Re: [CODE4LIB] Formalizing Code4Lib?

[Esmé Cowles]

I don't think there is any Hydra legal entity (hence the need for a financial 
host), and the MOU is signed on behalf of the leadership committee.  So I think 
it boils down to being organized enough for the financial host to be 
comfortable entering into an agreement with them.

I can ask the people I know on the Hydra leadership committee to get more info 
on how the arrangement works.

-Esmé

> On Jun 7, 2016, at 4:19 PM, Jenn C  wrote:
> 
> This sounds like an intriguing option. What is "Hydra" that it is able to
> enter into an MOU - is the steering group an incorporated entity?
> 
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 3:40 PM, Esmé Cowles  wrote:
> 
>> I remember another option being brought up: picking an official
>> organizational home for C4L that would handle being the financial host for
>> the conference, and possibly other things (conference carryover,
>> scholarship fundraising, holding intellectual property, etc.).  An existing
>> library non-profit might be able to do this without that much overhead.
>> 
>> For example, Hydra has a MOU with DuraSpace for exactly this kind of
>> arrangement, and there was a post recently about renewing the arrangement
>> for another year, including the MOU:
>> 
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/hydra-tech/jCua5KILos4/yRpOalF6AgAJ
>> 
>> In the past, there has been a great deal of resistance to making C4L more
>> organized, and especially on the amount of work needed to run a non-profit
>> organization.  So having a financial host arrangement could be a
>> lighter-weight option.
>> 
>> -Esmé
>> 
>>> On Jun 7, 2016, at 3:31 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess 
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I think this deserves its own thread--thanks for bringing it up,
>> Christina!
>>> 
>>> I'm also interested in investigating how to formalize Code4Lib as an
>>> entity, for all of the reasons listed earlier in the thread. I can't
>>> volunteer to be the leader/torch-bearer/main source of energy behind the
>>> investigation right now (sorry), but I'm happy to join any group that
>> takes
>>> this on. I might be willing to *co*-lead, if that is what it takes to get
>>> the process started.
>>> 
>>> And, yes, anyone who has talked to me or read my rants about the
>>> proliferation of library professional organizations is going to think my
>>> volunteering for this is really funny. But I think forming a group to
>>> gather information gives us the chance to determine, as a community,
>>> whether Code4Lib delivers enough value and has enough of a separate
>>> identity to be worth forming Yet Another Professional Organization (my
>> gut
>>> answer, today? "yes"), or whether we would do better to fold into, or
>>> become a sub-entity of, some existing organization; or, (unlikely) should
>>> Code4Lib stop being A Big International Thing and just do regional stuff?
>>> Or some other option I haven't listed--I don't even know what all the
>>> options are, right now.
>>> 
>>> One note on the "no, let's not organize" sentiment: the problem with a
>> flat
>>> organization, or an anarchist collective, or a complete "do-ocracy," is
>>> that the decision-making structures aren't as obvious to newcomers, or
>> even
>>> long-term members who aren't already part of those structures. There is
>>> value to formality, within reason. I mean... right now, I don't know how
>> to
>>> go about getting "permission" to form this exploratory group, right?
>> Having
>>> some kind of formal structure would help.
>>> 
>>> So... how do we do that? Can we do that? Who wants to help?
>>> 
>>> - Coral
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 12:21 PM, Salazar, Christina <
>>> christina.sala...@csuci.edu> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> It's probably too late for a 2017 but I really do think it's time to
>>>> reopen the question of formalizing Code4Lib IF ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF
>>>> BEING THE FIDUCIARY AGENT for the annual conference.
>>>> 
>>>> Local (and national) politics aside, it's very difficult to stand in
>> front
>>>> of your boss (or worse, a total stranger) and ask them to be willing to
>>>> cover financial liability for an unaffiliated, purely voluntary
>>>> organization. In addition, we're no longer talking about a couple
>> thousand
>>>> dollars financial liability, we are now getti

Re: [CODE4LIB] Formalizing Code4Lib?

[Esmé Cowles]

I remember another option being brought up: picking an official organizational 
home for C4L that would handle being the financial host for the conference, and 
possibly other things (conference carryover, scholarship fundraising, holding 
intellectual property, etc.).  An existing library non-profit might be able to 
do this without that much overhead.

For example, Hydra has a MOU with DuraSpace for exactly this kind of 
arrangement, and there was a post recently about renewing the arrangement for 
another year, including the MOU:

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/hydra-tech/jCua5KILos4/yRpOalF6AgAJ

In the past, there has been a great deal of resistance to making C4L more 
organized, and especially on the amount of work needed to run a non-profit 
organization.  So having a financial host arrangement could be a lighter-weight 
option.

-Esmé

> On Jun 7, 2016, at 3:31 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess  wrote:
> 
> I think this deserves its own thread--thanks for bringing it up, Christina!
> 
> I'm also interested in investigating how to formalize Code4Lib as an
> entity, for all of the reasons listed earlier in the thread. I can't
> volunteer to be the leader/torch-bearer/main source of energy behind the
> investigation right now (sorry), but I'm happy to join any group that takes
> this on. I might be willing to *co*-lead, if that is what it takes to get
> the process started.
> 
> And, yes, anyone who has talked to me or read my rants about the
> proliferation of library professional organizations is going to think my
> volunteering for this is really funny. But I think forming a group to
> gather information gives us the chance to determine, as a community,
> whether Code4Lib delivers enough value and has enough of a separate
> identity to be worth forming Yet Another Professional Organization (my gut
> answer, today? "yes"), or whether we would do better to fold into, or
> become a sub-entity of, some existing organization; or, (unlikely) should
> Code4Lib stop being A Big International Thing and just do regional stuff?
> Or some other option I haven't listed--I don't even know what all the
> options are, right now.
> 
> One note on the "no, let's not organize" sentiment: the problem with a flat
> organization, or an anarchist collective, or a complete "do-ocracy," is
> that the decision-making structures aren't as obvious to newcomers, or even
> long-term members who aren't already part of those structures. There is
> value to formality, within reason. I mean... right now, I don't know how to
> go about getting "permission" to form this exploratory group, right? Having
> some kind of formal structure would help.
> 
> So... how do we do that? Can we do that? Who wants to help?
> 
> - Coral
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 12:21 PM, Salazar, Christina <
> christina.sala...@csuci.edu> wrote:
> 
>> It's probably too late for a 2017 but I really do think it's time to
>> reopen the question of formalizing Code4Lib IF ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF
>> BEING THE FIDUCIARY AGENT for the annual conference.
>> 
>> Local (and national) politics aside, it's very difficult to stand in front
>> of your boss (or worse, a total stranger) and ask them to be willing to
>> cover financial liability for an unaffiliated, purely voluntary
>> organization. In addition, we're no longer talking about a couple thousand
>> dollars financial liability, we are now getting into a HUNDRED THOUSAND
>> DOLLARS liability.
>> 
>> I question the sustainability of this present system for the long term.
>> 
>> PS (I know, everyone says no no no, we don't want to be organized, but my
>> feeling is that we need a better way to manage the funding part of the
>> conference... Or choose to go local only.)
>> 
>> 
>> Christina Salazar
>> Systems Librarian
>> John Spoor Broome Library
>> California State University, Channel Islands
>> 805/437-3198
>> 
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Brian Rogers
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2016 8:27 AM
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Update Regarding C4L17 in Chattanooga
>> 
>> Greetings from the Chattanooga C4L17 Planning Committee:
>> 
>> This is a follow-up to Andrea Schurr’s May 18th email (
>> https://goo.gl/bs2au7) regarding the survey around potential impact on
>> attendance of the 2017 Code4Lib conference, given the host of
>> discriminatory/concerning legislation in Tennessee.
>> 
>> Please see the summary of results below. We thank the individuals who took
>> the time to respond and provide thoughtful answers as to the issues at
>> hand, as well as suggest possible solutions. We met as a group last Tuesday
>> to decide how to proceed. As many pointed out, they were not easy
>> questions, and so predictably, there were no easy answers.
>> 
>> We’ve determined that given this community’s commitment to providing a
>> safe and accommodating environment for all attendees, it is morally and
>> fiscally irresponsible to contin

Re: [CODE4LIB] Back-of-house software

[Esmé Cowles]

One of the great things you can customize in JIRA is the workflow, which lets 
you make the tool work the way you want it to instead of having to live with a 
pre-set workflow.  You can have different workflows for different projects, so 
the workflow can be tailored for different groups, or tasks, etc.  UC San Diego 
uses this to great effect, with different workflows customized to software 
development, digital library ingest, etc.

-Esmé

> On May 12, 2016, at 12:15 PM, Cynthia Ng  wrote:
> 
> I've had some experience with JIRA, Redmine, and RT, and I think part of it
> has to do with how much time you want to put into customizing the system to
> fit your needs before you start using it. Here's my quick run down as I've
> experienced them.
> 
> JIRA - can be customized greatly, but can a lot of time to set it up
> because of that. User interface is clear, but can be overwhelming. A very
> big system that many have previously expressed concerns with maintaining.
> (JIRA reminds me of Drupal, where everything is customizable, but you need
> instructions sometimes on doing something "simple".) Can be fully
> integrated with Confluence (wiki). Cost money (not sure how much).
> 
> Redmine - Easy to setup and start working with. Supports multiple projects,
> wiki, codeview, many of the other standard things out of the box. I found
> the community to be very supportive as well. Cost: free.
> 
> RT (Request Tracker) - Unfortunately, less about setup/maintenance of RT.
> As a staff users, it's been easy to us, but I found many things unintuitive
> and I've had a couple of issues getting permissions to work the way I want.
> Though I believe it was not the newest version.
> 
> In all 3 cases, my experience with users submitting issues has been for
> them to fill out a form that submits an email, which gets forwarded to the
> system. JIRA and Redmine both do very well in automatically putting it into
> a specific area, tagged, etc.
> 
> My vote goes to Redmine. When I asked this question a couple of years ago
> on the list, that was the consensus the group came up with and I was very
> happy with the speed at which we got it set up and running.
> 
> On Tue, May 10, 2016 at 2:42 PM, Stuart A. Yeates  wrote:
> 
>> I’m looking for recommendations for software to run our much of our
>> academic library back-of-house business-as-usual work. Things like incident
>> management, CRM, documentation management, etc across three tiers of
>> support.
>> 
>> We’re looking for something more structured than a mediawiki wiki (which
>> we’ve got) and probably less structured than full-blown ITIL. We’re happy
>> with open source or proprietary,  self-hosted or cloud solution, but we’re
>> not happy to pay the kinds of money that Alemba (formerly VMWare) are
>> asking for vFire Core (formerly VMware Service Manager).
>> 
>> We have library management system (ALMA), a discovery system (PRIMO), a
>> website (httpd, drupal), a proxy (EZproxy) and a copyright management
>> system (Talis Aspire). Our institution provides us with user management,
>> physical access management, VM host, email and physical infrastructure.
>> 
>> Thoughts?
>> 
>> --
>> ...let us be heard from red core to black sky
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Listserv communication

[Esmé Cowles]

In fact, there is a C4L slack channel: https://code4lib.slack.com

Sign up here: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/120Dw1JjLxPJB9VTGl0mUY7Ot6yg6YNY1RZUISJFzdwk/viewform?c=0&w=1

