For the past few weeks at TAMI, we’ve all been helping with an audit of the online library. We’re reviewing each video in the library to check for consistent metadata, such as keywords and categories, and making sure there are video thumbnails and a player image on the video’s page. While going through my share of the videos, I realized that even after a year and a half at TAMI, I don’t know the library all that well. When selecting segments for the capstone project, I have consulted my supervisor many times on types of videos we do and do not need to add to the library. So I began thinking that when future employees or interns are using my guidelines and criteria for selection, they may need a reference point for the content of the online library. I talked to my supervisor, the Digital Librarian, about running some sort of report that could serve as an addendum to my guidelines that lists the number of videos in each category. She told me that the online library changes so often that any kind of stagnant, printed report would be useless, so I am going to add the link to the website’s categories page instead. On this page, the number of members per category is listed, and the videos in each category can be accessed. This could provide at least a starting place for an employee to get a better understanding of what is already represented in the library, thus what is needed from future collections.
I finished work on a 3rd VHS collection this week. The assessment process and criteria were very useful this time around. It felt like an efficient, smooth process. There was some great content in this home movie collection, and I was able to sift through the videos quickly, noting the quality segments during the cursory viewing. I performed light cataloging on each video for our database, then wrote abstracts and assigned more thorough keywords to each segment for the online library. I felt like I picked out the best material from the collection, and I am confident that I found that material without having to watch each VHS in real time. I created 10 segments that include footage of quinceañeras in the 1980s and 90s, as well as El Paso high school football traditions and local parades.
In the little bit of time I have left working on this project, I am going to write my final draft of my guidelines for appraisal and selection and submit them to my field supervisor for approval. I want to spend some more time browsing in the aforementioned category pages and possibly refine the segments I selected for the 2nd collection. After briefly looking at the categories today, I think I could eliminate a couple of the segments. If time allows, I may work on a 4th VHS collection, just to practice the process and contribute another finished collection to TAMI. Otherwise, I am going to compile documentation, get the finished collections entered into Filemaker, and put together my poster.