Presented by Duane Degler & Neal B. Johnson at EdUI 2013, Richmond, VA, USA. 5-Nov-2013. Museums, libraries and archives hold physical objects that people interact with every day. Their mission includes managing these objects in trust for use by future generations. Digital Humanities adds an important dimension of responsibility. Just as there is a physical object, there is an “Information Object” that people use, and authoritative institutions curate that information for now and the future. This talk is about designing the Information Object, and the role of shareable, structured information. One unique aspect of the Information Object is that it is not a single thing. It is a jigsaw puzzle which, when completed, represents physical objects. The institution becomes a gateway to an ecosystem of scholarly insights, history, perspectives, and related objects that complete the picture. Curating the information may be perceived as a burden (which we need to make easier!), but it is also a significant opportunity to reinforce the value and authority of institutions that enhance the information ecosystem. What is the designer’s role? Project teams need a vision to see clearly how it is possible to weave rich, structured data into current sites and applications. Designers bridge the worlds of technologists and curators/archivists/educators. But to do so effectively, designers need to understand what is possible and make it an active part of their design thinking. We believe passionately that the Information Object is important. Our projects increasingly have a strong emphasis on linked data and semantic web structured metadata. In the now, we are able to improve the search and browse experience, and also serve different types of web users more effectively - from casual viewers to scholars/students to preservationists. For the future, we help establish foundations for information relationships that help the ecosystem grow and preserves the overall Information Object.

1. Designing
for
Informa.on
Objects
The
Library,
Archive
&
Museum
(LAM)
Informa:on
Ecosystem
for
Now
and
for
the
Future
EDUI
2013
5th
November
2013,
Richmond,
VA
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
www.nga.gov
www.designforcontext.com
Neal
B.
Johnson
n-­‐johnson@nga.gov
Duane
Degler
duane@designforcontext.com

2. Informa.on
object
The
aggregate
set
of
informa6on
in
the
ins6tu6on
that
illustrates,
describes,
interprets,
or
references
a
physical
object
•
•
•
Digital
images
Descrip6ve
&
structural
metadata
Interpre6ve
material
(finding
aid,
monograph,
annotated
bibliography)
Images
Structured
Data
Physical
object
A
thing
held
in
trust
by
an
ins6tu6on
•
Work
of
art,
book,
ar6fact,
archival
record
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.144298.html
2
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

3. Informa.on
Object
richness
Informa6on
Objects
can…
n
Aggregate
around
the
physical
object
to
provide
meaningful
context
n
Provide
an
experience
that
can
be
independent
of
the
physical
object
Images
Structured
Data
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
3
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

4. Why
“Now”
and
“Future”
?
• LAMs
hold
the
physical
object
and
key
informa6on
objects
in
trust
for
society
.
.
.
in
perpetuity
• Future
will
bring
inevitable
and
o_en
unpredictable
changes
in
both
informa6on
and
interpreta6ons
• We
don’t
know
to
what
uses
something
will
be
put
.
.
.
We
only
know
it
is
significant,
and
must
be
available
4
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

5. The
value
of
Linked
Open
Data
Subject
Predicate
Object
played
painted
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P._Bodart_Portrait_of_Henric_Ter_Brugghen.jpg
http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/bagpipe.htm
5
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

6. LAM
Informa.on
Ecosystem
Cultural
Ins.tu.ons
Holding
or
exhibi.ng
Art
Objects
Cultural
Educa.on
Conduc.ng
&
promo.ng
scholarship
Search
&
Aggrega.on
Federated
access
to
DH
informa.on
http://www.hendrickbrugghen.org
http://www.khm.at/en/
http://www.louvre.fr/en
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?
isbn=9780300074512
http://www.hendrickbrugghen.org/WomanPlaying-the-Lute-1624-26.html
http://www.cambridge.org/sg/academic/subjects/
arts-theatre-culture/western-art/golden-age-dutchpainting-historical-perspective
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8513.html
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/explore-thecollection/timeline-dutch-history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Slag_bij_Nieuwpoort.jpg
6
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Vocabulary
Standardized
discovery
Historical
&
Social
Sites
Access
to
broader
contexts
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

7. LAM
Informa6on
Ecosystem
The
Essen6al
Aspects
of
LAM
7
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

8. LAM
mission
commonali.es
• Collect
• Preserve
• Provide
Access
(promote
discovery)
•
Review,
borrow,
exhibit
• Describe/Interpret
(provide
context)
•
Metadata
catalogues
•
Finding
aids
•
Annotated
Bibliographies
•
Monographs,
exhibi6on
catalogues,
wall
labels,
conserva6on
reports,
imaging,
biographies,
etc.
• Relate
like
things
to
one
another
8
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

9. LAM
informa.on
cura.on
<term4>
<term2>
Images
<term3>
Indexing
Interpre:ve
Texts
<term1>
<term2>
Conserva.on
Exam
Report
<.tle>
Descrip:ve
Metadata <ar.stName>
Physical
Object
Acquisi:on
9
Ar.st
Bio,
Descrip.ve
Essay
Conserva.on
Treatment
Report
<.tle2>
<medium>
Physical
Object
Restora:on
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Descrip.ve
Essay
v2.0
Descrip.ve
Essay
v5.0
<ar.stName2>
<medium2>
Physical
Object
ReaFribu:on
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

10. LAM
shared
user
requirements
• Serendipity
•
Discover
relevant
informa6on
objects
(have
that
serendipitous,
“A-­‐ha!”
moment)
through
search/browse
• Extend
use
•
Take
away
informa6on
objects
relevant
to
my
interest
•
Conveniently
re-­‐use
informa6on
in
my
own
work
products
• Persistence
•
Conveniently
link/reference
my
work
and
source
informa6on
objects
•
Trust
that
informa6on
objects
to
which
I
link/reference
will
remain
available
• Sustainability
•
Flexibility
in
design
and
data
modeling
to
adapt
to
future
capabili6es
and
topics
• Scalability
•
Comfortably
adapt
to
ever-­‐growing
collec6ons
and
different
working
styles
across
ins6tu6ons
10
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