-Esmé

> On Feb 26, 2016, at 10:23 AM, Michael Schofield  wrote:
> 
> Not thinking very critically about this, but:
> 
> I was surprised seeing that the C4L conference was looking for an IRC 
> communicator that, well, IRC. Why isn't there a Code4Lib Slack channel? The 
> Library User Experience slack-- ahem ahem https://libux.herokuapp.com -- has 
> like 200 people in it, and as more and more organizations jump on the 
> Slackwagon it is easy to sit in multiple rooms, use on your phone, etc.  Even 
> for use during the conference, during WordCamp Miami there were 350 people 
> sitting in our slack channel, preferring that to the use of twitter as the 
> backchannel.  
> 
> Best,
> 
> Michael Schofield  (@schoeyfield)
> 
> www.libux.co
> www.webforlibraries.com 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Shaun 
> D. Ellis
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 10:07 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Listserv communication
> 
> 
> On Feb 26, 2016, at 8:42 AM, Julie Swierczek 
> mailto:julie_swierc...@harvard.edu>> wrote:
> 
> We also agreed that listservs – both here and elsewhere – seem to have 
> shrinking participation over time, and there does seem to be a drive to pull 
> more conversations out of the public eye.  There is no question that some 
> matters are best discussed in private channels, such as feedback about 
> individual candidates for duty officers, or matters pertaining to physical 
> and mental well-being.  But when it comes to discussing technology or other 
> professional matters, there seems to be a larger trend of more responses 
> going off listservs.  (I, for one, generally do not reply to questions on 
> listservs and instead reply to the OP privately because I’ve been burned to 
> many times publicly.  The main listserv for archivists in the US has such a 
> bad reputation for flaming that it has its own hashtag: #thatdarnlist.)
> 
> Maybe we can brainstorm about common reasons for people not using the list: 
> impostor syndrome (I don’t belong here and/or I certainly don’t have the 
> right ‘authority’ to respond to this); fear of being judged - we see others 
> being judged on a list (about the technological finesse of their response, 
> for instance) so we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we will 
> be judged; fear of talking in general because we  have seen other people 
> harmed for bringing their ideas to public forums (cf. doxing and swatting);  
> fear of looking stupid in general.
> 
> Thank you for bringing this up, Julie.  I have been curious about this 
> myself. I think you are correct in that there is some “impostor syndrome 
> involved, but my hypothesis is that there has been a lot of splintering of 
> the channels/lists over the past several years that has dried up some of the 
> conversation.  For one, there’s StackOverflow.  StackOverflow is more 
> effective than a listserv on general tech questions because it requires you 
> to ask questions in a way that is clear (with simple examples) and keeps 
> answers on topic.  There has also been a move towards specific project lists 
> so that more general lists like Code4Lib are not bombarded with discussions 
> about project-related minutia that are only relevant to a certain 
> sub-community.
> 
> I don’t see this as a bad thing, as it allows Code4Lib to be a gathering hub 
> among many different sub-groups.  But it can make it difficult to know what 
> is appropriate to post and ask here. Code4Lib has always been about 
> inspiration and curiosity to me. This is a place to be a free thinker, to 
> question, to dissent, to wonder.  We have a long tradition of “asking 
> anything” and we shouldn’t discourage that, but I think Code4Lib is a 
> particularly good space to discuss bigger-picture tech-in-library 
> issues/challenges as well as general best practices at a “techy” level.  It’s 
> certainly the appropriate space to inspire others with amazing examples of 
> library tech that delights users. :)
> 
> I have to admit that I was disappointed that the recent question about 
> full-text searching basics (behind OregonDigital’s in-page highlighting of 
> keywords in the IA Bookreader) went basically unanswered.  This was a 
> well-articulated legitimate question, and at least a few people on this list 
> should be able to answer it. It’s actually on my list to try to do it so that 
> I can report back, but maybe someone could save me the trouble and quench our 
> curiosity?
> 
> Cheers,
> Shaun

Re: [CODE4LIB] [code4libcon] Proposed Duty Officer

[Esmé Cowles]

We live in a world where the are repercussions of calling out people for sexual 
harassment.  Not to put too fine a point on it, we live in a world where people 
were recently sued for doing just that.  So I think it's completely necessary 
to have an anonymous method of raising concerns, if you really want people to 
raise concerns with the conference organizers.

-Esmé

> On Feb 24, 2016, at 6:12 PM, Kyle Banerjee  wrote:
> 
>> Feedback about proposed duty officers can be emailed to directly to me,
>> chadbnel...@gmail.com, or submitted via this anonymous form
>> .
>> 
> 
> 
> It's unfortunate people feel a need to move discussions offline -- I
> interpret this as meaning some people are afraid of repercussions for
> respectfully sharing thoughts on an issue that affects everyone.
> 
> I believe we agree as a community we cannot be our best if the ideas and
> talents of any group are excluded. I believe we agree specific measures are
> needed to overcome structural barriers and provide opportunities to broad
> groups of people who still can't participate in the technology community on
> an equal basis.
> 
> To be direct, I have concerns about the duty officer idea.  I support the
> motivation behind the concept 100%. I have great respect for the people who
> have stepped up on this issue, both as technologists and as people in
> general.
> 
> Being a self selected group, c4l has problems found in society at large. If
> the conference is at least as safe as other environments attendees
> encounter such as airports, streets, bars, and restaurants, I would hope
> the conference organizers could address issues when self policing (i.e.
> people looking out for each other) proved inadequate.
> 
> My concern is that while harassment and assault are real issues, they have
> taken a life of their own and divert too much focus from helping people and
> improving everyone's skills to protecting people from attack. I fear these
> well meaning measures do not improve safety and possibly harden the few
> miscreants they're intended to mitigate.
> 
> I hope my words will be perceived in the spirit intended.
> 
> kyle

Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4Lib NYS Meeting: Aug. 4-5, 2016 at Cornell

[Esmé Cowles]

Christina-

It's really cool to see this shaping up!  The timing's great for me because 
it's right before my mother-in-law's birthday when we usually go up to Ithaca 
anyway.

I could lead a Fedora 4 workshop with Andrew/David, or solo if they can't make 
it.

-Esmé

> On Feb 24, 2016, at 9:23 AM, Christina Harlow  wrote:
> 
> Hi Code4Lib:
> 
> We’re planning a 2-day Code4Lib New York State Unconference at Mann Library, 
> here at Cornell University, on August 4-5 (first Thursday-Friday in August). 
> This will be in the style of the 2014 Code4Lib DC Unconference [1] and the 
> various Code4Lib Midwest Meetings [2].
> 
> We’re in the planning stages now of this event, but I’d like to both let the 
> community know this is happening (dates and place have been confirmed), and 
> send out a call for anyone interested in volunteering. Just send me a quick 
> email indicating your interest (or questions). You can see our proposal and 
> notes so far on our shared Google doc [3], and there will be an organizers 
> email sent out in the next few days.
> 
> Otherwise, expect to hear more about this event in the Spring.
> 
> Thanks!
> Christina Harlow
> 
> 1. http://library.gwu.edu/code4lib-dc-2014
> 2. http://wiki.code4lib.org/2015_Code4Lib_Midwest_Meeting
> 3. http://bit.ly/c4lNYS16

Re: [CODE4LIB] Recommendations for analytics software?

[Esmé Cowles]

I just wanted to chime in to say that this sounds a lot like "tell me how to 
track the users who have asked us not to track them?".

IMHO, the way to avoid this is to use different kinds of tools for different 
kinds of analysis.  Static log analysis generally doesn't treat users as 
individuals and provides good usage info (number of pages/requests, browsers, 
operating systems, etc.).  If your usage numbers from Google Analytics have 
suffered because of Do Not Track, then comparing current usage data to previous 
usage data will probably allow you to show a more reliable measure of aggregate 
traffic.

Tools like GA and Piwik that use Javascript to capture user sessions, events 
that don't trigger a server request, etc. seem very complementary: they can 
give you more insight into how people are using your site.  Usability testing 
is the same idea taken further, and I highly recommend it as a way to really 
understand your users better.

I'm afraid this is exactly the opposite of what you asked for (one-stop-shop 
analytics), but I think it's the way to get the info you need while respecting 
your users.

-Esme

> On Sep 25, 2015, at 3:58 PM, Shafer, Sharon  wrote:
> 
> Sorry for duplication.  I also asked web4lib.
> I've noticed a major decrease in my Google Analytics data because of  tracking> so I'm looking at other web analytics tools. We run the Google 
> Analytics module on a Drupal site. I'm curious what other libraries are doing 
> to capture web site user behavior.  Additional GA modules?  Combination of 
> tagging and log analysis via a vendor system? Perhaps, using a CRM like 
> SalesForce?  I did get a recommendation about Piwik so I'm off to investigate.
> 
> I'm trying to address the  issue, but I'm also contemplating the 
> pie-in-the-sky analytics wish list.  Is there something that provides an 
> archived, comprehensive, one-stop-shopping data source for all the web site 
> user behavior that is accessible by all Library staff and can be used to 
> easily generate data visualization reports for analysis, ROI reports, and 
> making data driven decisions regarding the web site.  Perhaps, mixed with 
> system performance reports and alerts for monitoring how systems are 
> performing.  Is there something that makes it easy to upload or access 
> enterprise data where the user is guided through statistical analytics and or 
> visualization?  Maybe there is a method of obtaining and archiving and 
> strategically scrubbing that ensures user privacy that adheres to ALA's 
> Library Bill of Rights and Core Values of Librarianship?
> 
> Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
> --Sharon

Re: [CODE4LIB] Fedora 4 repositories with open API?

[Esmé Cowles]

And if there aren't any open Fedora 4 repositories forthcoming, you can always 
use fcrepo4-vagrant to spin up your own pretty easily:

https://github.com/fcrepo4-labs/fcrepo4-vagrant

-Esme

> On 07/08/15, at 4:01 PM, Tom Cramer  wrote:
> 
> Hi Patrick,
> 
> To my knowledge, Penn State has one of the current Fedora 4 repositories in 
> production; a few others are close (including the Royal Library of Denmark). 
> You might also want to post th is query on the fedora-t...@googlegroups.com 
> and/or fedora-commun...@googlegroups.com list.
> 
> Hope this helps, 
> 
> - Tom
> 
> PS. Has there been any thought that Omeka S might also be IIIF-friendly 
> , and able to present image-based resources from any 
> IIIF-compatible repository by consuming both the IIIF image and presentation 
> APIs ? I can muster up some live IIIF 
> API endpoints, if you are interested. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jul 8, 2015, at 9:07 AM, Patrick Murray-John  
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> The Omeka  web publication tool for GLAMs is working on a 
>> new version, Omeka S, that will include modules for connecting to various 
>> other systems, including Fedora 4.
>> 
>> Does anyone have a Fedora 4 installation with open API that we could use to 
>> test the basic reading and import mechanisms against? This would be for 
>> development and testing purposes only.
>> 
>> Many thanks,
>> 
>> Patrick Murray-John
>> Omeka Director of Developer Outreach

Re: [CODE4LIB] How to measure quality of a record

[Esmé Cowles]

Sergio-

Mark Phillips has a related blog post that I think is an excellent place to 
start, which outlines a system for scoring how complete a record is:

http://vphill.com/journal/post/4075

There was some discussion on twitter recently about this, which you can look up 
on the #metadataquality hashtag: https://twitter.com/hashtag/metadataquality

I think there was a move to setup a mailing list for this topic or something 
like that, but I'm not sure where that stands now.

-Esme

> On 05/06/15, at 7:21 AM, Sergio Letuche  wrote:
> 
> Hello community,
> 
> is there a way, any statistical approach, that you are aware of that let's
> say, allows one to have an idea of how "complete" a record is, or what are
> the actions you take in order to have an idea of the quality of a record,
> and eventually a database?
> 
> Thank you in advance

Re: [CODE4LIB] Modeling a repository's objects in a relational database

[Esmé Cowles]

We do store our metadata in a relational database (postgresql).  But instead of 
doing relational modeling of any particular schema, we model everything as RDF. 
 So our database is just one big table with columns for subject, prediate, 
object and namedGraph.  We do queries using Jena to transform SPARQL into SQL 
queries.

We started out with a similar approach several years ago, and switched to a 
triplestore for better RDF and SPARQL support.  But we ran into problems when 
we deployed this, since the triplestore wasn't really designed for simultaneous 
reads and edits from multiple users.

Since we do the vast majority of our query and view operations with Solr, our 
main concern was having reliable transaction support for updates.  So using a 
relational database to store our triples was a good fit.

