VRWG Meetings

VRWG agenda, October 12, 2009

•         Review charge/group
•         Group Updates
•         General Updates 
  • • ARTStor
    • Luna
• Brochure---with Carla
• Website 
  • • Status of Collections homepage
    • RSS feeds?
    • Other things needing updating
• Flickr updates
• Luna 6.0 migration
  • •  Known bug with media display
    • Permissions solution

 
June 23, 2009

Agenda:

    Review charge:

    Need to formalize the group.  Martha will discuss with Janet; Danielle with Oya.  Charge should be revised and all agree should include the following:

           Promotion

           Public Services/Technical/Stakeholder communication

           Subgroups to accomplish specific tasks, such as Luna 6.0 upgrade
 
    Luna 6.0 upgrade & testing group - plan to complete by early August

           Meet in early July to test collections

           Liz will begin reviewing categories to make recommendations for specific collections; will also inquire about adding to Luna Commons

           Kaila (& Maike) will begin to develop new user guides for Luna 6.0

           Danielle will work with Adam Smith on webfeat intersection

           Mira will look into group functionality, especially with Andean Collection
 

    Find Images - overhaul

           Two phases: phase one:  Glen will review site for broken links and outdated information;  phase two: include new user guides, potentially move to

           Drupal for longer-term maintenance. 
 

    Map database- funded- stay tuned for group meeting (set by Danielle)

    General updates, especially in light of KVRF closing

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

(in attendance:  Glen Wiley, Susette Newberry, Surinder Ghangas, Martha Walker, Mira Basara, Margaret Webster, Danielle Mericle, Greta Bahnemann) 

General Announcements

• Karen Brummund departure & impact - still to be determined whether or not position will be filled (likely not)
• Camio & Christian Art still available (although not subscribed)
• ArtSTOR updates
  • meeting Friday with ArtSTOR reps
  • Suspect ArtSTOR moving towards open-source/open shelf model
  • will update after meeting
• Project Updates
  • MacDougall- slated for completion mid-October (Glen finishing data for Rick)
  • Aerial:  new images in, awaiting Jim Reidy's work on centerpoints
  • Vicos:  Still to be determined where to put material- discussion with RMC
  • Flickr:  Subset of AD White going in-Susette will keep us posted

FindIt

• Impact of CUL redesign on FindIt and FIR
• Need to overhaul site: eliminate broken links and update collection descriptions
• Impact of 6.0?
  

Luna 6.0 Updates:     

• Move into "test" late September
• Functional testing early October
• Usability testing late October/early November (need to involve key faculty members)
• January implementation (if testing goes well)
• Need to involve representative from key-stakeholders (esp. HFJ) in testing and assessment.

Luna 6.0 Test team and Plan

Known Luna 6.0 Issues:-       

• Personal collections will not be supported in 6.0.
• Flickr collections must be public not private
• Presentations will not migrate to 6.0, but groups will. Faculty have to rebuild presentations if they want to go with 6.0.
• Annotations will not work in 6.0.

Issues discovered through initial testing:-        

Errors: creating and sharing groups; viewing image captions (check to see if fixed after reload of 6.0); exporting groups (varying image size, metadata transfer, etc)-        

Cross-collection searching

VRWG Meeting Notes: July 17, 2008

Mira kindly conducted a demo of Luna 6.0.   VRWG members are encouraged to play with the collections at the following urls:

http://library35.library.cornell.edu:8180/luna/servlet
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet

PLEASE NOTE: THE LIBRARY COLLECTIONS WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE END OF JULY, AFTER WHICH WE WILL TAKE
DOWN FOR A TOTAL REVAMP/UPDATE.  