11. The
Holding
Ins6tu6on
Presen6ng
the
Informa6on
Object
11
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

12. Prac.cal
solu.ons
We
have
had
the
opportunity
to
design
two
suppor6ng
systems
• Dutch
17th
Century
Pain.ngs
Online
Scholarly
Catalogue
• Public-­‐facing
resource
–
art
historians
as
primary
users
• Geiy
Founda6on-­‐funded
project
• Consor6um
of
nine
ins6tu6ons
each
scoping/solving
the
problem
in
their
own
way
• Conserva.onSpace
• Internal
system
with
poten6al
for
external
use
–
conservators
as
users
• Mellon
Founda6on-­‐funded
project
• Consor6um
of
seven
ins6tu6ons
12
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

13. OSCI:
It
begins
with
the
public
web
page
of
a
work
of
art
13
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

14. The
basic
public
Informa.on
Object
DAM
Data
Caretaker
Image
Structured
Data
Metadata
store
tombstone
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Curator
Provenance
14
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

15. Incorporate
Systema.c
Catalog
content
Goals
• Integrate
with
online
art
object
collec6on
record
• Each
object
is
part
of
a
collec6on
• Support
scholarly
use
alongside
general
public
use
of
the
Informa6on
Object
• Insure
it
scales
as
different
collec6ons
are
added
Flexible
modes
for
viewing
informa6on
objects
in
context
• Scalable
panes
• Deeper
reading
mode
• Informa6on
object
selec6on/compare
15
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

16. EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Online
Edi.on
of
the
Systema.c
Catalogue
(SysCat)
16
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

17. Lightweight
catalogue
“container”
&
targeted
search
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Integrate
with
exis.ng
online
Informa.on
Object
17
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

18. Focus:
Flexibility
in
informa.on
presenta.on
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Deeper
reading
mode
18
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

19. Available
in-­‐
line
or
alongside
text,
to
suit
the
user
In-­‐context
access
to
references
and
notes
19
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Convenience:
Suppor.ng
informa.on
availability

20. Comparing
mul6ple
images,
including
reference
images
and
analysis
images
20
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
User
control:
Analyzing
available
informa.on

21. The
public
and
scholarly
Informa.on
Object
Controlled
vocabulary
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
Data
Caretaker
DAM
Images
Metadata
store
Structured
Data
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
Curator
Provenance
Historic
references
21
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

22. The
Holding
Ins6tu6on
Elabora6ng
the
Informa6on
Object
22
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

23. Conserva.on
informa.on
Controlled
vocabulary
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
• -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
Data
Caretaker
Conservator
DAM
Images
Metadata
store
Structured
Data
Lab
notes
/
Reports
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
/
History
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
Curator
Provenance
Historic
references
23
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

24. Conserva.onSpace
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Conserva6on
Task
collects
associated
informa6on
objects
24
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

25. Conserva.onSpace
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Cultural
informa6on
object
presented
in
context
of
conserva6on-­‐related
informa6on
25
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

26. Conserva6on
“treatment
report”
informa6on
allowing
user-­‐controlled
templates
and
re-­‐use
of
exis6ng
data
26
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Conserva.onSpace

27. The
Holding
Ins6tu6on
Persis6ng
the
Informa6on
Object
27
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

28. Auto-­‐generated
cita6on
URL
includes
version
Other
ac6ons
(share,
favorite
or
print)
capture
the
general,
most
current
URL
28
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Precision:
Specific
versions
referenced

29. Precision:
Specific
points
of
reference
• Tracking
specific
versions
of
descrip6ve/interpre6ve
informa6on
is
cri6cal
to
sustaining
integrity
and
trust
• Permalinks
provide
resilience
Ver
2007
Ver
1989
Ver
1963
Images
Structured
Data
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
Art
Historian
<hFp://museum/object/version>
29
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

30. Accessing
versions
EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Permalink
in
cita6on
(as
found
in
3rd
party
reference)
opens
older
version
of
the
SysCat
informa6on
object
Older
or
newer
versions
of
the
informa6on
object
are
easily
available
30
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

31. The
LAM
Informa6on
Ecosystem
Rela6ng
to
the
Informa6on
Object
31
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

32. EXAMPLE
ONLY:
Design
wireframes
Capture
and
use
assets
in
other
work
products
32
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

33. External,
linked
material
extends
the
Informa.on
Object
Commercial
deriva.ves
New
work
found
Reinterpret
artwork
New
images
Ver
2007
Ver
1989
Ver
1923
Images
Structured
Data
Narra6ve
Descrip6on
Provenance
Interpre6ve
Informa6on
Elabora.on
ar.cle
Historical
narra.ve
Alterna.ve
analysis
Updated
vocabulary
Alterna.ve
afribu.on
Holding
Ins6tu6on
External
par6es
33
Design
for
Informa6on
Object:
Now
and
Future
|
edUi
|
November
5,
2013
|
©
Degler,
Johnson
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art

34. Designing
for
Informa.on
Objects
The
Library,
Archive
&
Museum
(LAM)
Informa:on
Ecosystem
for
Now
and
for
the
Future
EDUI
2013
5th
November
2013,
Richmond,
VA
Na6onal
Gallery
of
Art
www.nga.gov
www.designforcontext.com
Neal
B.
Johnson
n-­‐johnson@nga.gov
Duane
Degler
duane@designforcontext.com