The document discusses the SharedCanvas project, which aims to enhance interoperability among digital manuscript repositories funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It addresses the current limitations of access and data sharing between different digital libraries and highlights the need for standardized protocols. The project seeks to provide a unified approach to access and utilize digital content from various repositories, fostering collaboration and improving scholarly use.

1. SharedCanvas
Digital Manuscripts and
Interoperability Across Repositories
LIBER : promoting access to manuscript content
Paris, BnF, may 2012

2. How we started ?
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded numerous
manuscript digitization projects over several decades
• All had in common:
– Inability to share data across silos to satisfy scholarly
use
– Inability to leverage existing infrastructure
– No sustainability model for data or access
• Goal:
– Interoperability between repositories and tools

3. Who’s involved ?
• Repositories
– Parker on the Web (Stanford)
– Roman de la Rose (Johns Hopkins)
– E-codices (Univ. Fribourg)
– Gallica (BnF)
– British Library
– Bodleian Library
• Tools
– T-PEN
– Digital MappaeMundi (Drew Univ.)
– TILE (Univ. Of Maryland)

4. What do we have now ?
A world of silos
Roman de la Rose E-codices Gallica And so on…

5. Most digital libraries : what you can
do ?
• Access data from a single repository, and
sometimes federate content through OAI
• Use the tools that repository supports
• See images in the way that repository
allows (or jump to another digital library
hosting federated content)
• See curated descriptions of the material
• See approved additional material
• Search and browse to the library’s content
and sometimes federated content

6. What you can’t do…
• Access data from any other repositories
• Use any other tools
• See images any other way (like comparing 2
manuscripts kept in 2 different digital libraries)
• Contribute or correct descriptions (often)
• Add additional material or comments (often)
• Search across repositories unless federated
search has been implemented

7. Defining interoperability
• Break down silos
• Separate data from applications
• Share data models and
programming interfaces
• Enable interactions at the tool
and repository level
• Use the content (images,
records, transcriptions…)
where they are without having
to store multiple (manual)
copies
• Ensure visibility for all
institutions/data providers

8. Classical architecture
3rd-Party Annotation
Image Image
Discovery Tool X?
Transcription Analysis Viewer
Tools
Repository
User Image Viewer Discovery
Interface
Metadata (Canonical)
Repository
Image Data (Canonical)

9. What does SharedCanvas do ?
• Provide, at the digital library level, a
manifest : « here is what we have »
• Give a standardized and highly
detailed description of the digital
document’s organization
• If validated, link to any content
generated about a manuscript, and/
or use it without having to store this
content

10. Open Annotation data model

11. Multiple content types

12. Rebinding example

13. A few demos
• Manifests for BNF Machaut manuscripts
• http://dms-data.stanford.edu/BnF/
• Images annotations of Morgan 804
• http://www.shared-canvas.org/impl/demo1/