We will plan to meet with collection stakeholders in the coming months to discuss options for the new interface.  We recommend that
collection owners review the following items to determine how to set up their individual collections:

• Media Summary:  This window appears when mouse cursor is held over an image.  Collection owners should determine which four
  fields they want to display.  We highly recommend that all collections utilize the first field to identify where the image comes from (i.e.
  the collection name).  The other three fields are optional.
• Mapping for four categories:  Who/What/Where/When   Up to 20 fields can be mapped for each category.  Collection owners should determine
  which fields they want mapped for which category.  This should have an impact on how well the cross-collection search functions.
• Permissions:  Determine levels of access for public vs. password-protected use.  We are still determining how many levels of permissions will
  be available, but in the immediate future we believe there will only be three:  open-access to the public (with or without download option); open to cornell community only through authentication, and password protected access with download capability.
• Image header for collection: see HFJ collection for an example.
• Protocol for naming groups- this has the potential to get very unmanageable.  We should plan to discuss options/strategies at next VRWG meeting.

Again, we are not sure when Luna 6.0 will be fully implemented.  In the meantime, we plan to proceed with testing and reload of Cornell Collections in test.
I will plan to call a meeting of the test plan participants later in the month.

VRWG Meeting notes: March 26

Passwords & User profiles:

Mira presented a new scenario for dealing with passwords and profiles, and suggests limiting the number to around three-four different profiles.  To implement these changes, we will plan to meet  first with those on the "front lines" of working with patrons (Susette, Karen, Greta, Jeanine), so we can identify the ideal scenario from their perspective.  We will then meet with stakeholders- RMC, KVRF, HFJ- to develop a new scheme and limit the number of p/w & profiles.

Luna 6.0 

Surinder is working with Drake to get 6.0 up and running.  There is still no estimated date as to when this will happen.  Surinder will keep the group informed.

Danielle asked for volunteers to participate in developing a test plan for Luna 6.0.  In particular, we want to test 1) cross collection searching, 2) Luna & Webfeat (federated searching), 3) authentication, 4) Java Client and annotations.  Susette, Karen, Margaret, Mira, Danielle, and Rick will work on this (please let me know if I've missed anyone who would like to participate).

Greta and Jeanine gave an overview of the VRA conference they attended in San Diego, including some of the highlighted functionality of Luna 6.0. 

Help pages

Glen and Karen gave updates on recent changes made to the Help pages, including the following:  

• emphasize the pop-up blocker text
• correct Karen's work title
• unify the look of ARTstor, not ARTStor or ArtStor
• link Karen's email in a non-spam way

VRWG Meeting Agenda & Notes: 9-11-07

Many thanks to Gale for all her hard work on Visual Resources over the past eight years.  She will be missed.

General updates:

• Danielle made open-call to group for suggestions on VRWG.  Please feel free to email dkm26 with any ideas on how
  to improve the effectiveness of VRWG.

Projects:

• Still awaiting copyright info from Lab of O- this project needs to wrap up NOW!  Yesterday...
• KVRF running smoothly
• MacDougall-
  • Margaret finalizing metadata
  • final batch of images (700-1000) to be shipped to DMG by end of year-- some issues with dust that need to be
    discussed in person
  • We will look for a springtime upload of additional content-- contingent on time availability of programmers in DLIT

Luna 6.0 (!)

• early January- Surinder will bring up in test

• Mid January- Surinder will present to VRWG and pull in people for testing as needed
  • Susette will bring to Usability group
  • We will want to get faculty and staff feedback
  • Webfeat integration? /no more webfeat?
  • Glen may get involved from Documentation perspective
• We will plan on actual implementation in Summer 2008 (no upgrades during semester)

Help pages-- we will discuss/present Help pages during first VRWG meeting in Jan

•  Susette and Lance are working on help for general image searching (Find It)
•  Glen & Karen are working on Luna documentation and general clean-up of existing resources
•  Gale will pull together a general FAQ for desktop problems for Amy to use in LIBIT
•  We need to determine the best/most visible place to put help pages.