-Esme

> On 04/17/15, at 2:40 PM, Kevin S. Clarke  wrote:
> 
> Hi Stephen,
> 
> I believe the UCSD folks have put things in a relational database in a
> spec-agnostic way (and then they can pull things out as MODS, MARC, or
> whatever on the fly when needed).  There is a link below to their GitHub
> repository which has some documentation (and slides from a 2013
> presentation they gave at that year's Code4Lib conference).
> 
> https://github.com/ucsdlib/dams/tree/master/ontology
> 
> Hope that helps,
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 1:27 PM, Stephen Schor 
> wrote:
> 
>> Hullo.
>> 
>> I'm interested to hear about people's approaches for modeling
>> repository objects in a normalized, spec-agnostic way, _relational_ way
>> while
>> maintaining the ability to cast objects as various specs (MODS, Dublin
>> Core).
>> 
>> People often resort to storing an object as one specification (the text of
>> the MODS for example),
>> and then convert it other specs using XSLT or their favorite language,
>> using established
>> mappings / conversions. (
>> http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/mods-conversions.html)
>> 
>> Baking a MODS representation into a database text field can introduce
>> problems with queryablity and remediation that I _feel_ would be hedged
>> by factoring out information from the XML document, and modeling it
>> in a relational DB.
>> 
>> This is idea that's been knocking around in my head for a while.
>> I'd like to hear if people have gone down this road...and I'm especially
>> eager to hear both success and horror stories about what kind of results
>> they got.
>> 
>> Stephen
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "There are two kinds of people in this world: those who believe there are
> two kinds of people in this world and those who know better."

Re: [CODE4LIB] linked data question

[Esmé Cowles]

Cindy-

I think there are several options for how this works, and different 
applications may take different approaches.  The most basic approach would be 
to just include the URIs in your local system and retrieve them any time you 
wanted to work with them.  But the performance of that would be terrible, and 
your application would stop working if it couldn't retrieve the URIs.

So there are lots of different approaches (which could be combined):

- Retrieve the URIs the first time, and then cache them locally.
- Download an entire data dump of the remote vocabulary and host it locally.
- Add text fields in parallel to the URIs, so you at least have a label for it.
- Index the data in Solr, Elasticsearch, etc. and use that most of the time, 
esp. for read-only operations.

-Esme

> On 02/25/15, at 2:30 PM, Harper, Cynthia  wrote:
> 
> Well, that's my question.  I have the micro view of linked data, I think - 
> it's a distribution/self-describing format. But I don't see the big picture.
> 
> In the non-techie library world, linked data is being talked about (perhaps 
> only in listserv traffic) as if the data (bibliographic data, for instance) 
> will reside on remote sites (as a SPARQL endpoint??? We don't know the 
> technical implications of that), and be displayed by  centralized inter-national catalog> by calling data from that remote site. 
> But the original question was how the data on those remote sites would be 
>  - how can I start my search by searching for that remote 
> content?  I assume there has to be a database implementation that visits that 
> data and pre-indexes it for it to be searchable, and therefore the index has 
> to be local (or global a la Google or OCLC or its bibliographic-linked-data 
> equivalent). 
> 
> All of the above parenthesized or bracketed concepts are nebulous to me.
> 
> Cindy
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Sarah 
> Weissman
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 11:02 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] linked data question
> 
>> I think Code4libbers will know more about my question about 
>> distributed INDEXES?  This is my rudimentary knowledge of linked data 
>> - that the indexing process will have to transit the links, and build 
>> a local index to the data, even if in displaying the individual 
>> "records", it goes again out to the source.  But are there examples of 
>> distributed systems that have distributed INDEXES?  Or Am I wrong in 
>> envisioning an index as a separate entity from the data in today's 
>> technology?
>> 
>> 
> I'm a little confused by what you mean by distributed index in a linked data 
> context. I assume an index would have to be database implementation specific, 
> while data is typically exposed for external consumption via 
> implementation-agnostic protocols/formats, like a SPARQL endpoint or a REST 
> API. How do you locally index something remote under these constraints?
> 
> -Sarah
> 
> 
> 
>> Cindy Harper
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Harper, Cynthia
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 1:20 PM
>> To: auto...@listserv.syr.edu; 'Williams, Ann'
>> Subject: RE: linked data question
>> 
>> What I haven't read, but what I have wondered about, is whether so 
>> far, linked DATA is distributed, but the INDEXES are local?  Is there 
>> any example of a system with distributed INDEXES?
>> 
>> Cindy Harper
>> char...@vts.edu
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: AUTOCAT [mailto:auto...@listserv.syr.edu] On Behalf Of Williams, 
>> Ann
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 10:26 AM
>> To: auto...@listserv.syr.edu
>> Subject: [ACAT] linked data question
>> 
>> I was just wondering how linked data will affect OPAC searching and 
>> discovery vs. a record with text approach. For example, we have 
>> various 856 links to publisher, summary and biographical information 
>> in our OPAC as well as ISBNs linking to ContentCafe. But none of that 
>> content is discoverable in the OPAC and it requires a further click on 
>> the part of patrons (many of whom won't click).
>> 
>> Ann Williams
>> USJ
>> --
>> **
>> *
>> 
>> AUTOCAT quoting guide: http://www.cwu.edu/~dcc/Autocat/copyright.html
>> E-mail AUTOCAT listowners: autocat-requ...@listserv.syr.edu
>> Search AUTOCAT archives:  http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/autocat.html
>>  By posting messages to AUTOCAT, the author does not cede copyright
>> 
>> **
>> *
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] linked data question

[Esmé Cowles]

Yes, I would expect each organization to fetch linked data resources and 
maintain their own local indexes, and probably also cache the remote resources 
to make it easier and faster to work with them.  I've heard discussions of 
caching strategies, shared indexing tools, etc., but haven't heard about anyone 
distributing pre-indexed content.

Many vocabularies are available as RDF data dumps, which can sometimes be very 
large and unwieldy.  So I could imagine being able to download, e.g., a Solr 
index of the vocabulary instead of having to index it yourself.  But I haven't 
heard of anybody doing that.

-Esme

> On 02/24/15, at 10:56 AM, Harper, Cynthia  wrote:
> 
> Ann - I thought I'd refer part of your question to Code4lib.  
> 
> As far as having to click to get the linked data: systems that use linked 
> data will be built to transit the link without the user being aware - it's 
> the system that will follow that link and find the distributed data, then 
> display it as it is programmed to do so.
> 
> I think Code4libbers will know more about my question about distributed 
> INDEXES?  This is my rudimentary knowledge of linked data - that the indexing 
> process will have to transit the links, and build a local index to the data, 
> even if in displaying the individual "records", it goes again out to the 
> source.  But are there examples of distributed systems that have distributed 
> INDEXES?  Or Am I wrong in envisioning an index as a separate entity from the 
> data in today's technology?
> 
> Cindy Harper
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Harper, Cynthia 
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 1:20 PM
> To: auto...@listserv.syr.edu; 'Williams, Ann'
> Subject: RE: linked data question
> 
> What I haven't read, but what I have wondered about, is whether so far, 
> linked DATA is distributed, but the INDEXES are local?  Is there any example 
> of a system with distributed INDEXES?
> 
> Cindy Harper
> char...@vts.edu
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: AUTOCAT [mailto:auto...@listserv.syr.edu] On Behalf Of Williams, Ann
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 10:26 AM
> To: auto...@listserv.syr.edu
> Subject: [ACAT] linked data question
> 
> I was just wondering how linked data will affect OPAC searching and discovery 
> vs. a record with text approach. For example, we have various 856 links to 
> publisher, summary and biographical information in our OPAC as well as ISBNs 
> linking to ContentCafe. But none of that content is discoverable in the OPAC 
> and it requires a further click on the part of patrons (many of whom won't 
> click).
> 
> Ann Williams
> USJ
> --
> ***
> 
> AUTOCAT quoting guide: http://www.cwu.edu/~dcc/Autocat/copyright.html
> E-mail AUTOCAT listowners: autocat-requ...@listserv.syr.edu
> Search AUTOCAT archives:  http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/autocat.html
>  By posting messages to AUTOCAT, the author does not cede copyright
> 
> ***

Re: [CODE4LIB] Vote for Code4lib 2016 location

[Esmé Cowles]

I think now is exactly the right time to talk about this -- when we have 
multiple hosting proposals to choose from.  Adding some multi-track sessions, 
like making the conference significantly larger, is controversial, and people 
can vote based on that.

I am also torn between different factors (weather, trying some multi-track 
sessions, travel considerations, etc.), but that's always the case when 
deciding on hosting proposals.

-Esme

> On 02/23/15, at 11:36 AM, Salazar, Christina  
> wrote:
> 
> What Josh said:
> 
> In a multi-track, you are forced to choose and never get to see what is going 
> on in the areas that you've been forced to opt out of. Which I think would be 
> a shame since some of the "non-technical" talks really NEED to be heard by 
> those who are there purely for the "tech."
> 
> I do think someone from Philly needs to answer the original question: can 
> they put on a single track conference if that's what the community wants. It 
> will make a difference it seems, in the vote.
> 
> Then if BOTH LA and Philly can do single track (or multitrack or some other 
> permutation) we can vote on each city as equals.
> 
> This way we don't need to debate the merits of single or multitrack at the 
> same time as we're debating the merits of LA versus Philly.
> 
> 
> Christina Salazar
> Systems Librarian
> John Spoor Broome Library
> California State University, Channel Islands
> 805/437-3198
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of 
> Joshua Gomez
> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 11:31 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Vote for Code4lib 2016 location
> 
> Allowing for "focus" via multi-track also enables echo chambers in which 
> people that could probably most benefit from non-code related talks never see 
> them.
> 
> As a possible solution, we could have a post-conference afternoon on Thursday 
> where people could meet to dig deeper into themes that occurred during the 
> general session. Similar to what happened this year with the breakouts at the 
> end, but with a little more emphasis and organization.
> 
> -Josh
> 
> 
> Joshua Gomez | Sr. Software Engineer
> Getty Research Institute | Los Angeles, CA
> 310-440-7421
> 
 "Frumkin, Jeremy A - (frumkinj)"  
 02/23/15 11:19 AM >>>
> A couple of thoughts:
> 
> 1) It takes a lot of effort to put these proposals together. Let's not lose 
> sight that both proposals are good proposals, and that's why we have a vote. 
> I'm sure there are various opinions on both proposals.
> 
> 2) Separate from either proposal, I was struck this year by a greater 
> diversity in topic areas for code4lib than I have observed in the past.
> There definitely felt like there was interest in tracks that were not as 
> code-focused (such as culture / community, management, etc.). With the 
> conference growing to the size it has, I personally feel it might be 
> interesting to try a hybrid of single / multi-track, to allow those attending 
> an opportunity to have the ability to have some additional focus on some 
> theme areas. When we started code4lib, the size of the conference was such 
> that a single track made a lot of sense; as the event has grown, both in size 
> and maturity, I'd like to suggest that it may be worth exploring having both 
> single track sessions and multi-track sessions to allow deeper dives by 
> different segments of the attendees.
> 
> Just my $.02
> 
> -- jaf
> 
> ---
> Jeremy Frumkin
> Assistant Dean / Chief Technology Strategist University of Arizona Libraries
> 
> +1 520.626.7296
> j...@arizona.edu
> 
> "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." - Albert 
> Einstein
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 2/23/15, 12:09 PM, "Riley Childs"  wrote:
> 
>> I agree, the appeal of code4lib is the single track.
>> 
>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>> 
>> --
>> Riley Childs
>> Senior
>> Charlotte United Christian Academy
>> Library Services Administrator
>> IT Services Administrator
>> (704) 537-0331x101
>> (704) 497-2086
>> rileychilds.net
>> @rowdychildren
>> I use Lync (select External Contact on any XMPP chat client)
>> 
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  This email and any files transmitted with it 
>> are the property of Charlotte United Christian Academy.  This e-mail, 
>> and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the 
>> addressee(s) named herein and may contain confidential information that 
>> is privileged and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law.  If 
>> you are not one of the named original recipients or have received this 
>> e-mail in error, please permanently delete the original and any copy of 
>> any e-mail and any printout thereof. Thank you for your compliance.  
>> This email is also subject to copyright. No part of it nor any 
>> attachments may be reproduced, adapted, forwarded or transmit

Re: [CODE4LIB] Vote for Code4lib 2016 location

[Esmé Cowles]

Count me as another +1 for at least some multi-track sessions.  I think it 
could be a great way to have more opportunities for people to present, more 
sessions focused on the topics I'm most interested in, etc.

