How we use PBCore
The Secure Media Network is a collaborative project of the Dance Heritage Coalition and Bay Area Video Coalition, which starts with a union catalog of submitting dance archives’ records and goes from there integrating a digital repository (in testbed phase presently) and web interface for access.
The union catalog captures descriptive metadata from different submitting organizations (participating members of the Dance Heritage Coalition). It was determined that in order to gather and organize all this complex and disparately located information, we would utilize METS1 as an XML structure to encapsulate the collective metadata with PBCore 2 used for descriptive and technical metadata, PREMIS used for administrative and preservation metadata, and METSRights to document any known rights information.
Using the OAIS (Open Archival Information System) model, BAVC receives descriptive metadata and physical videotapes from submitting institutions. This metadata is then put through a mapping tool which results in a PBCore record that is then put up on the web site. So far the catalog contains 26,000 records from 5 member institutions.
Why we use PBCore
PBCore was chosen as a standard because it allows for several facets of a relatively complex cataloging process to become “in line” in a relatively smooth way. There is a need for our project, the Secure Media Network, to be able to map from a variety of standards, and PBCore allows that mapping to happen by providing a breadth of fields needed to do so.
We anticipate that the release of PBCore 2.0 will help us in further developing the repository, in particular supporting multi-part instantiations, addressing the need to show relationships between instantiations, and addressing the need to be able to “bundle” PBCore XML records in order to export and import large groups of records between systems (since many of our organizations are geographically separated).
Contact
Lauren Sorensen
Preservation Technician
Bay Area Video Coalition
415-558-2130
laurens@bavc.org
