vra 2009 mdid users group
TRANSCRIPT
MDID Users GroupVRA Conference 2009
Toronto
Updates
Please help us out by writing down your◦ Name◦ Institutions◦ If you are using MDID
Survey
Mailing List Subscribers in 48 States
Eight shared collections with over 10,600 images:◦ Art Images for College Teaching◦ American Sheet Music of the early Twentieth
Century◦ Historic Illustrations of Art and Architecture◦ John Tenniel and the American Civil War◦ Madison Art Collection◦ Otis Artists’ Books Collection◦ Battles and Leaders of the Civil War◦ English Architecture
Shared content
43 institutions 154 individual connections
Institutions using shared collections
New collection byAllan Kohl coming soon◦ La Gazette du Bon Ton
provides a uniquely beautiful reflection of the elegant realm of Parisian fashion and high society from the last years of the Belle Epoque to the dawn of the Art Deco era
New Content
Blog for news and announcements◦ http://mdidnews.blogspot.com/
Facebook group◦ Four members (including Andreas)◦ Linked from blog
New Communication Channels
MDID 3
Support for additional media types Interoperatibility
◦ Flickr integration◦ PowerPoint export
Slideshow presentation improvements ◦ Predefined split screen and zoom◦ Text slides◦ Online galleries
Customizable meta data Work/image record distinction Image tagging Better content management tools Usage statistics
MDID 2 – Sample Feature Requests
(About 150 more)
MDID 2 – Sample Feature Requests
MDID 2 core developed in 2001 Design decisions no longer support current needs
◦ Basic architecture is difficult to extend and modify◦ There is no support for work-image distinction ◦ Access control is inflexible◦ No support for digital media formats other than images
User interface falling behind Web 2.0 expectations◦ Even open content is hidden behind a login page◦ Images and slideshows cannot be bookmarked or linked
to◦ ImageViewer technology no longer supported on modern
operating systems
Development Challenges
New requirements considered from the start◦ Support for different media types◦ Flexible meta-data structure and access rights◦ Bookmarkable pages◦ Customizable page layout and design◦ API support
New development platform◦ Completely Open Source◦ Cross-platform support for Windows, Linux, MacOS◦ Significantly shorter development times
Advantages of Complete Redesign
Allow students and faculty to manage, discover, and aggregate digital media for intuitive, flexible delivery and presentation
Affirm our commitment to support the use of digital media in the JMU curriculum through ongoing MDID development
Continue to promote adoption of MDID beyond JMU
MDID 3 – Vision
Build using open source software Share through open source license Embrace Web 2.0 and open access Encourage content sharing between
individuals, institutions and the public Leverage collective intelligence through
comments, ratings and tagging Involve students by allowing them to add,
create, share and manage content
MDID 3 – Guiding Principles
Implement most commonly requested features Simpler and more powerful content discovery Simpler and more flexible cataloging Simpler access control options Ubiquitous data exchange mechanisms Fully compatible with MDID 2 remote collections Easy migration path from MDID 2 Compatible with major operating systems
MDID 3 – Goals
Google Code Development site◦ Code repository◦ Development wiki◦ Simple issue tracker
MDID 3◦ http://code.google.com/p/rooibos/
MediaViewer◦ http://code.google.com/p/mediaviewer/
New Communication Channels
Initial feature goals◦ MDID 2 functionality◦ support for audio and video files◦ enhanced discovery interface◦ interoperability components
JMU timeline◦ Evaluation and Testing – Spring/Summer 2009◦ Migration to MDID 3 – Fall 2009
MDID 3 – Timeline and Milestones
MediaViewer Initial version will
be compatible with MDID 2 to replace current ImageViewer
Ready early summer 2009
Summer/Fall 2009 Looking for institutions willing to run MDID 3
in trial mode◦ Should be able to diagnose, report and fix simple
problems◦ Ability to contribute to development a plus
Anybody will be able to get the latest code from development site
MDID 3 Beta Test
Demo
Now available at http://demo.mdid.org/ Log in using “demo” for both username and
password Limited functionality and content
Discovery Interface
JMUtube allows JMU faculty and staff to store and deliver video and presentations
Allows creation of playlists that are easily embedded in Blackboard and other web sites
Built on same technologies as MDID 3
JMUtube
JMUtube is a subset of MDID 3 functionality Interface is focused on a specific task Goal:
◦ Make JMUtube available to MDID community as an extension (alternative user interface) to MDID 3
◦ Optionally: Design a plug-in architecture to facilitate development of specialized interfaces and fit JMUtube into this architecture
MDID/JMUtube Convergence
Technical Details
Control access for collections and storage areas
Collections can be bundled together into parent collections
MDID 3 Access Controls
Art
PaintingsMona Lisa
Storage High
Res
Storage Low Res
Waterlilies
Storage Low Res
SculptureDavid
Storage High Res
Storage Models
Data structure (simplified)
Technology
Application
Djangousing Python
Apa
che
usi ng
mod
_pyt
hon
Mic
ros
oft
IIS
usi ng
PyI
SA
PIe
Search
Solr
Jetty or other Java server
Database
Post
gre
SQ
L
MySQ
L
Ora
cle
Mic
roso
ft
SQ
L Serv
er
Cach
ing
mem
cach
ed
Windows Mac OS Linux
Accessibility and Customizability
Accessibility
All browser-based features usable without JavaScript or mouse
Enabled JavaScript will allow for easier use and enhanced features
All pages can be bookmarked, including search results
Accessibility Goals
All layout and appearance is controlled with easily editable HTML template files
Adjusting color, header, footer, logos, etc. is straightforward
Customizability
Context-sensitive Help link on every page Individual help links next to critical page
elements All links point to pages in a wiki Wiki provides tooltips for buttons
Help and Documentation
?
?
JMU will host a global MDID Help wiki◦ Wiki editing permissions to be determined
Other institutions can host their own if needed, e.g. for non-English speakers
Additional documentation, guides, tutorials can be linked from relevant wiki pages
Help and Documentation
API Development
Now hiring contractors to work on some or all of these projects:◦ ARTstor connector◦ Flickr connector◦ Blackboard building block◦ PowerPoint import/export
More information will be available as soon contract is awarded◦ Target award date: April 1, 2009
IMLS Grant Update
Initial test versions of connectors by June Final versions by end of grant in September Coincides with general MDID 3 development
schedule
Development Timeline
Information
Andreas Knab, Lead Software Developer, CIT Kevin Hegg, Assistant Director of Systems,
Research and Development, CIT Tina Updike, Visual Resources Specialist, SAAH Grover Saunders, Web Media Developer, CIT Mary Ann Chappell, Educational Technologies
Librarian Sarah Cheverton, Director, CIT Sandy Maxfield, Associate Dean, L&ET
MDID 3 – JMU Project Team
MDID wiki at http://mdid.org/ MDID users list at
http://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/mdidusers-l.html MDID project on SourceForge at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mdid Email: [email protected]
Support
Product and company names mentioned in this presentation may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Authors:◦ Kevin Hegg ([email protected])◦ Andreas Knab ([email protected])◦ Christina Updike Visual Resources Specialist
Further Information:◦ Visit http://mdid.org/◦ Email [email protected]
Information
Stay for the “Ask the Experts” session immediately following this presentation
Questions?
Connect external data sources without having to import data into MDID?
Getting data from VCat into MDID Searching for internal data elements like IDs
and filenames
Submitted Questions