[Web4lib] Summary: Document Repositories

[Linda_M.Schwartz at lvh.com]

Original Post:
I am working with a group in the early stages of developing a hospital-wide
document repository of clinical practice guidelines, interdisciplinary
guidelines, etc. and providing access to these documents via our intranet.
Since the nursing department is experimenting with what they are calling "mini
Google" (and I am assuming is really the Google Mini product), it was thought
that the new project should simply reside with those documents instead of
creating another document "silo." I have been asked to review the Google
search tool for use in searching the document repository.  While Google has
its pros and cons, what concerns me more is the bigger picture of creating
DOCUMENTS that are searchable and will continue to be searchable as we migrate
in future to a content management system. I'd really like to be able to save
us time in the future by recommending good document creation from the
beginning. Right now the nursing pilot program has HTML and PDF documents. I
will be suggesting 1) embedding metadata (probably XMP for the PDFs) into the
documents and 2) creating a style guide for the formatting of documents. I
want to make sure, however, that I'm not overlooking other facets that are
equally important. Can anyone point me to a definitive article or two that
outline the basic considerations for creating searchable documents? I've found
articles on the mechanics of HTML/XMP markup but am looking for the broader
sense of creating documents in formats that transition well among applications.

Summary of Responses:

I was with the digital library interest group of LITA of ALA. There was  much
discussion of institutional repositories, creation of metadata,  software and
hardware in that group. The link is
http://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litamembership/litaigs/diglibtech/digitallibrary.ht
m  However it hasn't been updated in a year.

I tried a keyword search of dLIST for "digital library" and got about 200
hits. Many articles are theoretical/academic, but they might provide you with
some practical ideas. http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/ also
http://dlharvest.sir.arizona.edu/

Caplan, Priscilla. Metadata Fundamentals for All Libraries. ALA, 2003.ISBN:
0838908470. There is a Chapter on Syntax, Creation and Storage and another on
Metadata and the Web, along with two sections: principles and practice and
part 2 is metadata schemes.

Along with many other universities we have had to come to terms with the
requirement for an Institutional Repository. We looked at two open source
products dspace and eprints. Both are capable of storing full text documents,
certainly including pdf and html. We went with eprints because it was written
by a UK University - Southampton - and closer matched our requirements. These
systems are OAI Harvestable thus open to Google Scholar (presumably to Google
mini too?) There is a lot of information on both systems online.

I have been the recorder at several MLA Chapter Council Roundtable lunches and
know that an "Archives" theme is featured almost every year.
Participants often share information on useful resources, guides, links,
sites, etc. that get recorded into the notes. The discussion often includes
"institutional repository" discussions. You may want to look at the notes from
the last few years...2006 summary reports are just now being collected, so
they're not yet posted on the site: http://www.chaptercouncil.mlanet.org/

Documents on the web that I found helpful:

Digital Content Management: The Search for a Content Management System
<http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/623/01/digital%5Fcontent%5Fmanagement.pdf>

Understanding Metadata. <http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/541/01/niso.pdf>
Using Dublin Core in educational material: some practical considerations based
on the EASEL experience Slavic, Aida and Baiget, Clara (2001) Using Dublin
Core in educational material: some practical considerations based on the EASEL
experience. Vine 31(4):pp. 74-85.
<http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/660/01/vine31.pdf>
Metadata: The Theory behind the Practice.
<http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/67/01/4gils02asc.pdf>
Introduction to Metadata
<http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intrometadata/inde
x.html>
And for the features of Google searching, the video from the Informatics Grand
Rounds at the University of Arizona --
	Extreme Googling --
http://video.biocom.arizona.edu/video/videolibrary/aztelemed/informaticsGR/defa
ult.htm

Comment:

The upshot of the meeting was that it appears that all of my recommendations
-- for creating metadata, for staff education in searching the repository if
Google Mini is used, for creation of a style guide for formatting the
documents, and for choice/creation of a controlled vocabulary -- will all be
incorporated into the task force recommendations. As you can see dlist was
very helpful in tracking down useful info.

My gratitude to all that provided info and links!

Linda Matula Schwartz
Library Information Specialist
Lehigh Valley Hospital



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