-Esme

> On 02/23/15, at 11:18 AM, Frumkin, Jeremy A - (frumkinj) 
>  wrote:
> 
> A couple of thoughts:
> 
> 1) It takes a lot of effort to put these proposals together. Let's not
> lose sight that both proposals are good proposals, and that's why we have
> a vote. I'm sure there are various opinions on both proposals.
> 
> 2) Separate from either proposal, I was struck this year by a greater
> diversity in topic areas for code4lib than I have observed in the past.
> There definitely felt like there was interest in tracks that were not as
> code-focused (such as culture / community, management, etc.). With the
> conference growing to the size it has, I personally feel it might be
> interesting to try a hybrid of single / multi-track, to allow those
> attending an opportunity to have the ability to have some additional focus
> on some theme areas. When we started code4lib, the size of the conference
> was such that a single track made a lot of sense; as the event has grown,
> both in size and maturity, I'd like to suggest that it may be worth
> exploring having both single track sessions and multi-track sessions to
> allow deeper dives by different segments of the attendees.
> 
> Just my $.02
> 
> -- jaf
> 
> ---
> Jeremy Frumkin
> Assistant Dean / Chief Technology Strategist
> University of Arizona Libraries
> 
> +1 520.626.7296
> j...@arizona.edu
> 
> "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." - Albert
> Einstein
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 2/23/15, 12:09 PM, "Riley Childs"  wrote:
> 
>> I agree, the appeal of code4lib is the single track.
>> 
>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>> 
>> --
>> Riley Childs
>> Senior
>> Charlotte United Christian Academy
>> Library Services Administrator
>> IT Services Administrator
>> (704) 537-0331x101
>> (704) 497-2086
>> rileychilds.net
>> @rowdychildren
>> I use Lync (select External Contact on any XMPP chat client)
>> 
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  This email and any files transmitted with it are
>> the property of Charlotte United Christian Academy.  This e-mail, and any
>> attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named
>> herein and may contain confidential information that is privileged and/or
>> exempt from disclosure under applicable law.  If you are not one of the
>> named original recipients or have received this e-mail in error, please
>> permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and any
>> printout thereof. Thank you for your compliance.  This email is also
>> subject to copyright. No part of it nor any attachments may be
>> reproduced, adapted, forwarded or transmitted without the written consent
>> of the copyright ow...@cucawarriors.com
>> 
>> 
>> From: Collier, Aaron
>> Sent: ?2/?23/?2015 2:08 PM
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Vote for Code4lib 2016 location
>> 
>> In conjunction with the "distributed location" pre-conferences AND
>> multi-track the proposal is not very appealing.
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Fox, Bobbi
>> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 10:51 AM
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Vote for Code4lib 2016 location
>> 
>> Is there wiggle room on the Philadelphia "multiple track" proposal, or do
>> those of us who would prefer single track only have the [not]choice of
>> voting for L.A.?
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> Bobbi
>> 
>> 
 On Feb 22, 2015, at 8:48 PM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:
 
 Hey All,
 
 Just wanted to make everyone aware of the two fantastic proposals to
>>> host Code4lib 2016 that have been submitted. The cities of of Los
>>> Angeles and Philadelphia have submitted proposals which are now
>>> available at the official Code4lib Website
 
 http://code4lib.org/content/code4lib-2016-conference-proposals
 
 Voting will open tomorrow (UTC so probably already open if you are
>>> reading this) and will remain open until 2015-03-07 08:00:00 UTC
 
 You can vote here (registration required)
 
 http://vote.code4lib.org/election/37
 
 Thanks to the both cities for their submissions.
 
 best regards,
 Francis
 
 --
 FORTUNE PROVIDES QUESTIONS FOR THE GREAT ANSWERS: #13
 A:  Doc, Happy, Bashful, Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, & Grumpy
 Q:  Who were the Democratic presidential candidates?

Re: [CODE4LIB] seeking linked data-based user interface examples in libraries

[Esmé Cowles]

This is a good point.  Our DAMS (http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/) uses RDF, and 
there are link headers advertising the fact that you can add .rdf to our object 
and collection pages to get the RDF/XML for them.  But there isn't a lot in the 
UI that would tell you that.

-Esme

> On 02/11/15, at 7:20 AM, Ethan Gruber  wrote:
> 
> It depends on what you mean by interface. Are you just looking for social
> network visualizations or virtually any interface built on LOD (which may
> be quite varied and transparent to the point you don't even realize you are
> interacting with linked data)?
> 
> Most of these social network graphs are generated from static files (like
> the SNAC radial graph, which is a graph XML scheme derived from EAC-CPF) or
> from desktop tools. The holy grail for social network analysis is to build
> these visualizations in HTML5/Javascript on top of dynamic web services
> (e.g., from SPARQL). I'm going to start working on this as soon as this
> summer in xEAC (https://github.com/ewg118/xEAC) as soon as I finish the
> EAC-CPF -> CIDOC-CRM crosswalk.
> 
> On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 10:12 AM, David Lowe <
> david.b.lowe.librar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I consider SNAC and its radial graph view one of the leaders in this space:
>> http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/search
>> --DBL
>> 
>> On 2/11/15, Sheila M. Morrissey  wrote:
>>> Do you know if the relationship-viewer source code open source and
>>> available?
>>> Thanks,
>>> sheila
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>> Kevin Hawkins
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 11:27 PM
>>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] seeking linked data-based user interface
>> examples in
>>> libraries
>>> 
>>> Here's one that I heard about at a presentation at ALA Midwinter:
>>> 
>>> http://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/content/relationship-viewer
>>> 
>>> People also like to cite this one, though it's not, strictly speaking,
>> based
>>> in a library:
>>> 
>>> https://linkedjazz.org/
>>> 
>>> --Kevin
>>> 
>>> On 2/10/15 12:39 PM, Adam L. Chandler wrote:
 Hi,
 
 
 I am working on a presentation about linked data and I need some help.
>> My
 talk is about examples of linked data-based user interfaces in
>> libraries,
 wireframes, demos, or working systems. I am having difficulty finding
 them. Please send me your examples.
 
 
 Thanks,
 
 Adam Chandler
 
>>> 
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] examples of displays for compound objects and metadata

[Esmé Cowles]

Sarah-

We developed our own RDF ontology[1] to model our data, based roughly on MODS 
and MADS, and we store our files and metadata in a custom repository[2] which 
implements the core of the Fedora 3 REST API.  We developed a Hydra head[3] for 
searching, display, etc.

There is currently an effort underway in the Hydra community called 
Hydra::Works[4] to build a common data model that can handle complex objects.  
We plan to implement this model soon using Fedora 4, a Hydra head based on 
Sufia[5], and a data model that closely follows DPLA's v4 draft[6].

If you are coming to C4L in Portland, I will be there there (as will be many 
other Hydra and Fedora 4 people), and there are also some sessions planned for 
Thursday and Friday after the conference proper ends[7].

-Esme

1. https://github.com/ucsdlib/dams/tree/master/ontology
2. https://github.com/ucsdlib/damsrepo
3. https://github.com/ucsdlib/damspas
4. https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/hydra/Hydra::Works+Shared+Modeling
5. https://github.com/projecthydra/sufia
6. 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jh8ULpw0jb8kyxV-Ygw9U0n-XqXkM6_V3jxfmnkebqo
7. https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/hydra/Hydra+Activities+post+code4lib+2015

> On 01/29/15, at 10:25 AM, Sarah Park  wrote:
> 
> Esme,
> 
> Your examples are similar to what I am hoping for. Can you explain a little
> bit more what system you used for backend to store image URLs and Object
> descriptions? 
> 
> Sarah
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Esmé
> Cowles
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 4:14 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] examples of displays for compound objects and
> metadata
> 
> Laura-
> 
> At UCSD, we have complex objects which range from a flat list of files (e.g.
> page images):
> 
> http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb59054559
> 
> all the way up to pretty involved hierarchy modeling a filesystem:
> 
> http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb9796611k
> 
> Many of these have a hierarchy with files attached, but not much metadata
> for the individual parts.  But there are also some objects with more
> metadata for each part:
> 
> http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb0479301d?
> 
> -Esme
> 
>> On 01/28/15, at 4:43 PM, Laura Buchholz  wrote:
>> 
>> We're migrating from CONTENTdm and trying to figure out how to display 
>> compound objects (or the things formerly known as compound objects) 
>> and metadata for the end user. Can anyone point me to really good 
>> examples of displaying items like this, especially where the user can 
>> see metadata for parts of the whole? I'm looking more for examples of 
>> the layout of all the different components on the page (or pages) 
>> rather than specific image viewers. Our new system is homegrown, so we 
>> have a lot of flexibility in deciding where things go.
>> 
>> We essentially have:
>> -the physical item (multiple files per item of images of text, plain 
>> text, pdf) -metadata about the item -possibly metadata about a part of 
>> the item (think title/author/subjects for a newspaper article within 
>> the whole newspaper issue), of which the titles might be used for 
>> navigation through the whole item.
>> 
>> I think Hathi Trust has a good example of all these components coming 
>> together (except viewing non-title metadata for parts), and I'm 
>> curious if there are others. Or do most places just skip 
>> creating/displaying any kind of metadata for the parts of the whole?
>> 
>> Thanks for any help!
>> 
>> --
>> Laura Buchholz
>> Digital Assets Specialist
>> Reed College
>> 503-517-7629
>> laura.buchh...@reed.edu

Re: [CODE4LIB] examples of displays for compound objects and metadata

[Esmé Cowles]

Laura-

At UCSD, we have complex objects which range from a flat list of files (e.g. 
page images):

http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb59054559

all the way up to pretty involved hierarchy modeling a filesystem:

http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb9796611k

Many of these have a hierarchy with files attached, but not much metadata for 
the individual parts.  But there are also some objects with more metadata for 
each part:

http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb0479301d?

-Esme

> On 01/28/15, at 4:43 PM, Laura Buchholz  wrote:
> 
> We're migrating from CONTENTdm and trying to figure out how to display
> compound objects (or the things formerly known as compound objects) and
> metadata for the end user. Can anyone point me to really good examples of
> displaying items like this, especially where the user can see metadata for
> parts of the whole? I'm looking more for examples of the layout of all the
> different components on the page (or pages) rather than specific image
> viewers. Our new system is homegrown, so we have a lot of flexibility in
> deciding where things go.
> 
> We essentially have:
> -the physical item (multiple files per item of images of text, plain
> text, pdf)
> -metadata about the item
> -possibly metadata about a part of the item (think title/author/subjects
> for a newspaper article within the whole newspaper issue), of which the
> titles might be used for navigation through the whole item.
> 
> I think Hathi Trust has a good example of all these components coming
> together (except viewing non-title metadata for parts), and I'm curious if
> there are others. Or do most places just skip creating/displaying any kind
> of metadata for the parts of the whole?
> 
> Thanks for any help!
> 
> -- 
> Laura Buchholz
> Digital Assets Specialist
> Reed College
> 503-517-7629
> laura.buchh...@reed.edu

Re: [CODE4LIB] Conference photography policy

[Esmé Cowles]

I think this makes sense, and I support adopting an opt-in photo policy.  I 
think it would be great if we could get lanyards which will make it easier to 
see, but given how short the notice is that probably needs to wait till next 
year.

I have personally taken and posted panoramic photos of the whole room at 
code4lib (e.g., https://www.flickr.com/photos/ticklefish/8484653567/).  I like 
taking pictures like this, and I wonder if there's a good way to handle that (I 
think I've heard about having people who didn't want to be photographed sit on 
one side of the room or something like that).  If something like that isn't 
practical, I'd gladly stop taking pictures like that.