NEXT MEETING AGENDA:

• Luna 6.0
• Help pages
• Include Amy from Desktop (LIBIT-L) Karen, Martha, and Margaret and possibly HFJ folks 

VRWG Meeting Agenda & Notes: 9-11-07

Project Updates:

• Lab of O
  • We are in the final phases of development- still awaiting approval from Lab before final release.
  • Susette & Gale conducted Usability Studies on the collection and came up with a list of recommendations (see Usability Results)
  • The following recommendations fell within the "feasible" realm:
    • Copyright: 
      1. Displaying size one when user clicks on an image-- Mira investigating
      2. Fix "image unavailable" statement to "Image may not be further enlarged due to copyright restrictions"
      3. Activate link for copyright statement.
      4. Investigating link option in background
    • Metadata
      1. Investigate issues with search/index (so that user can search on "robin" and get results -- not "American Robin"
    • Help Pages
      1. Glen, who is on the documentation committee, will work with team to create new help documentation.  Eli agreed to send on documentation related to this.
  • MOU for ongoing maintenance-- this is in its final phases and will be shared with group upon completion (likely next meeting)
• MacDougall
  • Anticipated load TBD-- likely late fall/early winter.  Stay tuned.
• KVRF
  • Done!  Things seem to be progressing smoothly with regards to weekly uploads.  Hopefully we can post documentation regarding workflow on wiki (Mira/Surinder?)
• Luna 6.0
  • Release date still TBD, but Surinder will keep us informed.  Sounds like there will be significant changes.

 Patron/Client Support

• Contact list on web (who to contact for what)--
  • We agreed to keep LunaSupport-L as the primary outlet for help. 
  • We DO need to determine who will monitor the list to make sure that things are responded to within a reasonable time-frame.
  • Proposed point person with back-up TBD-- (please feel free to volunteer!)
• Personal collections
• Passwords update
  • Awaiting recommendations from Martha Walker...

General

• Subgroups? Discontinue?  (Go back to monthly  meetings)
  • There is still a list of "to do" on front page of this wiki- we need to determine what we WILL do and what we can't do... next meeting agenda item.
• Consultants
• Vision for the future

VRWG Meeting Agenda & Notes: 6-10-07
2-3:30, Olin 703 (new action items in red!)

 New Items:

• USERS The group discussed the necessity of DEFINING our users-- from Cornell Community (faculty, students, and curators) to the broader users (www, walk-ins, etc) to clients             (HFJ/KVRF/RMC).  We need to determine a multifaceted approach to covering and discovering their needs.  It is likely that we will institute bi-yearly meetings with faculty to see how they are using current resources.  We would also like to reinstate workshops for Luna and other visual collections.

• Revising Documentation on wiki---(Nancy H. noticed some things)  The group has been asked to continue to document their work using the wiki.

Updates on following projects:

• Lab of O  
  • Status Report-- There is some question regarding status of copyrighted images in collection, and whether we are ready to move to production.
     A course of action will be determined in coming weeks.  Rhea Garen and Susette Newberry are still working on user testing, etc.
  • Maintenance contract: Elaine has put out a MOU for review to DLIT management.  Elaine will work to finalize the agreement and will present to VRWG group at next meeting. 
• KVRF       
  • Gale, Rick, and Margaret finalizing development.  Anticipated completion date of July 1 for Phase 1 will be met.
  • Need to determine course of action for promotion/use of site/ and quality testing.
• HFJ
  • Mira update on clean-up work done
  • Mira will work with technology subgroup to determine whether the Asian virtual collection needs to be updated.
  • Upcoming meeting
• MacDougall
  • Status:  Margaret and company will finalize metadata by fall; upload of new material into CURRENT VRA schema anticipated for mid fall.

Follow-up

• WebFeat: Rick's Gateway Solution!
  • Rick has developed a way to create a single index for all Luna collections which can then be searched by Webfeat.  This should signficantly speed up the search process, as instead of hitting nine separate databases, Webfeat need only hit one. 
• Find Images
  • Still questions as to whether Find Images will be maintained over the long-term.
• Outsourcing to Luna
  • Gale will document (on VRWG wiki) scanning requirements should we choose to outsource derivative processing to Luna (avoiding problems encountered with KVRF collection).
• IPTC metadata
  • A number of institutions are now requesting that Luna maintain metadata embedded in images.  Rick is investigating options for implementing IPTC embedded metadata into our master and derivative image files.
    Rick will report back to the group with his findings at our next quarterly meeting.
• Luna 6.0
  • Luna plans to do away with java client version in 6.0.  Also promising collection index for searching. 
  • Strong possibility that Cornell with be a beta test site for new Luna server this fall.  Surinder is working withLuna to move collections to this new server.

