1 Annotation Framework March 2004

2 Terminology CV - abbreviation for controlled vocabulary CRS - Community Review System (a collection within DLESE) NSDL - National Science Digital Library

3 Annotation defined Additional content or metadata that is appropriate to associate with a resource Content examples: – Diagram to explain a page of text in a resource – Lab equipment instructions Metadata examples: – Quantitative information on the use of the resource – Teaching tip for a particular learning environment

4 Annotation framework purpose (1) 1. Create a collection of: – Comments, educational standards, teaching tips or ideas for use – Reviews or contextual explanations – Additional information about resources (the information may or may not be directly in the resource) – Graphical layers over web-based resources – Annotations or other summary information

5 Annotation framework purpose (2) 2. Capture comments or feedback by users 3. Capture information that is not a metadata field in any DLESE metadata framework, e.g. evaluative information or editor’s summary 4. Be the gatekeeper to the DLESE Reviewed Collection (done under certain conditions) 5. Connect an annotation or comment to a specific page of a resource

6 History of annotation framework NSDL gathers annotation information & CVs from 4 frameworks & proposes a framework CRS asks NSDL to expand vocab list and framework to meet CRS needs; NSDL does DLESE develops own annotation framework based on NSDL work DLESE writes CV definitions for annotation type and NSDL references them

7 Annotation types (1) Advice - A suggestion for working with the resource Annotation - Additional information about a resource expressed in any manner Average scores of aggregated indices - A numerical representation of quantitative information about a resource

8 Annotation types (2) Bias - An indication that the resource content may have any of the following: (1) factual (e.g. not just scientific) errors, (2) be in conflict with generally accepted scientific thought, (3) seems self-promoting or (4) seems to have a political, social or religious agenda Change - Annotations that document or propose change to a source document

9 Annotation types (3) Comment - Remarks about a resource that express opinions or attitudes Editor’s summary - An annotation that results from the summary of several pieces of evaluation information that may describe the strengths, weaknesses, pedagogical effectiveness, best uses for or general characteristics of a resource

10 Annotation types (4) Education standard - An indication that the resource meets, supports or aligns with an educational standard, that is, a level of achievement determined by a professional group to which learners are expected to aspire Example - A description or link to another resource that illustrates the resource content in a demonstrative way

11 Annotation types (5) Explanation - Information for understanding the resource, especially within its context of use but does not generally express opinions or attitudes Information on challenging teaching and learning situations - Information for using the resource within challenging or non-typical teaching or learning environments

12 Annotation types (6) Question - An indication of any of the following: (1) a request for further information, (2) an asking of why something was done or (3) the raising of a point of discussion Review - A formal or informal evaluation of a resource

13 Annotation types (7) See also - A reference to another resource Teaching tip - Information for using the resource within a certain teaching or learning environment but generally not challenging or non-typical environments

14 Annotation framework content (1) The actual content or a URL pointing to the annotation content (R) Name of the service providing access to the annotations (R) Id number of the annotated resource (R) Annotation type (R) Kind of annotation (text, audio, visual) (R)

15 Annotation framework content (2) DRC pathway name (O and R - depends) Date information (R) Title of the annotation (O) Status of annotation (O) Page within the resource to which the annotation applies (O) Annotator information (name, , org) (O)

16 Annotation technical Uses XML schema to enforce required metadata and controlled vocabularies Only 1 annotation type per annotation record (so 1 resource many have many annotation records associated with it)

17 Annotation content sidenote Encourage annotation services to include the annotations within the annotation records rather than just links to the annotations (most provide links) This would provide more powerful searching because the content of the annotation is searchable too

18 Annotation issues Content does not go forward to NSDL Don’t know how library users interact with or understand annotations Review of annotations for appropriateness