ABOUT SCANNING &
METADATA STANDARDS
William (Bill) Miller & Michael Howser
University of Connecticut Libraries
Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC
WHAT IS MAGIC?
• University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic
Information Center - MAGIC
• 200,000+ maps, aerial photos, and atlases
• Focus on providing public access to maps and geographic
information for Connecticut and surrounding region
COPYRIGHT & SCANNING
• Key things to consider:
• Government Agency vs Private Company
• Pre-1924 materials
• Copy or original
• Cartographer and Publisher
• Year of material
RESEARCH... THIS COULD TAKE AWHILE
• May need to contact libraries, publishers...
• Look for atlases, books and supporting materials
• Verify
if an item has been scanned - Google Books, Internet
Archive, OAIster, Google, David Rumsey, Flickr, Local Libraries
• Explore the drawers - could be part of a series
WORKSPACE
• Create workspace with:
• space to spread out maps (may need to flatten)
• dim lighting (for flatbed scanning)
• some humidity - will help avoid damage to materials
• good ventilation - some maps may have an “aroma”
SCANNING EQUIPMENT
• Select the right equipment for the task
• Flatbed
• Large format continuous feed
• Overhead photography
WORKSTATION SETUP
• 4GB RAM or more
• 512MB video card (dedicated) minimum
• Consider dual screens (2 - 19” monitors)
• Hard drive space - minimum 320GB
STORAGE
• Short Term
• 1-3 days - local computer hard drive
• Long Term
• Networked, backed up storage solution
• Able to grow with your digitization storage needs
• Backup to remote location (tape or mirrored)
STORAGE CONCERNS
• Bit rot!
• DVDs, CDs, digital files all potential victims
• Important to have back-ups
• Migrate data to verify
• Think you don’t have this? Chances are you do or will soon!
FORMATS - TIFF
• Lossless (uncompressed)
• Readable in Photoshop and most image editing programs
• Enables Exif data storage
• Gold standard for archival master copies
• GeoTIFF includes geo-location data
FORMATS - JPEG2000
• Lossy and Lossless file format (depending on settings)
• New standard for JPEG images - preserves color varations
• Reduced file size
• Requires Adobe Photoshop and other image software to view
• Exif data supported
FORMATS - PNG
• Improves upon and replaces GIF format
• Supports transparency
• Lossless image format
• Does not support Exif data
• Good for derivatives, not for archival masters
FORMATS - PDF
• Lossy or lossless format (depending on settings)
• Includes GeoPDF option - includes coordinate data
• Can include multiple layers
• Optimized for vector data (text)
• Good for deliverables depending on setting
PLANNING THE PROJECT
• Material Selection • Equipment & Costs
• What area(s) are the • Student labor?
focus?
• Scanning equipment
• High Use Items?
• Storage?
• Potential High Use Items?
• Timeline?
• Digitize to Preserve?
• Funding Options?
USAGE
• UseGoogle Analytics to determine frequently searched for
items
• What are users asking for most frequently?
• Are there unique items you want to showcase?
• Digitization can lead to increased usage and help preserve the
original
USER INPUT
• Survey to find out what users want to see
• Provide a series of options - help prioritize
• Colorful maps will likely generate more interest initially
• Think about themes... transportation, census, topographic...
METADATA - OPTIONS
• MARC Records - traditional option for maps, integral part of
library catalogs
• FGDC Metadata - includes details on data attributes, data
creation notes, and in-depth details
• Exif
data - available for some image formats (TIFF, JPEG, JPEG
2000)
MARC - PROS AND CONS
• Essential for library catalog
• Enables bounding box data to be added
• Can be migrated to other formats (XML)
• Flexible
- multiple subjects, coordinates, and other location
related data options.
• Good place to start!
FGDC METADATA
• Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) guidelines for
metadata creation
• FGDC Quick Guide (9 pages) includes key elements
• Providesflexibility for creating metadata for datasets, aerial
photos, satellite images and more
• Use others examples to guide development
FGDC METADATA TOOLS
• ArcCatalog is the preferred FGDC metadata creator for GIS
professionals
• Becomes part of the “workflow” and establishes good
practices
WHY EXIF DATA
• Enables you to embed: • Editing options
• Author • Adobe Photoshop
• Usage restrictions • Some open source
solutions
• Notes
• Can be batch processed
• Date
• Add location data
FLICKR FOR MAPS?
• $24.95 / year for unlimited space (20 MB per file or less)
• Includes creative commons licensing options
• Metadata can be added
• Usage Statistics per item & per 28 days
• Excellent “Discovery” tool
• Can enable download of maps