Claire Stewart
Head, Digital Collections
Northwestern University
Steve DiDomenico
Repository Architect
Northwestern University
The Northwestern University Library undertook a software development project to create an automated workflow to enable files from its Kirtas book scanner to be both linked to the online public access catalog (OPAC) with a page viewer application, and ingested into its Fedora repository as archivally sustainable and reusable digital objects. The Web-based Book Workflow Interface (BWI) software utilizes jBPM for management and Web services for key creation components. It also features an AJAX interface to support drag-and-drop creation and editing of METS-based book structures. The BWI system ingests locally scanned texts as well as texts digitized by external partners or vendors.
Shifting from a simple book reformatting operation to a dynamic program that makes any multipage text object fully accessible online, this system dramatically improves Northwestern’s ability to share its unique library and archival collections. The workflow system can be expanded over time to support new functions in the book publishing process, and it can be redeployed in support of digitization processes for other types of media. The project was fully supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Book Workflow Interface and public book viewing software will both be released as open source in spring 2009.
Presentation (PDF)