I recall that meeting. Am having doubts that the time is right for national/public libraries to be actively involved with MACAR. Pity. Potential is huge for sharing info. But I've come to think that the unique dynamics in the research/academic/ed sectors are what made MACAR possible in the first place. Academics move around and it is vital for researchers to exchange data and publications etc etc. Sharing of efforts and coop projects would seem be a natural outgrowth of that environment. Nothing like that among national libraries, which are focused more on managing their own resources and serving their immediate constituencies. Their sheer size, too, means they have more legacy issues and systems to negotiate than the academic libraries with which I worked.

I suspect national libraries will only be in a position to embark on the sorts of sharing and coop found among the scholarly/research community when they become even more established in their various digital projects and reach till they reach a point where they can look around at others and say, "hey, look what we've got —- anyone want to share? you have similar? can we exchange?" Many snazzy things are being done, but there is still a long way to go, it seems, before they will reach that point.

Neil

It might be useful for MACAR also to make it clear to those interested in using this list that using it does not preclude them from using other "type" vocabularies as well.

Indeed, DCMI recommends that multiple "type" vocabularies be used when a resource consists of multiple mixed types then multiple "type" terms be used. In particular, for the sake of interoperability, these multiple types should include a standard DCMI Type.

The DC Usage Guide says of the DCMI Type term:

4.4. Type

Label: Resource Type

Element Description: The nature or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (for example, the DCMIType vocabulary ). To describe the physical or digital manifestation of the resource, use the FORMAT element.

Guidelines for content creation:

If the resource is composed of multiple mixed types then multiple or repeated Type elements should be used to describe the main components.

Because different communities or domains are expected to use a variety of type vocabularies, best practice to ensure interoperability is to include at least one general type term from the DCMIType vocabulary in addition to the domain specific type term(s), in separate Type element iterations.

Examples:

Type="Image"
Type="Sound"
Type="Text"
Type="simulation"

Note: The first three values are taken from the DCMI Type Vocabulary, and follow the capitalization conventions for that vocabulary. The last value is a term from an unspecified source.

The item described is an Electronic art exhibition catalog:

Type="Image"
Type="Text"
Type="Exhibition catalog"

Note: The first two values are taken from the DCMI Type Vocabulary, and follow the capitalization conventions for that vocabulary. The last value is a term from an unspecified source.

The item described is a Multimedia educational program with interactive assignments:

Type="Image"
Type="Text"
Type="Software"
Type="InteractiveResource"

Note: All values in this example are taken from the DCMI Type Vocabulary, and follow the capitalization conventions for that vocabulary.

UK's Scholarly Works Application Profile takes care of this OAI interoperability requirement by declaring all of its scholarly text vocabulary terms to be subtypes of the DCMI Type, 'Text'.

So when one uses the MACAR type "cartographic material", it is also a good idea (even "best practice") to additionally use the DCMI Type term "image" or "still image". Similarly the MACAR type "data holding" should be accompanied by the DCMI type "dataset".

The reason for including the DCMI vocabulary alongside the MACAR one is to maximize interoperability. Wherever the OAI protocol is found, there the "simple" DC terms will be understood and processed.

MACAR included non-academic library representatives but my memory tells me they were not as active as those from the academic scene.

Now I have joined the National Library Board of Singapore (NLB) and am making decisions affecting metadata across the entirety of Singapore's national and public libraries I have had to face up to just how limited in focus MACAR's past work has been. It is a pity the membership was not more evenly balanced between academic and public/state libraries. On the other hand, maybe progress is best happening when it is made a small step at a time.

At the NLB a preliminary list of resource types for the national and public library sectors has been prepared. It contains over 50 resource type terms. Some of those will almost certainly be merged, but the list will be a lot longer than the current MACAR list.

With some of the MACAR members now working with ANDS, and MACAR coming under the umbrella of CAUL, one might expect MACAR to be entrenched further with research and academic library requirements.

I wonder if there are any realistic chances of national libraries cooperating with each other and even with academic libraries, and if there are real benefits to be gained by their doing so. Since moving into the national and public library sector I think there are real potentials for users if it could happen. To expose and share the specialist heritage and wider cultural collections that such libraries house, especially alongside libraries dedicated to research and education, can only be A Good Thing.

• image (still)
• image - still
• image:still
• image : still
• image/still
• still images
• images (still)
• images - still
• images:still
• images : still

The Vocabulary definitions for the two types are:

still image – A static visual representation.
Source of term: DCMI, ADS
Source of definition: DCMI
Note: Examples include photographs, paintings. drawings etc. Assign the type text to images of textual materials.

moving image - A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession.
Source of term: DCMI
Source of definition: DCMI
Note: Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.

These two types do cover most images, with the exception that if it is an image of a map then you should use cartographic material. If it is an image of a musical score then you should use musical score.

The question about text is answered in the note for still image. If it is a scanned image of text, then use text. If it is an image included as part of an object with text and images, it will depend on the predominating type and whether you are treating it as one compound object. The notes on multimedia might help here:

multimedia - a complex resource expressed through multiple forms eg text, audio, and/or visual form.
Note: If a single media type predominates or is a substantial part of the resource use the single media type eg text, sound, moving or still image. If more than one type applies use multimedia.

For Images - I should use 2 different resource types:

• still image
• moving image

Expressed as above, and not

• image (still)
• image (moving)

Use Still Images for : photographs, paintings, drawings, digital images (art), posters, postcards, etc
Use Moving Image for : movies, videos, TV program, animations, etc

Can you confirm that the these 2 resource types are the total number of types for images, i.e. that these 2 types should cover most things encountered at the moment?

And lastly, if I have images that are individual or mulitple pages from a manuscript (scanned/photographed) which resource type would you recommend? Does 'Still image' cover textual representation?