Richard J. Urban | Corning Museum of Glass (original) (raw)
Papers by Richard J. Urban
The museum information professional’s association, the Museum Computer Network (MCN), was organiz... more The museum information professional’s association, the Museum Computer Network (MCN), was organized in 1967 during the early years of computerization in museums. Throughout its history MCN has provided conferences, news, and networking opportunities to its members. Through a discussion of key points in the group’s development and current activity, the 40 year history of the association is briefly explored.
Contemporary literature on the divergence of libraries, archives, and museums over the course of ... more Contemporary literature on the divergence of libraries, archives, and museums over the course of the twentieth century credits the rise of distinct professional practices required to handle different physical forms. This paper explores the extent that librarianship influenced museum information practices in a predigital era. Instead of divergence, I find examples where museums adapted library methods to fit their needs instead of developing their own set of professional practices. Because museum professionalization placed an emphasis on discipline-based university training, information work in museums has been incorporated into nonuniversity technical education and on-the-job training programs. That this divergence of information work from academic preparation has fallen along gender lines requires additional attention.
This paper explores the origins of the Dublin Core 1:1 Principle within DCMI documentation. It f... more This paper explores the origins of the Dublin Core 1:1 Principle within DCMI documentation. It finds that the need for the 1:1 Principle emerged from prior work within the cultural heritage community responsible for describing reproductions and surrogate resources within traditional cataloging environments. As the solutions to these problems encountered new ways to model semantic data, tensions arose within DCMI community. This paper aims to fill the gaps in our understanding of the 1:1 Principle by outlining the conceptual foundations that led to its inclusion in DCMI documentation, how the Principle has been (mis)understood in practice, how violations of the Principle have been operationalized, and how the fundamental issues raised by the Principle continue to challenge us today. This discussion situates the 1:1 Principle within larger discussions about cataloging practice and semantic knowledge representations.
Formalizing collection-level/item-level metadata relationships encounters the problem of trivial ... more Formalizing collection-level/item-level metadata relationships encounters the problem of trivial satisfaction. We offer a solution related to current work in IR and ontology evaluation.
Abstract Open linked data and semantic technologies promise support for information integration a... more Abstract Open linked data and semantic technologies promise support for information integration and inferencing. But taking advantage of this support often requires that the information carried by ordinary" colloquial" metadata records be made explicit and computationally available. Given the structured nature of most metadata records this looks easy to do; and conversion from metadata records to computer processable knowledge representation languages such as RDF is now commonplace. Nevertheless a precise ...
What follows is an initial analysis of 1: 1 Principle Violations within the 33 collections select... more What follows is an initial analysis of 1: 1 Principle Violations within the 33 collections selected as part of the CIMR testbed. Of these, 25 collections with more than 20 items were subjected to a close analysis. In total these 25 collections contained 54,486 item-‐level OAI-‐PMH records.
Serving History in a Changing World (a comprehensive historical study of HSP, which was commissio... more Serving History in a Changing World (a comprehensive historical study of HSP, which was commissioned and published by HSP), I had some trepidation.
ABSTRACT Inference rules that exploit logical relationships in metadata can substantially improve... more ABSTRACT Inference rules that exploit logical relationships in metadata can substantially improve the functionality of digital library tools for searching, browsing, and analysis, particularly in a semantic web environment. However, schema documentation provides inadequate guidance for determining and deploying inference rules. We present a strategy for rule development which foregrounds the use of a testbed of selected records for empirically testing conjectured relationships.
Abstract: This document is a user guide, developed by the ECHO DEPository at University of Illino... more Abstract: This document is a user guide, developed by the ECHO DEPository at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for the web archiving suite of tools developed by OCLC as part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP), funded by the Library of Congress.(ECHO DEPository is the name of the UIUC component of NDIIPP.)
Our special section is devoted to the emerging impact of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bib... more Our special section is devoted to the emerging impact of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) on library cataloging theory and practice. Our guest editor, Yin Zhang, has written and obtained some excellent articles that make the nature of the FRBR itself and its ramifications clear to any interested reader–and I know there are many in the Bulletin audience. This section will also be a valuable pedagogical tool for instructors looking for a straightforward, yet comprehensive, treatment of the subject.
