Application of Standards for Visual Representation of ALM Objects Adolf Knoll National Library of the Czech Republic

What do we wish to achieve? Access to various types of information, preferably over networks  Publications incl. fulltext  Visual documentation of museum objects, sites, monuments of architecture, … Besides the so-called catalogue information we need direct access through various technologies

Types of objects: libraries and archives Classical documents: books, periodicals, manuscripts, letters, maps, postcards, … Other analogue documents: microforms, video and audio recordins, slides,… Digital documents All on various carriers: paper, parchment, silk, glass, palm leaves, tape, disks, various plastic carriers, …

Types of objects: museums Paintings Various 3D objects incl. those documenting development of techniques and technology Archeological sites Architectural monuments Geological and paleontological Events and performances

Site Empúries Identification description of the site image JPEG, 24-bit, 355x251 pxl, 75 dpi, … Representation of the concrete object Archeological site Postcard Digital photograph Identification description of the postcard postcard Physical description is part of the identification

Identification record It describes general and concrete attributes of the object Catalogue record It has a recommended structure, which:  Reflects the needs of the concrete area  Enables communication;  … therefore, it gets standardized step by step

Document - identification Description or cataloguing rules:  AACR2 (modern documents)  MASTER (manuscripts)  Dublin Core (on-line documents)  DIEPER (periodicals)  …

Formal expression of the standardized description MARC  UNIMARC, INTERMARC, MARC21 (USMARC), MAB2 MASTER DTD for description of MSS DIEPER DTD (unfortunately uncompleted) Dublin Core as cataloguing in published electronic documents

Syntactical expression of the formalized description Labelled format with names of fields  MARC or any other structured labelled lines ASCII file SGML file (which type, which DTD?)  DOBM (Memoriae Mundi, Kramerius)  TEI (MASTER)  XML (Memoriae Mundi from 2002)

Cataloguing rules e.g. AACR2 Formalized in MARC Labelled format Formalized in DublinCore Formalized in MASTER DOBM XML HTML/metatags SGML TEI Three levels of understanding

Museum object – identification AMICO Data Specification – Catalogue CDWA – Categories for the Description of Works of Art Object ID Systèmes descriptifs (architecture, movable objects incl. technological ones,…) CIDOC Information Categories Van Eyck, VRA, AFRICOM, MIDAS (architecture, archeology), RLG Cultural Materials Alliance Description Guidelines Great variety of rules

Museum object – formal structuring and syntax Some standards do not speak about this Several known standards have a labelled format (CDWA, AMICO, …) There are attempts to apply XML (British SPECTRUM DTD in development)

Compatibility of identification terms Documents Standardized recording of the same entity (authority files, thesauri)  Personal names  Subject  Titles (partly)  Corporate bodies  Iconography (ICONCLASS) Museum objects Recommended dictionaries, thesauri  Personal names (e.g. ULAN)  Places (e.g. TGN)  Subject (e.g. AAT, MET) Thesaurus of Geographic Names Union List of Artists Names The Art and Architecture Theasaurus Multilingual Egyptological Thesaurus DATE

CDWA subject Oil painting Adoration of the Magi

Various approaches: generic identification vs. subject identification Document Nieuport 17  Military aircraft  Propeller aircraft  Historical aircraft  Transport vehicles Author, publisher, date of publication, …. Technical object  Description of the aircraft  Description of the engine  Description of the photograph What have I on-line now?

All these various pieces of information should be interconnected and made deliverable Identification and location  Choice of approriate standards and their formal expressions  Cataloguing of objects and creation of databases  Formal bridging of databases, e.g. SFX technology (Metalib)  Semantic bridging !!! Digitization of objects and their analogue representations  Choice of standard data formats  Choice of complex e- doc formats (XML)  Creation of digital libraries

What do we do now? Identification record based MASTER DTD Technical record based on the NISO draft and ICC profiles Description of component parts Technical description of the images of component parts JPEG preview image JPEG archival image JPEG user image MrSID (maps) image TIFF/G4 image DjVu imageFulltext tagged in SGML TEI For representation of museum objects this can be done in an analogue manner.

Samples Celtic sites in Bohemia  Books and articles  Photograps of the arechological site – I, II  Museum objects History of a town  Books and articles  Video and movies  Digital representations – e.g. postcards

Memory stone Place Old cemetery Grand-father’s mill in Hronov