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Digital archiving as information production: Using experts and learners in the design of subject access

Jonathan Foster (Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK)
Steve Benford (Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)
Dominic Price (Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)

Journal of Documentation

ISSN: 0022-0418

Article publication date: 14 October 2013

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Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to develop a framework that considers digital archiving as a form of networked information production, in which the different stages of producing a digital archive are modularized and distributed across different actors. The framework is applied and developed within the context of designing a digital archive for the electronic artwork Rider Spoke. More specifically the framework is applied and developed within the context of designing a subject scheme that provides its users with consistent yet relevant access to the content of the archive.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 74 postgraduate students from the Information School at the University of Sheffield were invited to tag four videos from the Riders Have Spoken archive as a voluntary exercise. Students were evenly distributed across the four videos and each participant was invited to generate up to ten tags; with each tag or annotation representing a point of interest in the content of the video for viewer. The time was also noted. In total, 46 students completed the exercise and this generated 356 user tags. As a collection these tags and annotations represent the terms and vocabulary on which a subsequent content analysis was conducted and a subject language developed.

Findings

The development of a subject scheme for a particular single electronic artwork with seven facets, sub-facets, and illustrative examples is presented. The design of the scheme and its relations to prior work in classification is discussed.

Research limitations/implications

Implications of the research for the design of a digital archive and the methods used to construct them are discussed

Originality/value

The originality of the article lies in its characterization of digital archiving as a form of networked information production; and the application of the framework to the design of a faceted scheme enabling subject access to the digital archive of an electronic artwork called Rider Spoke.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the AHRC Beyond Text Programme for funding the Riders Have Spoken project (2010-2011) during which time this work was conducted. They would also like to thank Blast Theory for providing input, recordings, and data from Rider Spoke.

Citation

Foster, J., Benford, S. and Price, D. (2013), "Digital archiving as information production: Using experts and learners in the design of subject access", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 69 No. 6, pp. 773-785. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-04-2012-0047

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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