NOF-digitise Spring 2002 Workshop Programme

As part of its ongoing support service to NOF-digitise projects, the Fund in partnership with Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, UKOLN: the UK Office for Library and Information Networking, the Arts and Humanities Data Service and BECTa, has organised a series of workshops on a range of topics relevant to the successful implementation and delivery of digitisation projects.

Events:

• Virtual reality
• Putting your project plan into practice: developing an information architecture
• Creating Learning Resources
• Website creation: good practice guidelines
• Metadata: soup to nuts
• Collection Level Description and NOF digitise projects
• Preservation and NOF digitise projects
• Evaluation and impact assessment for NOF digitise projects
• From project to service: sustaining your work post-NOF digi
• Image digitisation
• Community Languages Workshop

Who should attend: these events are intended ONLY for those who have received funding under the NOF-digitise programme. Some are specifically for those with an interest in a particular medium or technical element, some are designed as "entry-level" workshops for those new to the digitisation process. Further details are found below.

Where: The Fund's London Offices at 1 Plough Place, London EC4 1DA

To register: please e-mail digitisation@nof.org.uk providing the following information.

I wish to attend the ............ workshop(s) on

Date(s)

Project URN: DIG/2000/

Organisation Name

Name of person attending (1 only per nof-funded project)

E-mail address

Telephone number

Address (if different from current contact details)

Virtual reality

When - Thursday 10th January 2002

Time - 11.30am until c.4.30pm

The workshop will be aimed primarily at those who are involved in the production of a VR element of a project from a technical perspective.  The event will include an introduction to VRML, a case study demonstrating the use of virtual reality and information about documentation and delivery testing. The event is intended to assist organisations in the planning and development of this aspect of their projects and to facilitate discussion and sharing of expertise in this field.

The number of attendees is strictly limited to 20 people. While the invitation is extended to all NOF digi funded organisations, priority will be given to those who have already demonstrated that VR is integral to their projects.

Putting your project plan into practice: developing an information architecture

When - Wednesday 16 January 2002 (Wednesday 30 January)

Time - 10.30am - 4.00pm

This workshop is aimed at those who are NEW to the world of digitisation projects and programmes, and who will be responsible for managing the delivery of a NOF-digitise project and who will be preparing specifications for tenders for aspects of the work. It is intended to assist NOF digitise projects by providing training in developing an "information flow" model and systems specification.

Objectives: Before projects make final decisions on the technical, content and

metadata standards they wish to use it will be essential, to develop an information architecture that provides a blueprint or 'visual plan' for their project. In the same way that an architect develops a set of plans for a building that guide the construction of that building, so projects need to develop a plan or 'information architecture' that identifies the elements (content, metadata, learning resources etc) to be included; how those elements fit together in a system (systems specification); the process flow by which they become digital objects that are managed, stored and delivered,

perhaps in a variety of formats and on a variety of media (information flow); and the standards that might be used.

This workshop aims to assist projects by:

1) Providing a methodology for developing an information architecture

2) Identifying the elements to be included

3) Demonstrating how to develop an information flow and systems specification

4) Discussing/demonstrating how that assists in deciding upon standards

5) Illustrating how the plan can help with the decision making process

The workshop programme and presentations are now available.

Closing date for applications: Monday 7 January (Monday 18 January)

OUTLINE PROGRAMME

Introduction and overview: the value of an information architecture

Real Life Case Study - presentation of a successful digitisation project which demonstrates how to develop an information architecture and discusses the pros and cons (including problem areas).

Introducing the methodology

Group sessions

Developing an architecture for a real project - Groups will be given a task based on a real project plan. A description of the partners, their content and the expected deliverables will be provided. The group will be asked to identify the elements, describe the information flow processes which are needed to digitise the content, create the metadata, manage the content and metadata and deliver the server to the end user. Groups will be expected to produce an outline of an information architecture for their project.

Lunch

Group sessions (continued)

Tea

Report back - groups report back on their solutions and compare with those of the actual projects concerned.

Discussion and outcomes

Creating Learning Resources

When - Tuesday 22 January (repeated 19 February)

Time - 10.00am - 1.00pm

This half-day workshop building on the breakout sessions held in the 2001 autumn nof-digi roadshows will be presented by BECTa and will explore ways in which digital materials can be exploited to create learning resources. It will include a look at how different learning styles and target audiences can be supported and the associated technical tools and standards. The event is aimed at those who will be responsible for the creation of learning packages, those who may be preparing specification to tender for such packages or managing their creation.