-Esme

> On 01/26/15, at 12:57 PM, Sarah Shealy  wrote:
> 
> I see your point, nothing is 100% effective. Especially anywhere more than 4 
> or 5 people gather. I would think the first year of implementation would be 
> more of a 'let everyone know' type deal. And the MC can also point out any 
> changes in policy (not just this one) during breaks.
> However, with the lanyards/whatnot, the instances of unwanted photographs 
> should go down. If you don't wear a badge/lanyard/etc you won't really have 
> to worry about it. I'd suggest we have an addition to the policy that 
> basically reads "We understand that many people will not know about this 
> policy, and on a first incident someone taking an unwanted photograph is told 
> about the policy. Afterwards, the case(s) will be handled as determined by 
> x." There should also be a part that says "If the lanyard/badge/whatnot is 
> not clearly visible, the picture taker should be informed of the issue and 
> remove the image from the phone/camera." No one can control what happens to 
> participants outside of the venue, unfortunately, but hopefully other 
> Code4Libbers would still abide by the policy.
> This isn't meant to restrict your freedom or get people in trouble. It's to 
> protect those who feel they need protection. I wouldn't use a 
> lanyard/badge/whatnot personally (if voluntary - if you have to choose a 
> color on registration, obviously I would), but I'm not going to make others 
> feel as though they're in the wrong for choosing to do it.
> Did all of that make sense? 
> Sarah
> 
>> Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 08:52:18 -0800
>> From: kyle.baner...@gmail.com
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Conference photography policy
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> 
>> On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 6:58 AM, Galen Charlton  wrote:
>> 
>>> I would like to propose that C4L adopt a policy requiring that consent
>>> be explicitly given to be photographed or recorded, along the lines of
>>> a policy adopted by the Evergreen Project. [1]
>>> 
>> 
>> As a practical matter, this is functionally equivalent to prohibiting
>> photography except for arranged photos which will need something simple
>> (like pictures of  cameras and mikes with slashes through them posted
>> throughout the venue) to communicate the policy. Differential badges,
>> lanyards, etc will not always be visible, and not all people will notice
>> them, be aware of what they mean, or can be assumed to be familiar with a
>> written policy. On an aside note, a lot of activity occurs outside the
>> official venues and it is in these areas where people might be most
>> vulnerable to unwanted photos.
>> 
>> kyle
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Update on Code4Lib 2015 registration info

[Esmé Cowles]

Also not on the committee, but I can help with #3: getting to the conference is 
very easy by train: there's a train from the airport to downtown Portland, 
which stops less than 1/4 mile from the hotel, and costs $2.50 each way.

-Esme

> On Dec 1, 2014, at 5:10 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess  wrote:
> 
> I'm not on the committee, but I can help with #5:
> http://vote.code4lib.org/election/results/33
> 
> (Also here are the keynotes: http://vote.code4lib.org/election/results/31)
> 
> - Coral
> 
> On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 4:50 PM, Emily Lynema  wrote:
> 
>> I suspect that it is time to start planning travel requests for Code4Lib
>> 2015. Can the organizing committee provide some more info than what is
>> currently available at http://code4lib.org/conference/2015/ such as:
>> 
>> 1. Hotel price
>> 2. Estimated registration (I know you don't know for sure yet!)
>> 3. Travel info (are there buses, shuttles, public transit, etc.)
>> 4. Date registration will open (again, just an idea of the timeline will
>> help us plan for travel requests)
>> 5. An easy link to the proposals that were submitted / results of voting.
>> 
>> This would be immensely helpful.
>> 
>> Thanks!!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Emily Lynema
>> Associate Department Head
>> Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
>> 919-513-8031
>> emily_lyn...@ncsu.edu
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] very large image display?

[Esmé Cowles]

We previously used the Zoomify Flash applet, but now use Leaflet.js with the 
Zoomify tileset plugin:

https://github.com/turban/Leaflet.Zoomify

One thing I like about this approach is that it minimizes the amount of 
Javascript code the clients have to load, since we use Leaflet.js for our maps 
and it's already loaded.

-Esme

>> -Original Message-
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of 
>> Jonathan Rochkind
>> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 10:36 AM
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: [CODE4LIB] very large image display?
>> 
>> Does anyone have a good solution to recommend for display of very large 
>> images on the web?  I'm thinking of something that supports pan and scan, as 
>> well as loading only certain tiles for the current view to avoid loading an 
>> entire giant image.
>> 
>> A URL to more info to learn about things would be another way of answering 
>> this question, especially if it involves special server-side software.  I'm 
>> not sure where to begin. Googling around I can't find any clearly good 
>> solutions.
>> 
>> Has anyone done this before and been happy with a solution?
>> 
>> Thanks for any info!
>> 
>> Jonathan

[CODE4LIB] Friends of code4lib (was Re: [CODE4LIB] Call for Old Conf Tshirt Logos)

[Esmé Cowles]

It seems like the main things a 501(c)(6) can do that a 501(c)(3) can't is 
engage in advertising, lobbying, supporting candidates for office, etc.  Other 
that that, it can engage in the same activities as a 501(c)(3).

IMHO, a "Friends of code4lib" non-profit organization would fall squarely under 
the the advancement of education category (i.e. to support educational 
activities such as the conference, mailing list, website, IRC channel, etc.).  
So a 501(c)(3) seems like a better fit to me.

-Esme

On 04/13/2014, at 12:57 PM, Simon Spero  wrote:

> [Note that 501 (c)(6) only applies to membership organizations]
> 
> 
> On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:55 PM, Simon Spero  wrote:
> 
>> Whilst it might be possible that code4lib might qualify under IRC
>> 501(c)(3) it is also possible  that code4lib might be a professional
>> organization under IRC 501(c)(6) .
>> 
>> 6.  An organization formed to stimulate the development and
>>> free interchange of information pertaining to systems and programming
>>> of electronic data processing equipment may qualify for exempt status under
>>> IRC 501(c)(6). The membership of the particular organization at issue
>>> is composed of members who represent diversified businesses that own,
>>> rent, or lease digital computers produced by various manufacturers. The
>>> organization holds semi-annual conferences to discuss operational
>>> and technical problems. The activities of this organization provide a
>>> forum for the exchange of information that will improve the efficiency of
>>> the use
>>> of such computers, both by members and other interested users, and
>>> thus improve the overall efficiency of the business operations of each.
>>> Rev. Rul. 74-147, 1974-1 C.B. 136. Distinguished in Rev. Rul. 83-164,
>>> 1983-2
>>> C.B. 95, discussed under The "Line of Business" Requirement, page 22.
>> 
>> 
>> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopick03.pdf  , page K-8
>> 
>> See e.g. the ALA - a 501(c)(3) organization, vs. ALA-APA 501(c)(6).
>> 
>> http://ala-apa.org/about-ala-apa/governing-documents/501c6-tax-status/
>> 
>> [IANAL. IANALL.]
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 2:51 PM, Heller, Margaret wrote:
>> 
>>> Here is a good place to start:
>>> http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations. I
>>> don't think a Friends of Code4Lib would qualify as a 501(C)(4) or the other
>>> types of exempt organization, but possibly.
>>> 
>>> That said, we will run into all the problems that have stymied these
>>> types of discussions in the past that are not legal problems but
>>> philosophical problems. It's not hard to fill out the 501(C)(3)
>>> application, but figuring out what to put in the boxes when you don't have
>>> a legal entity is difficult. So someone would have to incorporate the
>>> Friends organization. I am sure most of us work at places with Friends of
>>> the library and could see their bylaws to get some ideas.
>>> 
>>> Margaret Heller
>>> Digital Services Librarian
>>> Loyola University Chicago
>>> 773-508-2686
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>> Lisa Rabey
>>> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2014 9:39 AM
>>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Call for Old Conf Tshirt Logos
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 8:30 AM, Francis Kayiwa 
>>> wrote:
 
 +1
 
 Go for it Lisa!
 
 ./fxk
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I can start digging into the hows/whys sometime in early May and report
>>> back. If anyone has anything of interest (past C4L list convos,
>>> recommendations, etc), pass them along!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> Lisa M. Rabey | @pnkrcklibrarian
>>> 
>>> 
>>> http://exitpursuedbyabear.net | http://lisa.rabey.net
>>> 
>> 
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Call for Old Conf Tshirt Logos

[Esmé Cowles]

+1 # this could be a great way to provide some financial stability and 
continuity.

-Esme

On 04/11/2014, at 8:30 AM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:

> Signed PGP part
> On 4/11/2014 7:19 AM, Lisa Rabey wrote:
> > On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 11:45 PM, Jon Gorman
> >  wrote:
> >> I've long thought a "friends of code4lib" would be useful
> >> organization, but never quite pulled it together...
> >
> > If there is still interest in doing a "Friends of," I would help
> > organize such a beast.
> 
> +1
> 
> Go for it Lisa!
> 
> ./fxk
> 
> >
> 
> 
> --
> scenario, n.:
>   An imagined sequence of events that provides the context in
>   which a business decision is made.  Scenarios always come in
>   sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case.
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Shop Link

[Esmé Cowles]

I wonder, with the 10th conference coming up next year, if there would be any 
interest in re-issuing some or all of the shirts.  A while back I went through 
and added links to the wiki for all the t-shirt contests and winners I could 
find.  But for the first couple of years, I could find the candidate designs, 
but I couldn't actually find any record of which design won: 
http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/Main_Page#Older_Conference_T-Shirt_Designs

-Esme

On 03/9/2014, at 6:52 PM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:

> Signed PGP part
> 
> 
> On 03/09/2014 05:59 PM, Roy Tennant wrote:
> > Someone apparently had a Code4Lib CafePress shop at one point, but
> > now it's gone. I actually like the idea of a place where we could
> > buy Code4Lib swag. For example, why not raise a little money
> > selling stuff with the Code4Lib logo on it? But that would mean
> > being a fiscal entity of some sort and that hasn't flown in the
> > past. Not saying it can't now, just that it hasn't yet. For now
> > I've disabled the link.
> 
> That'd be me. There seemed to be eough interest in last year's
> Metadata T-Shirt that made it worth doing. The goal was to pass the
> money raised from selling t-shirts to this year's Conference. It
> didn't generate revenue (I didn't work too hard in promoting it to be
> honest) or traction so I scuppered it.
> 
> Cheers,
> ./fxk
> 
> 
> --
> Boren's Laws:
>   (1) When in charge, ponder.
>   (2) When in trouble, delegate.
>   (3) When in doubt, mumble.
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Expressing negatives and similar in RDF

[Esmé Cowles]

It's too bad rdf:nil is only for lists -- I think it could be handy in many 
other contexts.  But just using an empty string should be fine:

  _:bn1 .
_:bn1   .
_:bn1  "UTF-8" .
_:bn1  "" .


I'm not sure I got much from that "Problems of the RDF model" piece, other than 
the fact that literals aren't URIs, and they lack many of the convenient 
properties of URIs.  I suppose there is a nuanced semantic argument about the 
value being different from the thing itself.  That distinction doesn't seem 
that practically important to me.

There are certainly some places where documents with RDF(a) markup would be a 
lot more convenient than trying to put everything in triples.  That can lead to 
something like the companion ContentAsXML element (and the general idea of 
putting markup in a literal), which usually seems like a bad fit to me.  

