Kerry Donovan
17:610: 553 Digital Libraries
Term Project: Final Report for Digital Library Prototype
Project Website: http://kerrydonovan.wordpress.com/
Screencast about project: http://www.screencast.com/t/NKlsXfCKbr
1. Project Title: The Jack Wayman Collection
2. A brief description of:
a. Purpose: The purpose of this website was to take information that only existed on a
huge spreadsheet and organize it in a way that is visually appealing to the user. Jack Wayman
was the CEO and president of the Consumer Electronics Association for several decades, and
during that time he acquired a collection of consumer electronics. These products show the
history of consumer electronics and include items from the early 1900s to the early 2000s. These
objects show a history of consumer electronics and tell a story of how rapidly technology
advances.
Unfortunately, before I created this digital library, there was no way for Consumer
Electronics Association (CEA) employees to view this collection. All of the items are stored in a
warehouse that is located about an hour away from CEA headquarters. Because one of CEA’s
goals this year is to manage its archives, my supervisor in the research library decided it was
time to find out what exactly was stored in the warehouse. My supervisor, a photographer, a
member of the communications staff, and I went to the warehouse to photograph and catalogue
the collection. While there, I wrote down as much information as I could find about each object
(brand name, model, condition, year, etc.) and then researched it further the next day at the
office. Once the photographer sent me the pictures of all of the objects, I combined the
information with the photos into a spreadsheet.
The project could have ended there, as the main goal was just to find out what was in the
warehouse and write it down, but I decided to take it a step further and create this digital library.
I think the collection is important and that other employees will find the site interesting and
enlightening. It’s important to understand how we got to where we are today and this site can
assist with that. With this site employees no longer have to navigate through a large clunky
spreadsheet or visit a far away warehouse in order to learn about the history of consumer
electronics.
b. Objectives:
1. Create a visually appealing digital library for the Jack Wayman Consumer
Electronics Collection.
2. Learn how to use a new (to me) online tool to create the digital library.
3. Add individual details/tags to each object and organize them into smaller
collections/categories.
c. Methods: When I first set out to create a digital library for the Jack Wayman
Consumer Electronics Collection I had wanted to use Greenstone. I was interested in Greenstone
because I viewed several other digital libraries that used this platform and I liked the way they
looked, and the tool seemed easy enough to use. I downloaded the application and loaded my
pictures and metadata into the tool, but from there I was stuck. I asked professors, classmates,
help desks, and a variety of other sources, but I just could not figure out how to get my
information online. After a frustrating weekend of trying to set up my own server and use PHP, I
decided to go with a different platform. I went with Wordpress because I had used it a little bit in
the past and wanted to get more comfortable with it. For the most part I learned how to build a
Wordpress site through trial and error. The site is mostly intuitive so I did not have any major
issues with learning how to use it.
When I first installed Wordpress I was worried about finding a theme that I felt would be
appropriate for a digital library. Most of the ones I saw looked nice, but were better suited for
blogs because of their emphasis on text and not pictures. I chose the Spun Theme because I liked
how it organized all of the featured images. Spun gives every featured image a black and white
version of the picture, and when the user scrolls over it, the images shows its actual colors and a
text box with the title of the image pops up. I felt like this was perfect for a digital library
because it gives the user the option to focus on a lot of objects or just one, without even having
to click anything.
After deciding my theme, I added all of my pictures to my Wordpress media library. This
took some time, as I had to load in over 200 images. I decided at this point that I was only going
to add 50 items to the site for this project, but eventually I would like to add all 213. After adding
information (title, caption, description, etc.) for the pictures I wanted to include, I started making
my blog posts. Because Wordpress is focused on blogs, the way I set up the site was so that each
item would get a blog post with a title that includes the year (if given), make, and model. The
posts would also include a picture of the item, a brief description, a set of tags, or order to make
the items more searchable, and a category, so that users could view a whole set of similar items.
This portion of the project was the most time consuming because it required going back and forth
between my Internet browser and my spreadsheet to make sure that all of the entered information
was correct and that I did not leave anything out. In order to give each blog post a picture circle
on the home page, I had to add in a featured picture. This is the same picture as is in the body of
the blog post.
After I made all of my blog posts, I worked on the more technical aspects of the site, such
as creating different pages. I decided to have a ‘home’ page, ‘about’ page, and ‘collections’ page
that would be the parent to a series of child pages. The ‘home’ page includes all of the items,
though only a set of ten are shown at a time. In order to view all of them, the user must click the
‘older posts’ button. The ‘about’ page gives the user an overview of the site including why it was
created, who can use it, and what one might use it for. The ‘collections’ page(s) is a way for
users to view a set of items with similar characteristics. When the users scrolls over the actual
word ‘collections,’ a drop down list of the different options appears. The user can either click
‘collections’ and get to the different collections from there, or the user can go straight to the
collection he or she wants to see by clicking it from the drop down menu. Users can also search
for information on the site by clicking the “+” at the bottom of each page. This button opens up a
search bar as well as tools to view recent posts or comments and categories. If the user types in a
search term, for example ‘television,’ all of the blog posts that include the tag ‘television’ will
appear.
d. Problems: Aside from my initial problems Greenstone, I did not run in to any major
problems along the way. I enjoyed creating this site and adding in information about each
picture. I also liked the flexibility that Wordpress offers in being able to change the theme
around to personalize it. This was a fun way to be creative without changing the structure of the
whole site. My only main other issue was my laptop. Because my computer is slightly older, it
runs very slowly. Tasks that would only take a few minutes on a newer computer ended up
taking an extremely long time on mine. Though this was often frustrating, it did not get in the
way of fulfilling my original goal of creating a digital library prototype for the Jack Wayman
Collection.
e. Future planning: I plan on updating this site after Digital Libraries 553 class is over.
For now there are only 50 items in the collection, but eventually I would like to add all 213. I
also would like to figure out a way to make the information sortable, such as listing all items by
year or alphabetically. I do not know if Wordpress offers such capabilities, but I would like to
research and find out because I think being able to view that information on one page would be
helpful to users who are trying to create a timeline or find a specific item without having to
search for it. I would also add more tags to each item. I was careful to include many tags in each
post, but I think even more could be added, especially if I were to do additional research on each
object. I also would break down the categories (collections) even further. I could create a
collection of novelty items, radios, accessories, etc. I think employees would enjoy viewing the
smaller collections, especially if they include a history of those items with past and present
models.
f. About Statement: Jack Wayman was the President and CEO of the Consumer
Electronics Association from 1962 to 1983, and father of the first Consumer Electronics Show in
1967. In his time at the Consumer Electronics Association, he acquired a variety of radios,
televisions, speakers, music players, and other consumer electronics. This site displays
photographs of Jack’s collection in a way that is organized and searchable for employees of the
Consumer Electronics Association. Before this site, the only way to view Jack’s collection was
to travel to a warehouse near Dulles Airport in Virginia. After making a trip to the warehouse,
photographing the objects, and digitizing and cataloging the photographs, I was able to create a
site for employees to view the collection in a more efficient manner. Employees can now see
pictures and learn a comprehensive history of consumer electronics by exploring Jack’s
collection online.