The biographies of the NOF panel and the Designing Multimedia Archives for Educational Use presentation are now available.

When emailing your booking please let us know if you have any questions you would like addressed in the session.

Website creation: good practice guidelines

When - Tuesday 22 January 2002 (repeated 19 February)

Time - 1.30pm - 4.30pm

Ensuring learning resources and digital materials are delivered via your website in an accessible way is key to success. This half-day event will follow on from the morning and explore good practice in building a website looking at tools, techniques and standards, and will discuss a number of case studies as examples. The event is aimed at those who may be relatively new to the process and who will be responsible for website creation or managing the web-delivery aspect of the project, or those who will be preparing specifications to tender for website design and delivery who would like to improve their overall appreciation of the topic.

The workshop programme and presentations are now available.

Metadata: soup to nuts

When - Tuesday 5 February 2002

Time - 11.00am - 3.30pm

Metadata is key at all stages of the digital lifecycle, whether for describing the object itself, the preservation details, IPR information, access rights, or digitisation process. This INTRODUCTORY workshop will explain what metadata is and does, why it is vital in digitisation projects, what the Dublin Core covers and extensions to consider, and how the technical standards for NOF-digi apply. The event is intended for those who are new to the concept and who will be creating metadata, or managing such processes, or preparing tender documents which include specifications for metadata.

The workshop programme and presentations are now available.

Closing date for applications: Friday 25 January 2002

Learning resource creation

When - Tuesday 19 February 2002

A repeat of this workshop

Closing date for applications: Friday 8 February

Website creation: good practice

When - Tuesday 19 February 2002

A repeat of this workshop

Closing date for applications: Friday 8 February

Collection Level Description and NOF digitise projects

When - Friday 22 February 2002

Time - 12 noon - 3.30pm

This half-day workshop will explain in further detail how NOF expects projects to apply collection level description metadata as set out in the technical standards framework (para 5.2.1).

You should attend if you will be responsible for creating CLD for your project or consortium, or if you will be managing the process.

The presentations are now available from the Collection Description Focus Web site.

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 11 February

Preservation and NOF digitise projects

When - Friday 15 March 2002

Time - 12 noon - 3.30pm

The deployment of a preservation strategy to ensure the long-term accessibility of digital materials should be an important element of any NOF-digitise project. Without a suitable preservation plan, projects risk losing not only the material they have digitised, but wasting the hard work they have put into these projects. This half-day workshop will examine the 'whys' and 'hows' of digital preservation. The morning session will give an overview of the latest thinking in preservation, and highlight one case study where one project almost came to grief because of a lack of a preservation plan. The afternoon session, which includes a break-out session, will explore the various pros and cons in different preservation strategies, and finish with advice on how best to execute these strategies.

The following presentations and documents are now available:

• Cedars Project
• Practical Aspects of Preservation
• Preservation and documentation of digital data
• Helpful URLs

Closing date for applications: Monday 6 March

Evaluation and impact assessment for NOF digitise projects

When - Thursday 21 March 2002

Time - 11.00am - 4.00pm

Evaluation is an integral part of any project as it is important to understand the impact of what you are doing on your target audience, to learn lessons from the way the project was undertaken and to identify options for the way forward which will ensure sustainability. This workshop will look at tools and techniques for different types of evaluation, present some case studies, and also explain the Fund's programme-level evaluation and longitudinal work to be done by Resource.

The workshop programme and presentations are now available.

From project to service: sustaining your work post-NOF digi

When - 16 May 2002

Time - 10.30am - 4.00pm

All projects are required to show how they will sustain their projects for a period of three years following the completion of the NOF-funded work. This event will consider options and approaches that can be adopted to move from project implementation mode to service delivery and development mode.

The workshop programme and presentations are now available.

Closing date for applications: Monday 3 May 2002

Image digitisation

This subject has been considered carefully but it has not been possible to provide a hands-on entry-level course specifically for nof-digi projects within the required timeframe. However the Fund strongly recommends the courses run by TASI. For details of current training events, online resources and FAQs please see the TASI website - at http://www.tasi.ac.uk