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
 argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783

On 09/14/2013, at 2:22 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> This mentions empty strings but doesn't give an example of one:
> 
> *Lexical Space.* An rdf:PlainLiteral lexical form is a string of the form 
> "/abc/@/langTag/" where "/abc/" is an arbitrary (possibly empty) string, and 
> "/langTag/" is either the empty string or a (not necessarily lowercase) 
> language tag. Each such lexical form is mapped to a data value dv as follows:
> 
> * If "/langTag/" is empty, then dv is equal to the string "/abc/" and
> * If "/langTag/" is not empty, then dv is equal to the pair <"/abc/",
>   "/lc-langtag/" > where "/lc-langtag/" is "/langTag/" normalized to
>   lowercase.
> 
> [http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-plain-literal/]
> 
> I'm assuming it would be "". Do you think that works?
> 
> rdf:nil seems to be only for lists.
> "5.2.4 rdf:nil
> 
> The resource |rdf:nil| is an instance of |rdf:List 
> <http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/#ch_list>| that can be used to represent an 
> empty list or other list-like structure."
> 
> [http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/#ch_nil]
> 
> And I think I might be further along in this thinking if I could understand 
> this discussion:
> http://milicicvuk.com/blog/2011/07/16/problems-of-the-rdf-model-literals/
> 
> The fact that much of library data consists of literals is an issue, and I 
> don't (yet) understand what that means in terms of RDF. Sometimes I think 
> that we should be treating our bibliographic descriptions as documents with 
> RDF/RDFa markup where appropriate, rather than pretending that all of these 
> strings are data. Sometimes I don't think that. ;-)
> 
> kc
> 
> 
> On 9/14/13 9:06 AM, Esmé Cowles wrote:
>> Yes, I was thinking you would create a content as text node, and just leave 
>> the value blank (or maybe use something like rdf:nil).
>> 
>> And the good thing about qnames is that you can use whatever you want.  I 
>> always use "mads:" instead of "madsrdf:" for MADS, and would use "cat:" or 
>> "content:" for content as text.
>> 
>> -Esme
>> --
>> Esme Cowles 
>> 
>> "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
>>  argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783
>> 
>> On 09/14/2013, at 10:27 AM, Karen Coyle  wrote:
>> 
>>> Hmm. For the missing title would you create a content as text node with a 
>>> blank body? How does RDF handle empty strings?!
>>> 
>>> (And I'm sorry to say that the qname for content as text is "cnt" - I'm 
>>> going to have to just get over the dis-ease that causes me )
>>> 
>>> kc
>>> 
>>> On 9/14/13 6:47 AM, Esmé Cowles wrote:
>>>> That looks like a nice way to handle many different cases where you have a 
>>>> textual value, and may also want to attach other triples about certainty, 
>>>> source, definiteness, etc.  This would neatly handle the missing or 
>>>> definitely non-existent title problem.  And it also avoids sub-optimal 
>>>> approaches like reification or having to create a new class for every 
>>>> possible value that you might want to annotate.
>>>> 
>>>> -Esme
>>>> --
>>>> Esme Cowles 
>>>> 
>>>> "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
>>>>  argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783
>>&

Re: [CODE4LIB] Expressing negatives and similar in RDF

[Esmé Cowles]

Yes, I was thinking you would create a content as text node, and just leave the 
value blank (or maybe use something like rdf:nil).

And the good thing about qnames is that you can use whatever you want.  I 
always use "mads:" instead of "madsrdf:" for MADS, and would use "cat:" or 
"content:" for content as text.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
 argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783

On 09/14/2013, at 10:27 AM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> Hmm. For the missing title would you create a content as text node with a 
> blank body? How does RDF handle empty strings?!
> 
> (And I'm sorry to say that the qname for content as text is "cnt" - I'm going 
> to have to just get over the dis-ease that causes me )
> 
> kc
> 
> On 9/14/13 6:47 AM, Esmé Cowles wrote:
>> That looks like a nice way to handle many different cases where you have a 
>> textual value, and may also want to attach other triples about certainty, 
>> source, definiteness, etc.  This would neatly handle the missing or 
>> definitely non-existent title problem.  And it also avoids sub-optimal 
>> approaches like reification or having to create a new class for every 
>> possible value that you might want to annotate.
>> 
>> -Esme
>> --
>> Esme Cowles 
>> 
>> "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
>>  argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783
>> 
>> On 09/14/2013, at 9:02 AM, Karen Coyle  wrote:
>> 
>>> This reminds me of a conversation (that did not come to a conclusion) on 
>>> the BIBFRAME list about the need to have a way to say that a bit of data is 
>>> transcribed, not transcribed, or supplied. And that reminds me of the 
>>> issues with SKOS labels, which is that if your data is text, not a URI, you 
>>> can't say anything further about that because text cannot be the subject of 
>>> a triple. And this was also the issue between BIBFRAME and Open Annotation 
>>> because BIBFRAME wanted to have annotations that are plain text, and Open 
>>> Annotation doesn't allow that for the reason that you can't further 
>>> describe the text.
>>> 
>>> Which leads me to conclude that we would need to be using Content as Text
>>>  http://www.w3.org/TR/Content-in-RDF10/#ContentAsTextClass
>>> 
>>> kc
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 9/13/13 8:57 AM, Stephen Hearn wrote:
>>>> The MARC21 Authority format does have some negative assertions. Field 675
>>>> asserts that a source contains no relevant information (vs. 670 which
>>>> asserts the source and its relevant information). Field 673 asserts that a
>>>> title is not related to the entity in the 1XX (vs. 672 which asserts that
>>>> the two are related). These aren't yet mapped in any detail to RDF or to
>>>> MADS, but finding a way to map them could be a practical approach the
>>>> question of negative assertions.
>>>> 
>>>> Stephen
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Karen Coyle  wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On 9/13/13 5:51 AM, Esmé Cowles wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thomas-
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> This isn't something I've run across yet.  But one thing you could do is
>>>>>> create some URIs for different kinds of unknown/nonexistent titles:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> example:book1 dc:title example:unknownTitle
>>>>>> example:book2 dc:title example:noTitle
>>>>>> etc.
>>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm bothered by the semantics of this... but maybe I'm being too rigid.
>>>>> This states that the title is a URI, not a string, and that the URI is a
>>>>> status, not the actual title. Your system will have a mixture of literal
>>>>> strings that ARE titles and URIs that say something about titles, both as
>>>>> objects of dc:title. The object of DC title needs to be the title. The
>>>>> title COULD be a URI if the URI represents the title (e.g. a uniform title
>>>>> in an authority file).
>>>>> 
>>>>> Even if this turns out to be "legal" from an RDF point of view, it seems
>>>>> that this would complicate title displays because you'd have to treat 
>>>>> these
>>>>> URIs differently from 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Expressing negatives and similar in RDF

[Esmé Cowles]

Thomas-

This isn't something I've run across yet.  But one thing you could do is create 
some URIs for different kinds of unknown/nonexistent titles:

example:book1 dc:title example:unknownTitle
example:book2 dc:title example:noTitle
etc.

You could then describe example:unknownTitle with a label or comment to fully 
describe the states you wanted to capture with the different categories.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
 argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783

On 09/13/2013, at 7:32 AM, "Meehan, Thomas"  wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I'm not sure how sensible a question this is (it's certainly theoretical), 
> but it cropped up in relation to a rare books cataloguing discussion. Is 
> there a standard or accepted way to express negatives in RDF? This is best 
> explained by examples, expressed in mock-turtle:
> 
> If I want  to say this book has the title "Cats in RDA" I would do something 
> like:
> 
> example:thisbook dc:title "Cats in RDA" .
> 
> Normally, if a predicate like dc:title is not relevant to example:thisbook I 
> believe I am right in thinking that it would simply be missing, i.e. it is 
> not part of a record where a set number of fields need to be filled in, so no 
> need to even make the statement. However, there are occasions where a 
> positively negative statement might be useful. I understand OWL has a way of 
> managing the statement This book does not have the title "Cats in RDA" [1]:
> 
> []  rdf:type owl:NegativePropertyAssertion ;
> owl:sourceIndividual   example:thisbook ;
> owl:assertionProperty  dc:title ;
> owl:targetIndividual   "Cats in RDA" .
> 
> However, it would be more useful, and quite common at least in a 
> bibliographic context, to say "This book does not have a title". Ideally (?!) 
> there would be an ontology of concepts like "none", "unknown", or even 
> "something, but unspecified":
> 
> This book has no title:
> example:thisbook dc:title hasobject:false .
> 
> It is unknown if this book has a title (sounds undesirable but I can think of 
> instances where it might be handy[2]):
> example:thisbook dc:title hasobject:unknown .
> 
> This book has a title but it has not been specified:
> example:thisbook dc:title hasobject:true .
> 
> In terms of cataloguing, the answer is perhaps to refer to the rules (which 
> would normally mandate supplied titles in square brackets and so forth) 
> rather than use RDF to express this kind of thing, although the rules differ 
> depending on the part of description and, in the case of the kind of thing 
> that prompted the question- the presence of clasps on rare books- there are 
> no rules. I wonder if anyone has any more wisdom on this.
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Tom
> 
> [1] Adapted from http://www.w3.org/2007/OWL/wiki/Primer#Object_Properties
> [2] No many tbh, but e.g. title in an unknown script or indecipherable hand.
> 
> ---
> 
> Thomas Meehan
> Head of Current Cataloguing
> Library Services
> University College London
> Gower Street
> London WC1E 6BT
> 
> t.mee...@ucl.ac.uk

Re: [CODE4LIB] MODS experts here?

[Esmé Cowles]

Patrick-

There are some things in MODS that are close to addressing this problem, for 
example you could create a part wrapper around each file, but my reading of the 
docs says that may not be the intended use of the part element (depending in 
part on whether the files represent different physical objects or not).  The 
other strategy used to coordinate elements in MODS is the altRepGroup attribute 
(where the location, physicalDecription and accessCondition elements for one 
file would all get the same altRepGroup attribute value).  But that seems to be 
for multiple versions of the same content (e.g., titles in different 
translations/etc., internal note and link to external HTML version of the same 
note, etc.), which doesn't necessarily seem like a good fit here.  But you may 
be able to use one of those strategies.

At UC San Diego, we use our own locally-developed model, based in part on MODS. 
 One of the things we've added is a component class within a digital object to 
handle any kind of structure, including multiple files, nested hierarchy, etc.  
When we export to METS, we would make one MODS record for the object, and then 
a separate MODS document for each component, and then link them using the METS 
structmap.  To stay completely within MODS, you could also use relatedItem to 
link multiple MODS records.

For a better encoding of the restrictions and embargo dates, you may want to 
add PREMIS, which has a better vocabulary for describing those things.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
 argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783

On 09/6/2013, at 3:11 AM, Patrick Hochstenbach  
wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I need some advise on creating MODS records for our institutional repository. 
> In particular I wonder how best to express the different access restrictions 
> on digital files when a record contains more than one full-text file. E.g. 
> what we do now is write something like:
> 
> 
>   displayLabel="ruimtelijk_bestuursrecht_Geert_13-12-10.pdf">https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1927382/file/1927384
> 
> 
>  application/pdf
> 
> restricted (changes to open on 
> 2016-01-01)
> 
> and this repeated for every full-text file in the record
> 
> I don't like this solution because:
> 
> 1. This make the MODS context-sensitive: the order of local, physical, 
> accessCondition has a meaning (the first accessCondition is for the first 
> location, the second accessCondition ois for the second loaction etc etc).
> As I understand the order of elementents in MODS shouldn't matter.
> 2. Access conditions and embargo's are free-text!
> 
> Are there best practices we should use?
> 
> Greetings from Belgium
> Patrick
> 
> Ghent University Library

Re: [CODE4LIB] Libraries and IT Innovation

[Esmé Cowles]

On Jul 17, 2013, at 2:01 PM, Matthew Sherman  wrote:

> As for cloud computing I am rather unsure of how that can be applied to the
> libraries.  Possibly it can be used as part of the collaborative space?
> Possibly it can be utilized for file redundancy in digital archives to
> help with preservation of born digital records?  I simply am not sure but
> it is an area of IT innovation so it would be neat to hear people’s ideas.

I think cloud computing is very relevant to libraries because it lowers the 
barriers to entry for hosting servers and storage, and helps let people scale 
up on-demand.  

