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In: archives, context, interoperability, standards

Awesome news from CDL, so reposting below. The original is here. Prototype interface released for searching archival authority records CDL’s Digital Special Collections program is pleased to announce the public release of a draft prototype historical access system for the Social Networks and Archival Context Project (SNAC). SNAC is a two-year research project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, that is creating a set of authority records by extracting information from archival finding aids and enhancing it with other sources.  The project uses the new standard Encoded Archival Context—Corporate bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF).  Data for the research is being provided by theRead More →

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In: context, LinkedData, standards

Europeana just released their first white page, “Knowledge = Information in Context.” The paper covers the importance of data standards, clean data, linked data, and tools and ways to link data (more standards and APIs). The paper is an excellent paper on the importance of making digitized materials useful by creating context.* The article as a whole discusses different standards and principles (RDF triples, Linked Data, FOAF, SKOS, semantic connections), all of which are integral parts of the web but which are not necessarily part of many cultural heritage collections. Open Library has been intensively working on issues related to linked data, as has the Library ofRead More →

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In: Collection Items, context, digitalcollections, UF, UFDC

I haven’t been blogging as much lately, but it’s not because I don’t have much to share. The adage “still waters run deep” seems fitting for the University of Florida Digital Collections of late. In recent months, we’ve upgraded our infrastructure repeatedly and we continue to make progress on working through our digitized-yet-unprocessed materials and in working through the files in need of migration. One collection’s history perhaps speaks best to our current and ongoing efforts, as our Digital Library Center Director explained in 2000: “The Governor’s gift enables the creation and delivery of electronic library resources via the Internet in support of the UniversityRead More →

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In: context, digital collections, interface, mapping, UFDC

The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) now include a “Map It” feature! With the “Map It” option, all items with geographic information are now displayed on a map using the Google Maps API. For instance, users can now see this photo of Gainesville mapped by clicking on the “Map It” tab, which shows a Google Map view of the photo’s location with a placemark. See the Citadelle Henri Christophe in Haiti, and then see the satellite imagery map for it, which still clearly shows the structure, along with the surrounding area! In case the maps aren’t exciting enough, UFDC also allows displays Flash filesRead More →