blowing up the book: design challenges for online cultural heritage information
DESCRIPTION
Lesley Humphreys and Neal Johnson Presentation at User Focus, the UXPA DC Chapter conference, Washington, D.C. – October 17, 2014 In 2009, The Getty Foundation issued a challenge to eight art museums: translate a scholarly catalog rich with cultural heritage data, images, and interpretation into an online resource that strives to reach beyond the limitations of print in creative and useful ways. "Systematic catalogs" are a time-honored and resource-intensive method of publishing the core art historical data and art research associated with the cultural objects that these institutions hold in public trust. And so the Online Scholarly Catalog Initiative (OSCI) was begun with the goal of "blowing up the book"... not to eliminate or destroy, but rather to expand the utility and audience of these important resources. In the spring of 2014, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC launched their OSCI publication of its Dutch Paintings of the 17th Century systematic catalog. Through thoughtful and elegant design, the Gallery translated the printed catalog into a sustainable digital publication that extends the audience, usefulness, and sustainability of the information contained within. This talk presents a case study on incorporating academic research information from a traditional printed publication into the public web site for the National Gallery of Art. It also offers lessons that can be applied to other information sites.TRANSCRIPT
www.designforcontext.com
Lesley Humphreys @leslo [email protected]
Neal Johnson @vanWinkleTunes [email protected]
On Slideshare now: Go to www.designforcontext.com/publicaFons
Blowing up the Book Design challenges for book-‐to-‐online transla7on of cultural heritage informa7on
USERFOCUS 17 October 2014 • Washington, DC USA
© Design for Context
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INTERACTION DESIGNER & INFORMATION ARCHITECT
Lesley specializes in the user-‐centered design of rich informaEon sites and applicaEons.
Lesley Humphreys
Photo of addiFonal presenter here (in
grayscale)
INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT TO CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Neal has craHed informaEon-‐rich educaEon media strategies for museums around the U.S.
Neal Johnson
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What is an Art Historical SystemaFc Catalog?
Authorita)ve scholarly informa)on on an ins)tu)on’s art collec)on
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What is an Art Historical SystemaFc Catalog?
Authorita)ve scholarly informa)on on an ins)tu)on’s art collec)on
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The GeYy FoundaFon’s Online Scholarly Catalog Ini)a)ve
• 7 partner insFtuFons
• Challenged to “go beyond the book” • develop sustainable, scalable digital publicaFon of scholarly art
historical informaFon
• Improve access to and extend the uFlity of these resources
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Discovering Design Drivers through User Research
• How do art historians seek & use informaFon?
• Academic literature review
• Usability tesFng the book • Museum business needs & constraints
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We wished to avoid another “one-‐off” site and make it discoverable from mul7ple points of entry
X
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Establish a presence for the Dutch Catalog as an en7ty…
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…but integrate it with the collec7on search capability
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Printed Catalogue: Discoverability limited to academic resource gateways
WorldCat Library OPAC
Academic Library
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Online Catalogue: Discoverability increased through mul7ple access points
One URL!
WorldCat
NGA Collection
Home Page NGA site
Google, Bing, et al.
Library OPAC
Artist Browse
Online Editions
Dutch Ptgs.
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Tourist
•Direc)ons to explore •Connec)ng interests
Casual explorer
•Engagement •Shareable discoveries
Expanded poten7al to serve mul7ple audiences
Serendipity!
Educator
•Bridges among disciplines •Catalysts for engagement
Researcher
•Insights for interpreta)on
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Offer “layers” of informa7on and interac7on op7ons in support of user interests and goals.
Scholarly Essay
Technical Notes ComparaFve Figure
Bibliography X
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“Layered” informa7on presenta7on
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“Layered” informa7on presenta7on
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Suppor7ng informa7on availability
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“Layering” supports progressive movement – driven by user goals & mo7va7on
Researcher
Educator
Casual explorer
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Promote scholarly confidence in the online resource and support the full history of informa7on updates using persistent URLs, or PURLs.
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Suppor7ng cita7ons with convenient preformabng…and PURLs!
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Suppor7ng future updates, addi7ons through versioning
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PURLs as a method of guaranteeing persistence of access to specific informa7on resources
1995 version • hYp://purl.org/nga/collecFon/artobject/1236/1995-‐01-‐01
2014 version • hYp://purl.org/nga/collecFon/artobject/1236/2014-‐04-‐24
Future 2020 version • hYp://purl.org/nga/collecFon/artobject/1236/2020-‐10-‐18
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Allow convenient saving and export of informa7on resources.
X
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Suppor7ng export, sharing, saving
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Allow for visual comparison of images which are the lifeblood of the art historian’s professional endeavors
Object A image
Object A ComparaFve image Object B
image
X
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We wanted to give art historians powerful tools for comparing and analyzing images, because that is the lifeblood of their work.
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© Design for Context
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● Accommodate art historical research
● Enrich interacFon and the potenFal for discovery
● Support progressive movement through the informaFon space
SERENDIPITY VIA LAYERING
● Promote trust in the use of online material for scholarly citaFon
● Provide the full scope of scholarship around a work
PURLs & VERSIONS
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● Ensure the ability to scale from 143 to 130,000 objects
● Represent the change in scholarly interpretaFon over Fme
SCALE & SUSTAIN
● Increase discoverability
● Expand audiences and secondary uses for the material
MULTIPLE ACCESS POINTS
www.designforcontext.com
Lesley Humphreys @leslo [email protected]
Neal Johnson @vanWinkleTunes [email protected]
On Slideshare now: Go to www.designforcontext.com/publicaFons
Blowing up the Book Design challenges for book-‐to-‐online transla7on of cultural heritage informa7on
USERFOCUS 17 October 2014 • Washington, DC USA