Although many best practice documents encourage Dublin Core metadata creators to “obey the 1:1 Pr... more Although many best practice documents encourage Dublin Core metadata creators to “obey the 1:1 Principle,” this recommendation has proven “extremely confusing” in practice. The impact of this confusion is widespread violations of the Principle that inhibit the ability of large-scale metadata aggregations to provide useful services. A preliminary operational definition of the 1:1 Principle that identifies of non-conformant descriptions is explored.
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2008
Abstract Contemporary retrieval systems, which search across collections, usually ignore collecti... more Abstract Contemporary retrieval systems, which search across collections, usually ignore collection-level metadata. Alternative approaches, exploiting collection-level information, will require an understanding of the various kinds of relationships that can obtain between collection-level and item-level metadata. This paper outlines the problem and describes a project that is developing a logic-based framework for classifying collection/item metadata relationships. This framework will support (i) metadata specification developers defining ...
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science …, Jan 1, 2007
Library Hi Tech, Jan 1, 2004
The Colorado Digitization Program has received several IMLS Leadership Grants. The Heritage Color... more The Colorado Digitization Program has received several IMLS Leadership Grants. The Heritage Colorado and Western Trails grant projects both involved extensive collaboration between libraries, museums, historical societies and archives. Successful collaborative activities included creating best practices, metadata and scanning standards, training, metadata input tools, technological interoperability, and funding strategies.
Museum Computer Network. August, Jan 1, 2007
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2006
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2006
Abstract This poster describes a model for acquiring, packaging and ingesting web objects for arc... more Abstract This poster describes a model for acquiring, packaging and ingesting web objects for archiving in multiple repositories. This ongoing work is part of the ECHO DEPository Project, a 3-year NDIIPP-partner digital preservation project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with partners OCLC, a consortium of content provider partners, and the Library of Congress.
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2010
Digital Humanities 2007, Conference …, Jan 1, 2007
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2009
The museum information professional’s association, the Museum Computer Network (MCN), was organiz... more The museum information professional’s association, the Museum Computer Network (MCN), was organized in 1967 during the early years of computerization in museums. Throughout its history MCN has provided conferences, news, and networking opportunities to its members. Through a discussion of key points in the group’s development and current activity, the 40 year history of the association is briefly explored.
Contemporary literature on the divergence of libraries, archives, and museums over the course of ... more Contemporary literature on the divergence of libraries, archives, and museums over the course of the twentieth century credits the rise of distinct professional practices required to handle different physical forms. This paper explores the extent that librarianship influenced museum information practices in a predigital era. Instead of divergence, I find examples where museums adapted library methods to fit their needs instead of developing their own set of professional practices. Because museum professionalization placed an emphasis on discipline-based university training, information work in museums has been incorporated into nonuniversity technical education and on-the-job training programs. That this divergence of information work from academic preparation has fallen along gender lines requires additional attention.
This paper explores the origins of the Dublin Core 1:1 Principle within DCMI documentation. It f... more This paper explores the origins of the Dublin Core 1:1 Principle within DCMI documentation. It finds that the need for the 1:1 Principle emerged from prior work within the cultural heritage community responsible for describing reproductions and surrogate resources within traditional cataloging environments. As the solutions to these problems encountered new ways to model semantic data, tensions arose within DCMI community. This paper aims to fill the gaps in our understanding of the 1:1 Principle by outlining the conceptual foundations that led to its inclusion in DCMI documentation, how the Principle has been (mis)understood in practice, how violations of the Principle have been operationalized, and how the fundamental issues raised by the Principle continue to challenge us today. This discussion situates the 1:1 Principle within larger discussions about cataloging practice and semantic knowledge representations.
Formalizing collection-level/item-level metadata relationships encounters the problem of trivial ... more Formalizing collection-level/item-level metadata relationships encounters the problem of trivial satisfaction. We offer a solution related to current work in IR and ontology evaluation.
