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The following is being posted to several lists; apologies for the duplication.
EmbARK version 2.0 is currently in development, and we at Digital Collections
are actively seeking feedback from the visual resource community regarding a new
object/surrogate/copy structure. We welcome your advice, as we hope to create a
structure that will best suit your needs. To respond, please contact:
Carrie Hotz
Field Applications Engineer
[log in to unmask]
(510) 814-6100 fax
(800) 449-6220 ext 250
We are interested to discover if our new development on the copy/surrogate
structure will facilitate a logical work flow for all EmbARK users. The new
development proposal will eliminate the need to create a Surrogate record in
order to manage a collection of visual resources. The Copy record will still be
necessary to track the circulation of surrogates (slides), but you will be able
to attach Copies directly to Objects and there will be an option to automate
this process (see below). The surrogate record will still be available from page
four as a related file for those who wish to continue using the current
three-tiered structure.. The advantages of moving surrogate info to the object
level are the ability to create portfolios, exports to ImageAXS, ease in
reporting, view all media representations in the thumbnail view, more fields for
data, greater number of linking files, descriptive keywords, status terms,
finding aids, configurable data entry layouts, configurable list views, etc.
Questions arise as to what information slide libraries are entering at the
surrogate level that could be incorporated in the Object record to streamline
data entry. Beyond copyright information, what data is vital to slide curators?
At the user's option, the automatic creation of a Copy record when a new Object
is created will eliminate another step. The user will select one of the
numbers from the Object recordĖTemp ID, Accession Number, Slide Call Number,
etc.Ėto be placed into the Copy ID field. If more than one Copy is to be
attached to the Object record, the user may further specify a suffix to be added
and incremented for each additional Copy. For example, when you create a new
record the Accession Number might be AA.1996.123. EmbARK will, through a
preference setting, automatically create a new Copy with the Copy ID
AA.1996.123.01. If further copies are desired the user would hit the copy button
and add additional copy records with copy ID's AA.1996.123.02, AA.1996.123.03,
AA.1996.123.04, and so on. The Copies button will replace the Surrogates short
cut button in the Modify Object layout.
This all seems wonderful, but then you think what are my search results going to
be now that every slide representation has an object record? Suppose I do a
search on Disneyland which has 23 records of Disneyland from different views,
what do I expect to see? More important, what do I want to see? There are many
ways to filter and group your data in EmbARK. Accession number schemes,
portfolios, related objects, or simply an additional field designated to
differentiate between "levels" of display importance.
One solution is a field tagged State on the first page of the object record.
This distinguishes between a Collection record, a "Forgery", an Original, etc..
If this field is utilized, then a search can be constructed: Title is equal to
Disneyland AND State is equal to Collection level, or some such. This will
return only the top level records.
Another solution that we're implementing involves the modification of the
Related Object structure to accommodate multiple simultaneous hierarchical
relationships. Any object may be a parent, child, or sibling to any other
object. In this scheme, you might designate one particular view of Disneyland as
the parent and all other views as children. Then the search becomes: Title is
equal to Disneyland AND Level is equal to Parent. This will also return only the
top level records.
Think about the implications of these changes and let us know how this will
effect your work flow. And please tell us which types of data from the current
Surrogate record must be incorporated in the Object record for the new scheme to
work.
We appreciate your taking the time to respond, and thank you for your feedback.
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