This book provides an overview of various challenges and contemporary research activities in cultural heritage information focusing particularly on the cultural heritage content types, their characteristic and digitization challenges; cultural heritage content organization and access issues; users and usability as well as various policy and sustainability issues associated with digital cultural heritage information systems and services. Cultural Heritage Information, the first book in the peer-reviewed i-Research series, contains eleven chapters that have been contributed by seventeen leading academics from six countries. The book begins with an introductory chapter that provides a brief overview of the topic of digital cultural heritage information with the subsequent chapters addressing specific issues and research activities in this topic. The ordering of the chapters moves from scene setting on policies and infrastructures, through considerations of interaction, access and objects, through to concrete system implementations. The book concludes by looking forward to issues around sustainability, in the widest sense, that are necessary to think about in order to maximize the availability and longevity of our digital cultural heritage. The key topics covered are: - Managing digital cultural heritage information - Digital humanities and digital cultural heritage (alt-history and future directions) - Management of cultural heritage information: policies and practices - Cultural heritage information: artefacts and digitization technologies - Metadata in cultural contexts – from manga to digital archives in linked open data environment - Managing cultural heritage: information systems architecture - Cultural heritage information users and usability - A framework for classifying and comparing interactions in cultural heritage information systems - Semantic access and exploration in cultural heritage digital libraries - Supporting exploration and use of digital cultural heritage materials: the PATHS perspective - Cultural heritage information services: sustainability issues. Readership: This will be essential reading for researchers in Information Science specifically in the areas of digital libraries, digital humanities and digital culture. It will also be useful for practitioners and students in these areas who want to know the different research issues and challenges and learn how they have been handled in course of various research projects in these areas.

Archival Basics for Historic Record Collections is an introduction to the concepts, policies, infrastructure and tasks needed to collect, preserve and make archival collections available to researchers. The book is based on content presented in workshops by the Council of State Archivists and presented in an on-line course by the American Association of State and Local History since 2003. Arp focuses on the discreet tasks necessary to manage archival collections. This is a practical, how-to book on managing archival collections designed for those who have responsibility for such collections but lack formal archival training. The book begins by defining historic records, archival collections and the differences between archives, libraries and museums while identifying the steps needed to manage archival collections. It then looks at collecting archival items including creating a collections policy, documenting the acquisition of archival items and the steps needed to bring those items into an archives. It discusses arranging, preserving and describing archival collections so researchers can find the information they seek. Next, it goes over what is needed to store, protect, and make archival collections available to researchers. The last chapters contemplates the policies, skills and infrastructure needed to successfully manage digital records and looks at creating digital copies of analog records to promote their use. The book provides templates, questionnaires and examples to enable the reader to create customized archival policies and procedures that accommodate the particular circumstances they find themselves in. The book also contains exercises and quizzes designed to reinforce the retention and understanding of critical concepts. In addition to examples it has lists of additional resources so those who want more detailed information on particular topics can find it. This book is not the only reference book needed by those doing archival work, but it should be the first book they need.

Cataloging standards practiced within the traditional library, archive and museum environments are not interoperable for the retrieval of objects within the shared online environment. Within today’s information environments, library, archive and museum professionals are becoming aware that all information objects can be linked together. In this way, information professionals have the opportunity to collaborate and share data together with the shard online cataloging environment, the end result being improved retrieval effectiveness. But the adaptation has been slow: Libraries, archives and museums are still operating within their own community-specific cataloging practices. This book provides a historical perspective of the evolution of linking devices within the library, archive, and museums environments, and captures current cataloging practices in these fields. It offers suggestions for moving beyond community-specific cataloging principles and thus has the potential of becoming a springboard for further conversation and the sharing of ideas.

Whether an institution has a collections orientation or whether it is primarily responsible for managing institutional archives in conjunction with an organizational records management programme, those responsible for its archives and records management need specialist advice and practical guidance in the successful establishment and operation of an archival facility built on sound principles. This authoritative handbook, written by an archival professional with over 25 years' experience, offers just that. Addressing the contextual, strategic and operational issues associated with archives, the text covers everything the archivist needs to know: establishing principles, policies and procedures; managing day-to-day operations; caring for different types of archival materials; enhancing outreach and public access; and ensuring the growth and sustainability of the institution and its services. The key chapters are: What are archives? Archival institutions: creatures of history and culture Archival service: a matter of trust Protecting archives Provenance, original order and respect des fonds Appraising and acquiring archives Arranging and describing archives Making archives available The challenge of digital archives. The final section of the book offers a glossary of terms and a wide range of specialist information including comprehensive lists of recommended further reading, national institutions, professional bodies and other sources of advice. Readership: This book is essential reading for anyone involved in managing archives. Its straightforward and approachable language ensures that fundamental principles and practices are outlined clearly for novice archivists and non-specialists; experienced professionals will also find the work of immense value in validating or updating their understanding of archival operations. The issues addressed are relevant to archival practice internationally, particularly in English-speaking countries, and concepts in place in different parts of the world are examined in order to provide a global context.

