Transcript The EAD Cookbook and EBind: - University of Illinois at

E-Content on a Shoestring:
Using the EAD Cookbook and
Ebind XML in the Archives
CIL Conference: March 16, 2001
Christopher J. Prom, Assistant University Archivist
University of Illinois Archives
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ahx/ead
XML/EAD Implementation
Issues
 Cost
 Data sharing
 Technical requirements for digitization
– xml “foreign” to many library programmers, an
emerging technology
 Why Choose XML?
– Simplification and cost control
– Demand for best-practice system
Reston Finding Aid Project
 Provide finding aid (box and folder listing)
 Integrate digital copies of documents to
finding aid
James B. Reston
 New York Times
 Reporter, Chief
Correspondent,
Editor, Vice
President
 Reputation as a
journalistic insider,
from the 50s to the
80s
Confidential
Memorandum
 Document off-the-
record background
conversations
Diaries
 Moscow trip, 1943
 China, interview
of premier Chou
En-lai, 1971.
Interviews
 Henry Kissinger
 Ted Kennedy
 Jimmy Carter
Correspondence
 Some public
 Much internal NY
Times
 Copyright unclear in
many cases
Reader Mail
 Illustrates the
challenge posed by
copyright law in
constructing online research
collections
Jack Valenti
MPAA
Our Mandate
 Provide as much on-line as possible
 at the lowest cost
 using archival/manuscript descriptive
standards
Project Issues (1)
 Archival/policy
– compliance with archival practices of
arrangement and description (context)
– integrate images directly into finding aid
– Not involve time-consuming cataloging or
design
 Cost
– Can you rely on open source software?
Project Issues (2)
 Technical
– Markup
• efficiency of markup
• staffing turnover and concerns
– Manuscript display. Needed system to:
•
•
•
•
handle thousands of images in varied in formats
provide a printable image
be easily navigable
and quick and dirty, without depending on expensive
equipment or software
Tools and Techniques (1)
 Open-source is the solution
 EAD (Encoded Archival Description)
– Archival finding aid markup (XML)
– allows nesting of “levels” in finding aid
– <dao> tag
Tools and Techniques
 EAD Cookbook (Michael Fox)
– predefined tag library
– XSLT stylesheets to generate static HTML
– Stylesheets easy to modify
– implementation instructions
 WordPerfect’s XML editor for markup
Tools and Techniques
 Image display/turner
– EBind
• Berkely, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Ebind/
– Perl script generates html from SGML files
– book oriented
• UI Archives modifications
–
–
–
–
optimized for Windows server
built in limitations removed
added fields for physical description and genre
enhanced user interface for integration to EAD Cookbook
and use with manuscripts
 Notetab Light (Clips)
 Clip Language: Easy to program (really!)
 CompuPic Pro
(only software
purchased)
 DOS batch file
integrated into clip
automates site update
Tools and Techniques
 Workflow
– 1. Scan images to uncompressed .tif
– 2. Perform batch conversion routine (simple,
but needs “one click” automation)
– 3. Complete query box in Notetab
– 4. Click “create worksheet” (editing rare)
– 5. Click “move”
• Entering descriptive data
• Tagging automatically inserted and file saved
• worksheet created and automatically saved
Corresponds to
relative path
Structure may be edited
for complex documents
File sequence
• XML created automatically from worksheet
Bibliographic data
Image sequencing
• Updating the site (takes place for each document)
1. Transforms EAD to HTML
2. Creates EBind SGML file
3. Moves everything to web server in
consistent directory structure
4. Archives the uncompressed .tif to disk
in parallel structure
Interface: Opening Page
Navigable TOC
in frame
Dublin Core in Frameset
Interface: Series Level
<c01> level linked
from TOC
Interface: DAO Links
Interface: Ebind TOC
Interface: Ebind Thumbnails
Interface: Ebind Page View
Hi-res prints on
single sheet of
paper
Navigation bar
repeated at bottom
Costs
 EAD markup, proofreading and display
– Reston: $248.63 or $3.65 per printed page
– Bardeen: $110 or $1.96 per printed page
 Ebind
– For recent student workweek
• 142 images in 9.5 hours ( includes 1 hour selecting documents):
• $118.37 or .83 cents per page scanned and added
EAD Cookbook/Ebind/Notetab:
Strengths
–
–
–
–
Open source approach helps control costs
Standards compliant, syntactically sound
Will allow for data sharing and exchange
Easy design for staff, easy workflow for
students
EAD Cookbook/Ebind/NoteTab:
Weaknesses
– Low accuracy of description; does not fully
comply to rules of archival description
• Journalism students, supervision difficult
– Load times. Need to rewrite stylesheets
– Not currently searchable.
Resources
 EAD Cookbook
– http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/ead/
 Ebind (Berkeley)
– http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Ebind/
 EBind (University of Illinois)
– http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ahx/ead/tech/
 Notetab Light
– http://www.notetab.com