Thursday, October 18, 2007

Trinity Long Room Hub Seminar

I am speaking at a seminar next Tuesday on Virtual Archives in Ireland - more information at the TCD website

IASSIST Conference 2008 - call for papers

Technology of Data: Collection, Communication, Access and Preservation

The 34th International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST) annual conference will be held at the Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA, May 27-30, 2008. This year's conference, Technology of Data: Collection, Communication, Access and Preservation, examines the role of technology and tools in various aspects of the data life cycle.

The theme of this conference addresses how technology can affect aspects of data stewardship throughout the data lifecycle. The methods and media by which data are collected, shared, analyzed and saved are ever-changing, from punch cards and legal pads to online-surveys and tag clouds. There has been an explosion of data sources and topics; vast changes in compilation and dissemination methods; increasing awareness about access and associated licensing and privacy issues; and growing concern about the safeguarding and protection of valuable data resources for future use. The 2008 conference is an opportunity to discuss the role of technology – past, present, and future – in all of these arenas. We seek submissions of papers, poster/demonstration sessions, and panel sessions on the following topics:

* Issues and techniques for preserving "old" data as well as
information "born digital"
* Methods, technology and questions surrounding data dissemination,
including best practices and innovations
* Archival and preservation challenges presented by new processes
* Metadata
* Innovation in the use of data for teaching and research
* The legal issues surrounding new technologies
* Changes in resource discovery methods
* Data services in virtual spaces
* Providing services to users with different degrees of technical
"savvy"
* Tools and spaces for research collaboration


Proposals can be submitted via email to: iassist08@gmail.com

Monday, October 15, 2007

Launch of IVRLA 1.0

Monday September 17th saw the launch of the Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive repository (IVRLA), a key component in humanities research infrastructure for University College Dublin (UCD) and other third level institutions.

IVRLA is a digital archive containing a number of digitised collections from UCD’s holdings, of use and interest to Irish humanities researchers. The IVRLA has developed a sophisticated interface enabling users to browse, search, tag and cite digital objects and view or download them in a variety of file formats. This interface sits on top of an open source repository architecture that functions as the IVRLA’s base content store. An elaborate collection model has been developed ensuring all content is viewed within context and structure. This model is particularly suited for organic primary source collections and enables hierarchy and sub-division in how objects are arranged and held within collections.
The Repository is accessible at http://ivrla.ucd.ie

Monday, January 22, 2007

Year 3

Welcome to Year 3 of the IVRLA Project.

To date we now have 2 cataloguers, 3 digitisation assistants(including the new audio/video digitisation assistant) and an IT specialist.

An online demo is also now available here, with basic browse functionality.

The IVRLA Workbook is also available here, giving an overview into the inner workings of this digitisation project.

There will be a lot of exciting developments this year, so keep an eye on this blog or on the IVRLA website.