-Esme

Re: [CODE4LIB] Job: Project Manager at Digital Public Library of America

[Esmé Cowles]

The ad also doesn't mention that this is a 2-year fellowship, and requires not 
just a PhD, but one conferred since 2010.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Men feared witches and burnt women."
 -- Louis Brandeis, Whitney v.  California, concurring

On 03/6/2013, at 10:48 AM, William Denton  wrote:

> As Candy Schwartz pointed out on Twitter: PhD required, but no project 
> management experience.  Odd requirements for a project manager at a library, 
> albeit an unusual library.
> 
> Bill
> 
> On 6 March 2013, j...@code4lib.org wrote:
> 
>> The Project Manager will:
>> 
>> * manage a portfolio of select research projects related to the Hubs project 
>> (including conducting research and analysis);
>> * manage the addition of several content Hubs to DPLA, including project 
>> management of the process from agreement signing through ingestion of data 
>> and data evaluation;
>> * write blogs posts, presentations, reports, white papers and other 
>> publications for promotion or dissemination of research or activities;
>> * plan and organize internal and external meetings and workshops;
>> * broaden the scope of participants through networking, focused outreach and 
>> or participation in conferences;
>> * as part of a team, write grants to support content infrastructure 
>> development; and
>> * act as an active participate in the overall development of the 
>> organization.
>> **Qualifications**
>> 
>> * Ph.D. in the humanities or humanistic social sciences
>> * Strong desire to research the impact of transformative technologies
>> * Excellent writing skills and research, data analysis and analytical ability
>> * Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
>> * Flexibility, initiative and strong problem-solving abilities
>> * Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills
>> * Ability to work collaboratively and without supervision
>> * Willingness to move to DPLA permanent headquarters (TBA by April 2013)
>> * Knowledge of one or more of the following fields is desirable:
>> * Digital Humanities
>> * Digital Scholarship
>> * Data Management/Curation
>> * Data Modeling
>> * Libraries and Scholarly Communication
> 
> -- 
> William Denton
> Toronto, Canada
> http://www.miskatonic.org/

Re: [CODE4LIB] Editing Code4lib Wiki

[Esmé Cowles]

I had the same problem today -- I changed my email address and sent a new 
confirmation code and it arrived right away.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"They extend copyrights perpetually. They don't get how that in itself is a
 form of theft." -- Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture

On 02/6/2013, at 5:24 PM, Robert Haschart  wrote:

> I have tried editing the Code4lib wiki several times, but keep getting a you 
> have not confirmed your e-mail address message.
> I then go to the Preferences page and try to do so.  I am told that a  
> confirmation code is being mailed to me, but no mail ever seems to arrive.
> 
> Does anybody have any suggestions?
> 
> -Bob Haschart

Re: [CODE4LIB] Zoia

[Esmé Cowles]

I personally regard the IRC channel as a "particular flavor" of c4l, rather 
than the "primary" flavor.  For example, this discussion is happening on the 
mailing list and not in the IRC channel.  I'd say IRC is one of the main 
flavors, but I'm not sure I would call anything primary.  I really like zoia, 
and find the channel to be a very good complement to the conference.  But I 
really don't hang out in IRC, and I think many people who read the mailing list 
and/or attend events don't either.

Regarding people being comfortable with participating in the IRC channel, I 
think you can't please everyone.  If you stop all the messing around with zoia 
because some people find it frivolous and irritating, then other people will 
think the channel has gotten too stuffy and serious.  So I think it's important 
to keep focused on what is alienating to a large fraction of the community. 

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Information wants to be anthropomorphized." -- /. sig

On 01/18/2013, at 3:47 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> This would mean not seeing the c4l irc as a "primary community" space but as 
> a "particular flavor of the community" space, and taking pains to make sure 
> that c4l IRC is not billed as or treated as the "main stage" for c4l and 
> those who do not hang out in the channel should not be viewed as 
> "non-participants" in c4l (and I think they are not). However, by doing so we 
> do lose the one central "go-to" place for quick questions when you're stuck 
> in some technology nightmare. Some of that takes place on the list, but 
> sometimes you want to find a real person and do a quick back-and-forth.

Re: [CODE4LIB] code4lib 2013 location

[Esmé Cowles]

On 01/11/2013, at 7:54 PM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:

> The hotel is a mile or thereabouts from UIC Forum. Here is the problem
> with us natives planning. It never crossed our minds that walking a mile
> while on the *upper limit* of our shuttling to and from work is not the
> norm for everyone.

I am personally looking forward to the walk.  Though I live in Florida, I've 
lived in colder places and have appropriate coats, etc.  And I don't have any 
mobility issues, and routinely walk a few miles just for fun.

But if I didn't already own cold-weather gear that I would never need in 
Florida, I would not be looking forward to walking a mile, early in the morning 
or late at night, in February, in Chicago, where I could reasonably expect it 
to be in the ballpark of 20°F.

Which reminds me, I really hope some warmer locales are prepping c4l14 
proposals as we speak.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"They extend copyrights perpetually. They don't get how that in itself is a
 form of theft." -- Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture

Re: [CODE4LIB] Question abt the code4libwomen idea

[Esmé Cowles]

I really don't see how setting up a new IRC channel (or tumblr, or any other 
forum) to encourage and promote the inclusion of women is discriminatory.  You 
keep on using that term, and accusing others of prejudice, but you have shown 
no proof.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"They extend copyrights perpetually. They don't get how that in itself is a
 form of theft." -- Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture

On 12/10/2012, at 8:30 PM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Wilhelmina Randtke asked:
>> When you say someone referred to "a group just for women", did you mean
>> when Bohyun Kim said "interests in a space for women"?
>> 
>> Because if you did, then you should not have used quotes, since you were
>> not quoting.  If that language you don't like came from somewhere else,
>> then please be more specific, because I didn't see it at the start of this
>> thread that I'm emailing on.
> 
> That language is in the second paragraph of the email dated Fri, 7 Dec
> 2012 16:13:47 + from Bohyun Kim, but I apologise for having put
> the a in the quote marks.  It should have been outside them, as I cut
> part of "a small support and discussion group for just women".  I
> guess I hit the editing keys badly on Friday.
> 
> It's very disappointing that no-one else seems willing to challenge
> that behaviour and so many are actively supporting it.  I feel like
> we're still in the dark ages.  Two wrongs do not make a right and two
> discriminations - one unconscious and one conscious - does not make
> equality.
> 
> Joshua Gomez suggested:
>> [...] And I don't think that reverse discrimination is the true
>> concern of most of those that have voiced opinions against a
>> sub-community for women (at least I hope not).
> 
> I don't think that suggesting everyone who disagrees with one's view
> is insincere or dishonest or something is a good idea.
> 
> Personally, my concern isn't that it is reverse discrimination - it's
> that it is still discrimination.  I don't feel that past sins excuse
> further ones.
> 
>> [...] And since I am not a member of the group that has been
>> discriminated against I don't think I or anyone else not in that group
>> should try to dissuade them from doing what is in their best interest.
> 
> I am not a member of *that* group that has been discriminated against,
> but I am a member of one minority that is routinely discriminated
> against in a pretty direct way - code4lib's wiki suggests we are not
> human, as I mentioned in another mail on Friday:
> https://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1212&L=CODE4LIB&D=0&P=167926
> - and I am not dissuading women from doing what is in their best
> interest, but I believe setting up another discriminatory group is not
> in anyone's best interests.  The best thing would be to do similar as
> we do for accessibility and have mixed groups like fixtheweb.net
> working together to dismantle the barriers.
> 
> Regards,
> -- 
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

Re: [CODE4LIB] Gender Survey Summary and Results

[Esmé Cowles]

I think a coed group would be great.  It might be nice to have a separate IRC 
channel for testing things out where people wouldn't have to worry about 
bothering people or looking foolish.

I think an intro to IRC and quick rundown of all the zoia commands would be a 
great thing to do in the Open space pre-conf.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give
 it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
 -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

On 12/5/2012, at 4:45 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> Roy,
> 
> It wasn't for safety -- it was for training. Some of us haven't spent much 
> time on IRC -- I never know what to do when I get there -- can't remember 
> commands, even with a decent GUI. So I was trying to think of places (e.g. 
> Github, IRC) where we'd like to have more women participating and how we 
> could give them a chance to learn.* Lots of people are afraid of making 
> mistakes in front of others, and we know that women/girls take fewer chances 
> in mixed classrooms. Once they get adept at the environment they can 
> participate in the group list with more confidence. Training, mentoring -- it 
> all blends together.
> 
> In fact, I'm thinking that at c4l we could put up some big pieces of paper (I 
> love the giant post-it paper) and have people make lists of their favorite 
> tools, hangouts, etc. Then we could use those lists as ways to figure out 
> what people need to learn to feel more like "part of the community" and to 
> feel more confident about participating.
> 
> kc
> * Look at the list of edits on the anti-harassment policy -- not many women 
> there. I suspect it's unfamiliarity with Git. If we're going to use a tool as 
> a community, then I want more women to be familiar with it. If someone else 
> wants to train men or a coed group, that's fine.
> 
> On 12/5/12 1:35 PM, Roy Tennant wrote:
>> On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 12:57 PM, Rosalyn Metz  wrote:
>>> Karen had the idea of creating a women Code4Lib IRC channel, maybe that can
>>> be a place to start.
>> I understand the motivation to create a "safe space" for women, but
>> please let's not do this. "Separate but equal" has never been shown to
>> make progress toward equality, and I doubt this situation would be any
>> different. I believe it would instead make things worse, by
>> balkanizing the community rather than encouraging good behavior within
>> a unified group. In other words, the solution will never be reached
>> without active participation by men.
>> Roy
> 
> -- 
> Karen Coyle
> kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
> ph: 1-510-540-7596
> m: 1-510-435-8234
> skype: kcoylenet

Re: [CODE4LIB] Choosing fora. was: Proliferation of Code4Lib Channels

[Esmé Cowles]

I think this raises some interesting questions about community and appropriate 
use of the code4lib name.  I just took a look at the code4lib reddit and there 
were comments from a handful of people.  If a handful of people want to create 
some new channel and call it code4lib, is that OK?  Who decides that?  Does it 
matter if it's part of something like reddit, that is seriously at odds with 
our budding anti-harassment policy?

I don't personally use reddit, but I can see the advantages of a threaded 
discussion system, especially for a wide-ranging and branching discussion such 
as this one.  Slashdot is the other full-featured discussion system I know, but 
(as previously mentioned) has similar problems, and would also create a new 
hosting and maintenance burden.  Is there a better alternative?

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters
 will eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
 Internet, we know this is not true." -- Robert Wilensky

On 12/2/2012, at 3:19 PM, Wilhelmina Randtke  wrote:

> At the end of this email, is the current default homepage of Reddit at this
> very moment.  I only had to read down to the current 6th most popular post
> - 6th most popular of the ENTIRE REDDIT SITE - which is a man's reference
> to seeing a highschool classmate on Girls Gone Wild, then masturbating such
> that one arm becomes much bigger than the other (person posted a picture of
> Quagmire from Family Guy with one big arm).  I'm sure the front page will
> have changed by the time you read this, but just read down and find the
> example of the moment.  There will be one.
> 
> Women as sex objects isn't a fringe thing on Reddit.  It's a core part of
> the service.  Reddit's got lots of porn forums, with 5 digits of users.
> Sexual images of women is not a fringe activity on Reddit.  It's a core
> service.  Racism is also prevalent. For example,
> http://www.reddit.com/r/niggers/ .  At least there are only 4 digits of
> users, so dedicated racist forums is a fringe activity.  But, why is there
> a dedicated forum at all?
> 
> It's inappropriate to try and move drafting of an antidiscrimination policy
> to Reddit, alongside forums which are so hateful to the groups which are
> underrepresented in Code4Lib.
> 
> -Wilhelmina Randtke
> 
> 
> Begin Clip of Current default Front page of Reddit ---
> Item number 6 refers to masturbating over a female high school
> classmate -
> 
> 1
> 2572
> 
> Taiwan engineers defeat limits of flash
> memory
> (phys.org )
> 
> submitted 4 hours ago by Maslo55  to
> technology 
> 
>   - 565 
> comments
>   - share 
> 
> 2
> 2503
> 
> I'm not sure how to title this  (
> i.imgur.com )
> 
> submitted 3 hours ago by wow050  to
> WTF
> 
>   - 343 
> comments
>   - share 
> 
> 3
> 1768
> 
> 
> On a metro bus 
> (i.imgur.com
> )
> 
> submitted 3 hours ago by jjameson18 to
> atheism 
> 
>   - 251 
> comments
>   - share 
> 
> 4
> 1828
> 
> 
> Back in my day we had to work for our games  (
> imgur.com )
> 
> submitted 4 hours ago by
> MouthFullOfPubesto
> gaming 
> 
>   - 166 
> comments
>   - share 
> 
> 5
> 1950
> 
> 
> When ever I have to get up and mow the 
> lawn
> (qkme.me )
> 
> submitted 4 hours ago by flabeachbumto
> AdviceAnimals 
> 
>   - 200 
> comments
>   - share 
> 
> 6
> 1657
> 
> After finding my old highschool crush on /r/gonewild last night... This is
> exactly how I'm felling this morning.  (
> i.imgur.com )
> 
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] tech vs. nursing

[Esmé Cowles]

On 11/29/2012, at 4:43 PM, Jonathan Rochkind  wrote:

> Code4Lib didn't used to, when I attended the second code4lib conf, the vast 
> majority of the presentations and presenters were NOT about grant-funded work 
> or "digital repository" work, and the majority of people I met at Code4Lib 
> were not working on such things.
> 
> I miss that. Code4Lib was in fact the only place I knew of for people working 
> on traditional library use cases, not on grant-funded projects, trying to 
> innovate with technology and keep libraries relevant.