Abstract Open linked data and semantic technologies promise support for information integration a... more Abstract Open linked data and semantic technologies promise support for information integration and inferencing. But taking advantage of this support often requires that the information carried by ordinary" colloquial" metadata records be made explicit and computationally available. Given the structured nature of most metadata records this looks easy to do; and conversion from metadata records to computer processable knowledge representation languages such as RDF is now commonplace. Nevertheless a precise ...
What follows is an initial analysis of 1: 1 Principle Violations within the 33 collections select... more What follows is an initial analysis of 1: 1 Principle Violations within the 33 collections selected as part of the CIMR testbed. Of these, 25 collections with more than 20 items were subjected to a close analysis. In total these 25 collections contained 54,486 item-‐level OAI-‐PMH records.
Serving History in a Changing World (a comprehensive historical study of HSP, which was commissio... more Serving History in a Changing World (a comprehensive historical study of HSP, which was commissioned and published by HSP), I had some trepidation.
ABSTRACT Inference rules that exploit logical relationships in metadata can substantially improve... more ABSTRACT Inference rules that exploit logical relationships in metadata can substantially improve the functionality of digital library tools for searching, browsing, and analysis, particularly in a semantic web environment. However, schema documentation provides inadequate guidance for determining and deploying inference rules. We present a strategy for rule development which foregrounds the use of a testbed of selected records for empirically testing conjectured relationships.
Abstract: This document is a user guide, developed by the ECHO DEPository at University of Illino... more Abstract: This document is a user guide, developed by the ECHO DEPository at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for the web archiving suite of tools developed by OCLC as part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP), funded by the Library of Congress.(ECHO DEPository is the name of the UIUC component of NDIIPP.)
Our special section is devoted to the emerging impact of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bib... more Our special section is devoted to the emerging impact of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) on library cataloging theory and practice. Our guest editor, Yin Zhang, has written and obtained some excellent articles that make the nature of the FRBR itself and its ramifications clear to any interested reader–and I know there are many in the Bulletin audience. This section will also be a valuable pedagogical tool for instructors looking for a straightforward, yet comprehensive, treatment of the subject.
Although many best practice documents encourage Dublin Core metadata creators to “obey the 1:1 Pr... more Although many best practice documents encourage Dublin Core metadata creators to “obey the 1:1 Principle,” this recommendation has proven “extremely confusing” in practice. The impact of this confusion is widespread violations of the Principle that inhibit the ability of large-scale metadata aggregations to provide useful services. A preliminary operational definition of the 1:1 Principle that identifies of non-conformant descriptions is explored.
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2008
Abstract Contemporary retrieval systems, which search across collections, usually ignore collecti... more Abstract Contemporary retrieval systems, which search across collections, usually ignore collection-level metadata. Alternative approaches, exploiting collection-level information, will require an understanding of the various kinds of relationships that can obtain between collection-level and item-level metadata. This paper outlines the problem and describes a project that is developing a logic-based framework for classifying collection/item metadata relationships. This framework will support (i) metadata specification developers defining ...
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science …, Jan 1, 2007
Library Hi Tech, Jan 1, 2004
The Colorado Digitization Program has received several IMLS Leadership Grants. The Heritage Color... more The Colorado Digitization Program has received several IMLS Leadership Grants. The Heritage Colorado and Western Trails grant projects both involved extensive collaboration between libraries, museums, historical societies and archives. Successful collaborative activities included creating best practices, metadata and scanning standards, training, metadata input tools, technological interoperability, and funding strategies.
Museum Computer Network. August, Jan 1, 2007
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2006
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2006
Abstract This poster describes a model for acquiring, packaging and ingesting web objects for arc... more Abstract This poster describes a model for acquiring, packaging and ingesting web objects for archiving in multiple repositories. This ongoing work is part of the ECHO DEPository Project, a 3-year NDIIPP-partner digital preservation project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with partners OCLC, a consortium of content provider partners, and the Library of Congress.
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2010
Digital Humanities 2007, Conference …, Jan 1, 2007
Status: unpublished, Jan 1, 2009