms and conditions underwhich they will be used. /e+uirin! all contributors to si!n a )ormal licence# detailin! their ri!hts and thoseo) the pro$ect# is a !ood idea. * number o) model licences )or di))erent situations e4ist.

Documenting the Resource

General Documentation

Comprehensie documentation# such as user !uides# interiew scripts# codeboos andper)ormance notes )or e4ample# is ital i) a di!ital resource is to be shared and remain usable in the lon!;term. ndeed# !ood documentation o)ten proes its worth when you return to a di!ital resource you haedesi!ned yoursel) a)ter an absence. "he *HD' stron!ly recommends that all pro$ects deote areasonable part o) their total e))ort to documentin! the di!ital resources they create.

Documentin! a resource should not be le)t until it is completed# but should be seen as aninte!ral part o) its deelopment. "ass should be documented as they occur# when the actiity is )resh inthe mind. "his approach !uards a!ainst in)ormation bein! misplaced# )or!otten# or taen away )rom thepro$ect i) ey sta)) depart.

Documentation should coer proenance o) sources# methodolo!y o) di!itisation# desi!n o)databases# %8 schemas and other data structures# and !ie details o) code boos# controlledocabularies# abbreiations and other pro$ect speci)ic nowled!e. Documentation should also include eycorrespondence and )ormal a!reements relatin! to the creation and use o) the resource


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"he *HD' proides uidelines )or Documentin! Di!ital /esources

Resource Disco%ery $etadata

n addition to !eneral documentation most types o) di!ital resource should also beaccompanied by some )ormal# structured# resource discoery metadata. %etadata is

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AHDS-Introduction to Creating Digital Resources.doc