Strategies for Successful Digital Collections

Tschera Connell and Rob Luikart

USAIN Conference

April 30, 2008

Agenda

Ohio State University’s Institutional Repository: The Knowledge Bank– Lessons Learned

Ohio State University Extension’s Ohioline– A Digital Collection Case Study

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The Knowledge Bank

A Functional definition of an institutional repository

– Services

– Content

– Preservation

Services: Visibility

IR materials receive priority indexing and rankingfrom search engines

Visibility This paper downloaded 2339 times in one year

Longevity1900 article downloaded 5858 times in 2007

Community Collection Development

Food , Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Research Forum Faculty publications Annual reports Videos of Ohio Rivers Newsletters

Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center Books & reports Events and seminars Poster presentations

Assistance in adding content to KB

Project planning

Consultation Rights management Digitization of materials Formats & standards Metadata

Customized displays

Customized input forms

Training

Submission assistance

Customized Collection Display

Customized Item Metadata Display

Customized Input Forms (Display)

Customized Input Forms (Display)

Names

Subjects

Customized Input Templates (Display)

Born digital

Here today, gone tomorrow?

Goal: to provide stable environment of born-digital materials

Methods of preservation for analog & digital different (Seaman)

Levels of Stable Environments

Preservation: ensuring essence of content is accessible for current & future use (bit preservation)

Functional preservation: the file does change over time so that the material continues to be immediately usable in the same way it was originally

Curation: maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital info for current and future use

Curation

Defined: management of data through its lifecycle of interest

Activities enable:

data discovery and retrieval,

quality of data

re-use over time

Thank You

Tschera Harkness Connell

Head, Scholarly Resources Integration Department

Ohio State University Libraries

connell.17@osu.edu

Agenda: Ohioline Case Study

Ohio State University Extension’s Ohioline– A Digital Collection Case Study

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Ohioline – A 20th Century Digital Collection…

Hundreds of Factsheets, Bulletins and other Educational Materials Covering a Wide Array of Subjects:– Agriculture, Natural Resources, Family and Consumer

Sciences, Community Development, 4-H and Youth

Containing Information, News and Educational Resources of:– OSU Extension, the College of Food, Agricultural, and

Environmental Sciences, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the Agricultural Technical Institute, and Research and Extension programs supported by the colleges of Human Ecology, Veterinary Medicine, and Biological Sciences

Produced by Ohio State University Extension

Ohioline – Backed by a Brand Identity…

Ohio Link to Information, News and Education

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Ohioline – Embraced by a Large Audience…

2007 Statistics:– 71 Million Total Hits

– 31 Million Page Views

Breadth of Audience– 15 Million Unique Visitors

– Over 5 Million Google.com References

Popularity of Content– Brown Recluse Spider Fact Sheet Received 890,000

Page Views

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Ohioline – Based on Obsolete Technology…

Based on a Web 1.0 Architecture– HTML Pages and PDFs

– No Content Management

– “Companion” CD (!?!)

– “Flat” Web Site

– Limited Search Capabilities

– Poor Navigation

OhioLine – Served by a Declining Base of Contributors…

Difficult to Get New Material onto Ohioline– Faculty Creating their Own Brands (i.e. Bug Doctor)

Dissatisfaction with Extension’s Peer Review Policy

Slow and Inflexible Publication Process– Layout, Markup, Editing, Review, Proofing

– All this for a PDF?

Unhappy with the Presentation Technology– No Chance for Reuse or Repurposing

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OhioLine – Using an Outdated Business Model

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What To Do?

That’s It! Redesign Ohioline!– The Brand is REALLY IMPORTANT

– Make the Web Site Sexier

– Get More Stuff on the Site

– Add Cool Stuff like New Media “Build It and They Will Come” Oh, and Fix the Technology Problems

– Make the Search Work…You Know, Like Google but Without the Budget

Don’t Bother Me With The Facts (or Boy, Were We Wrong)

Focus Group Research Results– Ohioline Brand is Irrelevant to Most Users – only the

Content Matters

– Users Ignore the Web Site Navigation and Access Content Directly via Google Search

– Some Target Audiences are Located in Areas Without Broadband Service

– High Value Audiences are Not Aware of Relevant Content

– No Linkage to Extension’s Business Model

– Where is the Born Digital Publishing Process?

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About Those Technology Problems

Considerations from the Web 2.0 Generation:– Change the Contribution Model (Wikis, Blogs, Social

Networks)

– Use a Digital Repository (Knowledge Bank)

– Enable Reuse and Repurposing (XML and MetaData)

– Improve Delivery (RSS Feeds, Portals)

– Improve Visibility (Search Engine Strategies)

– Enable Rich Media Presentations Address Born Digital Considerations

What To Do Redux

Take a 21st Century View of the Business– Extension’s Next 100 Years

Incorporate the Digital Collection into Delivery of Extension’s Business Mission– Create a Web Presence for Extension and make the

Digital Collection the Centerpiece

– “Brand” to Extension

Manage the Value of Digital Assets, Not a Web Site

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Taking a 21st Century View

Rethinking the Technology, Content and Delivery Architecture– Participation: What can I contribute

– Context: What I need to know here and now

– Proactive Platform Management

– Community Management of Content

– Needs Determine Quality (not Peers)

– Rich User Interface

– Tagging for Improved Human (and Machine) Access

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A New Approach

Plan to Adopt the Knowledge Bank as the Digital Repository for the Collection– Place Emphasis on the Preservation and Curation of

Extension’s Digital Assets

Refocus from Redesigning Ohioline to a New Extension Business Model– Address 21st Century Needs

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Thank You

Robert B. Luikart

Chief Information Officer

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

The Ohio State University

luikart.7@osu.edu

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Questions?