Impostor Syndrome

This is something I am currently dealing with.  And yes, it is a real thing: The Impostor Syndrome: Are You Fooling Everyone?

I debated writing this post but then read Becca's post "Reading those articles…" and decided to go for it. While her post doesn't have a ton in common with this one, it struck a nerve. I will admit, I have read a good majority of the articles, picking and choosing the ones that look interesting to me, but then I literally blank out when it comes to writing a blog post about them (as you can probably tell by the lack of posting I have done over the last couple of weeks).

I also read my classmates blogs on a pretty regular basis and respond in comments and in my own blog posts - when I think I can add something to the conversation. Most of the time it is fear that is stopping me.

Fear that:

What if it is obvious I don't know what I am talking about?
What if my classmates think I am an idiot?
What if I blow my cover as a  real graduate student?
What if I let my professors down?
What if I let myself down?
What if I do/have done all this for nothing?

In terms of this Metadata course, I am following along as best I can but there are still a lot of concepts that are over my head (um, microformats?). I think it will take a re-read of a lot of the articles and book chapters as well as some hands on experience (I'm looking at you football images!) before I am comfortable enough to say that "I know metadata" and to stop "pretending" like I do.

Relation Element Troubles

In an attempt the help Adam with the "Relation" element issues he posted about here, I will put in my two-cents. Even if it may not help.

I think I mentioned this in our small group meeting last class period but here goes... What if there was a an element that is already being used that would help identify the "IsPartOf, IsVersionOf etc) relationship WITHOUT infringing on anyone else element? Maybe using something like the Unique Identifier for instance. Like Adam pointed out in his post regarding the sample images in the wiki page: They are both taken within milliseconds of each other, therefore they are related. So could we set up the "Relation" element to represent the Unique Identifier of the other images (taken within mini seconds of each other) it is relating to?

Right Side: RELATION-----Left Side: UNIQUE IDENTIFIER OF RELATED IMAGES

I know we discussed the "IsPartOf" a certain play, such a a sequence of  photos depicting one certain play, but I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around it so I hope I have not made this any more confusing than it already is.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

DC Identifier Element Ideas...

I just thought I would put some ideas out there for my classmate and group member, Amy, as well as anyone else interested (or intimidated) by the identifier element.

Here are some examples that we use at work for the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at The University of Alabama:

PRJ2008.0135 - Here you can see the collection name represented (PRJ) as well as the year it was donated (2008). The last couple of numbers can relate to anything from the artist unique identifier or the order in which the piece was cataloged.

PRJ2008.135b - This would be the same as above but the "b" would stand for the second work in a series (first being PRJ2008.135a).

Also, take a look at what Publishers' Bindings Online did when deciding on a file naming structure for their digitization project. It may be helpful in breaking down the process: Publishers' Bindings Online: Project Manual - File Naming Structure

Do any of my other classmates have any input on file naming? I always like to see/hear how other people tackle this particular problem.

I hope this helps!

Is the Importance of the Source Element Dependent on the Type of Project?

Tonight, Adam, Amy, Nikki and I met in our breakout room to discuss our element sets. I am charged with the source element and find myself questioning the importance if it, in this particular project. The Guidelines for Descriptive Metadata for the UCLA Digital Library Program defines source as:

A related resource from which the described resource is derived, in whole or in part. This element may also include information about the ownership of custodial history of the object. 

I can totally see the need for the source element when developing guidelines for an institution such as a special collections library or a repository that holds multiple collections, especially when you would need to break it down to the collection, date, box, folder and item number level. If you are digitizing items from books, say UA's The Corolla, then of course you would need the source element to identify which Corolla the image came from.

I guess my question is this: Is the Paul Bryant Museum the type of institution that holds multiple collections in the way that a special collections library does? Or, is it its own stand alone collection where the source of the image will always be the Paul Bryant Museum?

Another question I would need to ask in order to argue the importance of my source element (and would need to be directed towards the client) would be this: Are all of this images we are working with digitized from a group of individual photographs or are some pulled from other sources, say football programs or scrapbooks?