If your idea of keeping libraries relevant doesn't include digital 
library/repository and grant-funded work, then I think we have very different 
ideas about that.

In any event, the thing I always liked about code4lib was that there was a good 
mix of different stuff -- something for everyone.  So repository stuff and OPAC 
stuff and study room scheduling and everything else were all welcome.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
 (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) " -- Dave Barry

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

[Esmé Cowles]

Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women who were 
harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken together, they paint a 
picture of men (particularly drunken men) creating an atmosphere that makes a 
lot of people feel excluded and worry about being harassed or worse.  So I 
think a positive statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness 
of these issues, is a good thing.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Men feared witches and burnt women."
 -- Louis Brandeis, Whitney v.  California, concurring

On 11/26/2012, at 7:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo  
wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
> 
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
> 
> -Mike
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>> 
>>> It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
>>> anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
>>> anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>>> 
>> 
>> This.
>> 
>> 
>>> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>>> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>>> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>>> personal names
>>> 
>> 
>> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
>> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>> 
>> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
>> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
>> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
>> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
>> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>> 
>> kyle
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] email to FTP or something?

[Esmé Cowles]

The traditional Unix tool for this job is procmail[1].  You can configure it to 
process all incoming mail in an account with a shell script -- decoding the 
attachment and saving it to a file would be very easy to do, assuming the 
server is also a FTP or web server.  Of course, the script could also just 
decode the attachment and load it directly into MySQL.

1. http://partmaps.org/era/procmail/mini-faq.html#rtfm

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"I don't need to be forgiven." -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly


On 10/17/2012, at 11:46 AM, Nate Hill  wrote:

> Maybe someone can offer me a suggestion here...
> I bought a nifty new gadget that records data and spits out csv files as
> email attachments.
> I want to go from csv > MySQL and build a web application to do cool stuff
> with the data.
> The thing is, the device can only email the files as attachments, it
> doesn't give me the ability to upload them to a server.
> Can anyone suggest how I can securely email a file directly to a folder on
> a server?
> 
> The scenario is nearly identical to what is described here:
> http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-upload-to-an-FTP-site-via-email
> 
> -- 
> Nate Hill
> nathanielh...@gmail.com
> http://4thfloor.chattlibrary.org/
> http://www.natehill.net

Re: [CODE4LIB] Best way to process large XML files

[Esmé Cowles]

One way to get the best of both worlds (scalability of a streaming parser, but 
convenience of DOM) is to use DOM4J's ElementHandler interface[1].  You parse 
the XML file using a SAXReader, and register a class to handle callbacks, based 
on an XPath expression.  I used this approach to break up giant MARCXML files 
with hundreds of thousands of records.

Though this approach does require the XML to be well-formed.  I had some 
problems with that, and wound up pre-processing the MARCXML to strip out 
illegal characters so they wouldn't cause parsing errors.


1. 
http://dom4j.sourceforge.net/dom4j-1.6.1/apidocs/org/dom4j/ElementHandler.html


-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the
 evil get to go home early on Fridays." -- Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

On 06/8/2012, at 2:36 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:

> I'm working on a script that needs to be able to crosswalk at least a
> couple hundred XML files regularly, some of which are quite large.
> 
> I've thought of a number of ways to go about this, but I wanted to bounce
> this off the list since I'm sure people here deal with this problem all the
> time. My goal is to make something that's easy to read/maintain without
> pegging the CPU and consuming too much memory.
> 
> The performance and load I'm seeing from running the files through LibXML
> and SimpleXML on the large files is completely unacceptable. SAX is not out
> of the question, but I'm trying to avoid it if possible to keep the code
> more compact and easier to read.
> 
> I'm tempted to streamedit out all line breaks since they occur in
> unpredictable places and put new ones at the end of each record into a temp
> file. Then I can read the temp file one line at a time and process using
> SimpleXML. That way, there's no need to load giant files into memory,
> create huge arrays, etc and the code would be easy enough for a 6th grader
> to follow. My proposed method doesn't sound very efficient to me, but it
> should consume predictable resources which don't increase with file size.
> 
> How do you guys deal with large XML files? Thanks,
> 
> kyle
> 
> Why the heck does the XML spec require a root element,
> particularly since large files usually consist of a large number of
> records/documents? This makes it absolutely impossible to process a file of
> any size without resorting to SAX or string parsing -- which takes away
> many of the advantages you'd normally have with an XML structure. 
> 
> -- 
> --
> Kyle Banerjee
> Digital Services Program Manager
> Orbis Cascade Alliance
> baner...@orbiscascade.org / 503.999.9787

Re: [CODE4LIB] Metadata

[Esmé Cowles]

+1 # everything is data, context makes it meta

On Feb 15, 2012, at 10:29 PM, Simon Spero wrote:

> I have had several theoretical changes of opinion on this question, and
> have come to the considered opinion that there is no principled *essential*
> difference between Metadata and Data. It all depends on the
> context/theory/background assumptions to which the data is being applied.
> 
> The property of Data being meta is entirely use sensitive. The property of
> being information may depend upon the existence of metadata referring to
> the data.
> 
> For example, it is labeling of an antelope in a zoo as "an antelope" that
> turns an ungulate into a document; data measured from this beast gives us
> evidence about what "an antelope" is like.
> The label & number of the beast, as well as the date of capture and other
> provenance, are clearly metadata in this case, and provide the context for
> interpreting the data as information, and for assessing the degree of
> justification we have for treating this information as knowledge. However,
> in other cases, the metadata may serve as data for other studies, with no
> reference to our four legged friend.
> Suppose we are doing a study on the rate of differently labeled specimen
> acquisition in zoos across Europe over the course of the 19th and 20th
> centuries. In this situation, what was metadata has become our primary
> data; *our* metadata relates to the provenance of the descriptions.
> 
> Metadata embedded by a smart sensor package included in the same persuade
> as the data gathered as part of an observation run is essential to the
> interpretation of that data as information. However, it is not the primary
> data itself; it is the context. Radar data from early JSTARS platforms was
> severely downgraded by rain between the platform and the ground; the
> information provided needs context about climate conditions in order to
> determine the actual amount of information obtained when fusing that
> information with other sensor systems. However, the climate readings are
> not part of the radar data itself.
> 
> 
> So, to sum up, it depends; Further Research Is Needed; one man's Meta is
> another man's Poisson.
> 
> Simon
> On Feb 14, 2012 9:59 AM, "Michael Hopwood"  wrote:
> 
>> Having done research, and now working in a very varied metadata role, I
>> don't quite understand this discussion about data that is or isn't
>> metadata. Scientific data is a great example of structured data, but it's
>> not impossible to distinguish it from metadata purely describing a dataset.
>> 
>> However, if you have scientific research data created during the
>> experiments, even if it's "operational", it's clearly part of "the" data.
>> This doesn't mean there can't be metadata describing *that data*. Just
>> because it's not glamorous data doesn't mean it's not essential to the
>> scientific process. Similarly, just being about mundane or procedural
>> things doesn't make data into metadata...!
>> 
>> You're absolutely right, the contextual information is certainly part of
>> the experimental outcome in this example; otherwise it would be abstract
>> data such as one might use in a textbook example.
>> 
>> Metadata would describe the dataset itself, not the scientific research.
>> There's always a certain ambiguity involved in identifying "the data" as
>> distinct from the metadata, and it's a false dichotomy to suggest metadata
>> is not useful at all for the domain expert. It's contextual, and the
>> definition is always at least partly based on your use case for the data
>> and its description.
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Nate Vack
>> Sent: 14 February 2012 14:45
>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Metadata
>> 
>> On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 1:22 AM, Graham Triggs 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> That's an interesting distinction though. Do you need all that data in
>>> order to make sense of the results? You don't [necessarily] need to
>>> know who conducted some research, or when they conducted it in order
>>> to analyse and make sense of the data. In the context of having the
>>> data, this other information becomes irrelevant in terms of
>>> understanding what that data says.
>> 
>> It is *essential* to understanding what the data says. Perhaps you find
>> out your sensor was on the fritz during a time period -- you need to be
>> able to know what datasets are suspect. Maybe the blood pressure effect
>> you're looking at is mediated by circadian rhythms, and hence, times of day.
>> 
>> Not all of your data is necessary in every analysis, but a bunch of blood
>> pressure measurements in the absence of contextual information is
>> universally useless.
>> 
>> The metadata is part of the data.
>> 
>> -n
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] image zoom for iPad

[Esmé Cowles]

For a client-side solution, you can use the Google Maps or OpenLayers libraries 
with an alternate tileset.  Here are a few examples:

http://clintlalonde.net/2009/01/09/zoom-and-pan-large-images-with-google-map-interface/
http://blog.mikecouturier.com/2011/07/create-zoomable-images-using-google.html
http://forevermore.net/articles/photo-zoom/

If you're already using Zoomify, then you might be interested in this example 
of using OpenLayers with Zoomify tilesets:

http://plone.itc.nl/OpenLayers/examples/zoomify.html


-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible,
 and wrong." -- H. L. Mencken

On Jan 30, 2012, at 10:20 PM, Friscia, Michael wrote:

> Hi all,
> I'm wondering if anyone can recommend an image zoom option for ipad that 
> provides functionality like zoomify/seadragon but works on the ipad. I'm 
> hoping for some ajax/jquery library I never heard of that will work and 
> provide good functionality. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong and my use of 
> seadragon would be better if I did x, y and z...
> 
> Any thoughts or suggestions that do not include "don't do zoom" would be 
> greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> -mike
> ___
> Michael Friscia
> Manager, Digital Library & Programming Services
> 
> Yale University Library
> (203) 432-1856

Re: [CODE4LIB] Linux Laptop

[Esmé Cowles]

Mark-

One option which works on any Linux/Unix machine (including OSX) is rsync with 
the --link-dest option.  This does the same thing as Time Machine: it creates 
backups that hardlink to existing copies of files (if they exist) saving disk 
space on unchanged files.  There are lots of instructions for how to do this, 
e.g. http://blog.interlinked.org/tutorials/rsync_time_machine.html

This doesn't provide the same UI as Time Machine for restoring files, though.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
 argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." -- William Pitt, 1783

On 12/16/2011, at 1:06 PM, Mark Jordan wrote:

> Apologies to anyone who is not interested in this thread, but I'm curious to 
> know what backup software comparable to OS X Time Machine Linux users have on 
> their lap/desktops. Time Machine is one of those parts of OS X that would 
> make it hard for me to emigrate from the garden.
> 
> Mark
> 
> - Original Message -
>> I just had a Howard Beale moment with Apple. I'm mad as hell and I'm
>> not going to take it anymore.
>> 
>> I'm curious what people can suggest for linux laptop?
>> Any suggestions for distros and hardware?
>> 
>> thanks. b,chris.