This new and extensively revised second edition offers an international perspective on archives management, providing authoritative guidance relevant to collections-based repositories and to organizations responsible for managing their own institutional archives. Written in clear language with lively examples, Archives: Principles and practices introduces core archival concepts, explains best-practice approaches and discusses the central activities that archivists need to know to ensure the documentary materials in their charge are cared for as effectively as possible. Topics addressed include: core archival principles and conceptsarchival history and the evolution of archival theoriesthe nature and diversity of archival materials and institutionsthe responsibilities and duties of the archivistissues in the management of archival institutionsthe challenges of balancing access and privacy in archival servicebest practice principles and strategic approaches to central archival tasks such as acquisition, preservation, reference and accessdetailed comparison of custodial, fonds-oriented approaches and post-custodial, functional approaches to arrangement and description. Discussion of digital archives is woven throughout the book, including consideration of the changing role of the archivist in the digital age. In recasting her book to address the impact of digital technologies on records and archives, Millar offers us an archival manual for the twenty-first century. This book will be essential reading for archival practitioners, archival studies students and professors, librarians, museum curators, local authorities, small governments, public libraries, community museums, corporations, associations and other agencies with archival responsibility.

Discover Digital Libraries: Theory and Practice is a book that integrates both research and practice concerning digital library development, use, preservation, and evaluation. The combination of current research and practical guidelines is a unique strength of this book. The authors bring in-depth expertise on different digital library issues and synthesize theoretical and practical perspectives relevant to researchers, practitioners, and students. The book presents a comprehensive overview of the different approaches and tools for digital library development, including discussions of the social and legal issues associated with digital libraries. Readers will find current research and the best practices of digital libraries, providing both US and international perspectives on the development of digital libraries and their components, including collection, digitization, metadata, interface design, sustainability, preservation, retrieval, and evaluation of digital libraries. - Offers an overview of digital libraries and the conceptual and practical understanding of digital libraries - Presents the lifecycle of digital library design, use, preservation and evaluation, including collection development, digitization of static and multimedia resources, metadata, digital library development and interface design, digital information searching, digital preservation, and digital library evaluation - Synthesizes current research and the best practices of digital libraries, providing both US and international perspectives on the development of digital libraries - Introduces new developments in the area of digital libraries, such as large-scale digital libraries, social media applications in digital libraries, multilingual digital libraries, digital curation, linked data, rapid capture, guidelines for the digitization of multimedia resources - Highlights the impact, challenges, suggestions for overcoming these challenges, and trends of present and future development of digital librariesOffers a comprehensive bibliography for each chapter

New Trends in Multimedia and Network Information Systems discusses a very broad scope of subject matters including multimedia systems in their widest sense, web systems and network technologies. This monograph also includes texts devoted to more traditional information systems that draw on the experience of the multimedia and network systems. Each of the discussed research trends is considered from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. Imposing a clear-cut classification for such a diverse research area is not an easy task. The challenge is even greater due to the fact that in this book the focus lies on the most topical research work of scientists from all over the world. The studies are original and were not published anywhere else. The chapters represent the dominant advances in computer information systems and it is worth emphasizing that in most cases the research work relies heavily on the achievements and techniques developed originally in the area of artificial intelligence. As a result, the monograph is divided into four major parts: multimedia information technology; data processing in information systems; information system applications; and web systems and network technologies. Each of these parts covers a couple of chapters on detailed subject fields that comprise the area of its title.

Here is a concise guide to the nuts and bolts of converting flat media (books, papers, maps, posters, slides, micro formats, etc) into digital files. It provides librarians and archivists with the practical knowledge to understand the process and decision making in the digitization of flat media. Instead of having to learn by trial and error, they will get a well-rounded education of the practical aspects of digitization and have a better understanding of their options. This is the stuff they don’t teach you in school. People can be lured into thinking that all it takes to digitize something is a scanner and some metadata. This guide illustrates the practical aspects of digitization such as: the physical challenges of scanning books without cutting the spine, the differences between a “scanner” that uses a scanning head vs a “scanner” that uses a camera, the different options for workflow for digitized items, and the reasons for choosing one scanner over another for reasons other than price. Digitizing Flat Media: Principles and Practices is intended to give librarians and archivists the benefit a seasoned digitization professional guiding them and helping them figure out exactly what needs to be done when.