SubGroup Action Items:

• Metadata
  • For the next quarter, the metadata group will work on migrating from VRA 4.0 alpha to VRA 4.0 beta.  This should
    resolve many of the data mapping problems we have been encountering during collection development.
•  Technology / Development
  • Continue work on KVRF/HFJ/MacDougall Collections.
•  Promotion and Usability
  • Will work with Lab of O Collection to document procedures for providing access to collection (NERF form, etc), testing
    testing collection, and promotion.
  •  

VRWG Meeting Notes: 2-1-07
2-3:30, Olin 703 (new action items in red!)

Project Updates

• Lab of O  
  • Collection is in the final development stage. 
  • New metadata should be in by 17 April. 
  • Elane finalizing details of maintenance contract. 
  • Susette, Lance, & Rhea will meet to discuss user testing and promotion of collection.
• KVRF       
  • 13,000 images currently in test mode.  Still issues regarding image data mapping.
  • Lance & Susette will work with Margaret on collection description and background image. 
  • Still questions regarding public access and integration. 
  • Estimated time of completion? 
• HFJ
  • Still questions from HFJ staff regarding database integrity.  Danielle will provide examples
    to Luna dev team and set meeting to determine course of action
• MacDougall
  • Metadata team meeting with Margaret to determine metadata scheme for new material.
  • Danielle will call larger team meeting in mid-May to develop plan to complete project.

Other Updates

• WebFeat: Rick's Gateway Solution!
  • Rick has developed a way to create a single index for all Luna collections which can then be searched
    by Webfeat.  This should signficantly speed up the search process, as instead of hitting nine separate
    databases, Webfeat need only hit one. 
  • Still questions as to whether Find Images will be maintained over the long-term.
• Outsourcing to Luna
  • Gale will document (on VRWG wiki) scanning requirements should we choose to outsource derivative processing
    to Luna (avoiding problems encountered with KVRF collection).
• IPTC metadata
  • A number of institutions are now requesting that Luna maintain metadata embedded in images.  Rick
    is investigating options for implementing IPTC embedded metadata into our master and derivative image files.
    Rick will report back to the group with his findings at our next quarterly meeting.
• Luna 6.0
  • Luna plans to do away with java client version in 6.0.  Also promising collection index for searching. 
  • Strong possibility that Cornell with be a beta test site for new Luna server this fall.  Surinder is working with
    Luna to move collections to this new server.

SubGroup Action Items:

• Metadata
  • For the next quarter, the metadata group will work on migrating from VRA 4.0 alpha to VRA 4.0 beta.  This should
    resolve many of the data mapping problems we have been encountering during collection development.
•  Technology / Development
  • Continue work on KVRF/HFJ/MacDougall Collections.
•  Promotion and Usability
  • Will work with Lab of O Collection to document procedures for providing access to collection (NERF form, etc), testing
    testing collection, and promotion.

VRWG Meeting Notes: 2-1-07

• We have agreed to break into sub-groups, which will meet monthly, and meet as a larger group quarterly.
• During quarterly meetings, we will share sub-committees work/findings with larger VRWG group
• During our quarterly meetings, we will also invite key stakeholders to give us feedback on their Visual Resources Collections
• We will notifiy the group of our sub-group meetings, in the event that anyone ourside of subgroup should feel compelled to attend
• We will utilize Confluence site to document our work.

Action Items:

• Usability Group:
  • Gale will set up meetings to discuss testing documentation, PSEC's role, and follow up on Taj/Andean Collection Usability Tests
• Technology Group:
  • Group will continue to work on KVRF & HFJ/TMS projects
  • Gale will contact WebFeat team to determine what is causing problems with "hanging" Luna Collections
• Metadata Group:
  • Group will meet to discuss MacDougall metadata
  • Elaine will continue to work on contract for Lab of O
• Promotion & Access
  • Lance will set meetings to review current promotion documentation (Fiona's)
  • Group will begin to determine roles of VRWG & VRAG