Digital Collections Working Group (DCWG)

The Digital Collections Working Group is currently on hiatus.

Documentation

Established

September 2016

Charge

This group will work on portions of CCD’s first-priority goal this year: Continue development of infrastructure, approaches, and support to aggregate Alliance digital content.

Specifically, members of the group will contribute to the following work:

  • September-April: Work with the CCD Program Manager and Metadata Applications Librarian to analyze Dublin Core metadata at the Alliance, develop targets for scripts, workflows, and training, and deliver those items.
    • Assist the Metadata Applications Librarian (MAL) with analysis of existing Dublin Core metadata. The call for metadata samples closed on August 5, and the examples are available. The MAL, CCD Program Manager, and members of this working group will analyze this metadata using tools commonly utilized in these types of processes, including Open Refine and the Mountain West Digital Library’s review tool.
    • Using the analysis above, work with MAL and CCD PM on targets for scripts, workflows, and training that address the most common and/or pressing concerns for Alliance members. In order to ensure that materials produced are also relevant for use by others in the region, coordinate targets with Washington State Library.
    • Although the MAL and CCD PM will produce the scripts, workflows, and training, Working Group members may be called on to test scripts and/or training, or to provide a liaison with others in their organization who can review and comment knowledgeably.
    • The group will regularly and intentionally communicate with the Normalization Rules Working Group and Normalization Rules Advisory Group of the Discovery & Delivery Team.
  • November-June: Work with CCD Program Manager and CCD Team to develop objectives for digital object search and display in Primo, analyze the level of end user satisfaction with those objectives, and measure current Primo functionality against those objectives. Early work on this initiative will include intersection with the Unique Materials in the SILS Working Group. This portion of the group’s work will result in a report on how current Primo functionality does or does not meet these objectives, and how those objectives may be met by the Alliance and Ex Libris.

This group will not work on the Alliance’s application to become a Digital Public Library of America hub. That work is reserved for the CCD Team. The DC WG chair and CCD PM will serve as liaisons between CCD Team and DCWG on any needed coordination of work.

Working Group members should have one or more of the following skills or areas of expertise:

  • Knowledge of Dublin Core metadata, particularly the Alliance’s Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices, including metadata improvementIn-depth knowledge and use of DAMs and IRs commonly in use at the Alliance, most importantly ContentDM, BePress, and Omeka. 
  • Usability and user experience for digital content, including developing and carrying out testing with end users
  • Experience working with digital objects display and discovery in Primo

Although some aspects of the group’s work will be continuous and will benefit from continuity of participation, members will most likely find that they wish to contribute their skills and knowledge more to the September-April or to the November-June work.

Type of Group and General Comments

Teams can form ad hoc working groups that are chaired by a team member with membership drawn from staff at member libraries. Selected working groups might also include non-members. For example, a working group concerned with the courier might include non-member participants. Joint Working Groups may be formed by the Board and assigned to a lead team.