In effect what needs to be established is a digital library of assets. This library will need to be managed in terms of acquisition, cataloging and presentation.
The way I see it, there are several distinct streams to this project:
Management, marketing and sponsorship
An executive team needs to be formed to guide the vision of the project, to act to gain and manage sponsorship and ownership, to promote the resource both in terms of an accessible resource and as a repository which has intrinsic benefit to people using the resource as well as to people supplying material and subject matter for the project. The executive team will also take and give advice on security issues, especially in terms of information management and disclosure (identity of people and events, special requests, permissions, ownership, terms and condition and so on). The executive will encourage the acquisition of material by promoting a “custom” or “tradition” to submit record of events (especially where those records are digital in nature).
The nature of events needs to be marketed. This project is not looking to record weekly liturgical (or for that matter just liturgical) events; the end game is to record life within the Eparchy and the community that forms it. So examples would include liturgical events (of any kind including communions and other special masses as well as more individual events such as weddings, baptism and funerals), community events which have connections to the Eparchy (however tenuous) and individual events of people in the Eparchy and community (birthdays, weddings, baptisms and other significant celebrations and gathering (camps, concerts, etc.)). In short, this archive will need to be kept very open and broad, following a central theme of Eparchy and community but celebrating and embracing events that give context to the central theme.
A possible early activity for this management group would the investigation of similar projects.
Acquisition, storage, security and archiving
A technical team needs to be formed to establish the infrastructure to acquire, store and archive material. Acquisition of material may tale place over multiple channels: web based submission, electronic media based (CD, DVD, etc.) submission and physical media based (photos, slides, etc.) submission. The required infrastructure to deal with these channels will need to be established, maintained and reviewed. The security of the collection will need to be reviewed and maintained by this team. This team will give advice to and take advice from the management team. Archiving policies and procedures will need to be developed to ensure the integrity and survival of the collection.
Acquisition teams will need to be established throughout the Eparchy. The acquisition teams are not the people who record the events; they are the people who manage the acquisition of material from the members of the Eparchy and community.
Preservation and Cataloging
This component has two sides to it.
Firstly, and primarily, the digital assets need to be reviewed and maintained to ensure their integrity, security and availability over time.
Secondly, the digital assets will also need to be cataloged (list criteria such as source, attribution, identification of copyright issues, etc).
The first order catalog criteria will be, in all likelihood, date. More recent media will be intrinsically dated (EXIF data, etc.), but older media will require proactive dating. Second order cataloging will probably involve keywords and tags. Third order cataloging will involve associating digital media with extended narratives (e.g. a part of a specialized display, a narrative description of an event, etc). The cataloging function will need to record (or edit) details of events and players in the events. Cataloging will need to interact with, provide advice on and comply with security guidelines. This function will also manage the collection in terms of infrastructure capacity (providing web compatible versions of the original material, etc.). The cataloging function also needs to deal with the fact that the same or similar set of assets may have different contexts (for example a baptism may have the obvious context but it also may be the last family and liturgical event for some grandparent and will have context in the story of that person’s family). Cataloging is an ongoing task as without context the collection will be colorful but little else. Context will provide the value to the collection.
Finally, if physical assets are acquired, the preservation function will ensure the proper recording and care of the physical asset and its safe transfer to an appropriate body. The primary function of the Nestor Project is to enable a live and dynamic history of the Eparchy and its communities and not to get mired in the preservation of historical artifacts. This function is better served by a specialized organization such as a museum.
Presentation and distribution
Access to the digital library should be made available using a variety of channels. The catalog should be available on line (subject to security and infrastructure capacity constraints) and searchable by date and keyword. The functionality of the online access function is an open book and will evolve over time and in response to needs as they arise (within budget, policy and technical constraints). Displays for specialized events can be assembled and made available on electronic media (CD, DVD, etc) and finally as some form of physical media (slide shows or printed pictures) for static displays (again within budget, policy and technical constraints).
On a first reading the Nestor Project requires a core of expertise in:
- Digital Asset Management (computer, storage, backup, etc.)
- Digital Online Acquisition and Presentation (web development, scanning technology, in-house imaging facilities, media developers and consultants)
- General Asset Management (cataloging, meta-data and narrators)
- General Management (vision, marketing and sponsorship)
In terms of a general timeline for the project, the imperative is to establish the repository with limited public access (for example at dedicated and controlled display points (slideshows in the basement)) and then to develop the public access (web access, etc.) in response to the growing form of the repository.
Some early thoughts…. That’s all from me for now. What other thoughts are out there?
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