Skip to first unread message
Katherine Chorley
Apr 13, 2022, 10:37:57 AM4/13/22
to AtoM Users
Hi all,
My organisation is fairly new to Atom and we are just getting to grips with the system.
I am aware of the 1:1 relationship between descriptions and digital objects, and have seen a few threads detailing potential workarounds for this, including editing the hierarchy to create lower levels of description which could accommodate images that are then associated with the same 'parent' description.
In our collection we have several books which have been completely digitised - each page back and front has been photographed. There is just one Atom description per book, but many images. I have some questions as I consider how to deal with this scenario:
- has anyone else encountered a similar situation and how have you navigated it?
- has anyone used a different (as in external of Atom) platform/viewer to present images in this scenario? If so, how have you communicated this setup to your users in the Atom description?
I would be very grateful for any insights or pointers
Katherine
Dan Gillean
Apr 21, 2022, 9:13:14 AM4/21/22
to ICA-AtoM Users
Hi Katherine,
Since other community users have not followed up with their workarounds yet, I wanted to at least share a couple thoughts, based on what I've seen in the forum.
In many cases, I've seen institutions generate an access derivative that combines all pages into a single digital object, such as a PDF. AtoM is not a preservation system, so this allows you to keep your digitized masters in a more appropriate location, while still providing access to end users.
If you'd like to connecting to a different platform or viewer, it will take a bit of manual configuration, but one way you could do this would be to use the digital object link via URL option, then generate your own thumbnail, go into the digital object metadata edit page, set the media type back to image, and upload your own thumbnail. Some basic steps:
- Create a local image that you want users to see in AtoM - PNG or JPG.
- On the related description in AtoM, use the more menu and select "Link Digital Object"
- Use the URL option, and link to the external viewer
Now typically linking via URL in AtoM has 3 requirements for it to work as expected, and have AtoM generate the required derivatives:
- The URL must be publicly accessible - no password prompts, VPN requirements, etc
- The URL must be HTTP or HTTPS - local share drive or FTP links etc will not work
- The URL must end in the file extension of the target digital object (e.g. .jpg, .tiff, etc). If you point to a landing page, AtoM doesn't know how to fetch the digital object and cannot generate the derivatives.
If your external platform can meet the first 2 requirements but not the 3rd, then this approach can work. When creating the URL link, AtoM will not generate a derivative, and may improperly set the media type (e.g. to "Other"), which will affect how this shows up in AtoM digital object search/browse pages. However, the correct URI will still be stored. So now:
- Use the "More" menu in the button block, and select "Edit digital object"
- In the digital object edit page, set the media type to Image
- Upload your image as both the thumbnail and the reference display copy (or alternatively, make a smaller version for the thumb)
- Save
Now you should see your local image, but when users click on the reference display copy, it should take them to the external URL.
Of course, for this last step to work, there's still one more requirement: public users need permissions to be able to access the Master digital object. You can set this by editing the default archival description permissions for the anonymous Group (i.e. public users):
- Navigate to Admin > Groups
- Select the anonymous group
- Click on the "Archival descriptions" tab and enter edit mode
- Set the "View Master" permissions to Grant and save
Be aware that the consequence of this is that your public users can now access ALL digital object master copies, even others locally uploaded. If you don't want this, you can try setting the permissions JUST for the affected archival description via the permissions. Be sure to test this however, since there are some known issues with AtoM's permissions module once you start adding a lot of custom permissions. Here's a thread with some further links on that topic if you're curious - see point 2 in my response here:
Another final warning: this workaround should help address your use case for digital objects that are image based. However, it won't work quite the same for audio or video content. That's because if you set the Media type to one of those options in the digital object edit page, then AtoM will load the media player on the description view page - so users will see an empty media player and will not easily be able to click through to the external source. You can set the media type to something else, but this will impact discoverability, as the digital object Media type facets in search and browse will no longer correctly categorize the object. So there are tradeoffs and limitations to this particular strategy!
Hope this helps spark some possible workarounds for you!
Cheers,
he / him
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AtoM Users" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ica-atom-user...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ica-atom-users/c801faee-33de-4e7c-98cb-67740164e12an%40googlegroups.com.
Katherine Chorley
Apr 26, 2022, 8:01:17 AM4/26/22
to AtoM Users
Hi Dan,
Thank you so much for your reply and all the suggestions/ideas! Lots for me to digest and think about.
Really appreciate your insights,
Katherine
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages