Image Repository

The LHC Image Repository is one of the trickiest challenges, as there are multiple, and sometimes conflicting, requirements for it. It should be:

• easy to browse
• quick to search
• allow for creation of multiple galleries to showcase interesting images
• accommodate abundant metadata
• but also allow uncluttered display
• provide 'page turning' to go from image to image
• offer multiple sizes
• provide zooming and panning for large images (eg. maps)
• allow comments and discussion
• allow user tagging, free tagging, etc.
• be OAI compliant

There are no packages that will provide all of the above, so we are left to make some compromises. In the end, it seems like staying within our Drupal CMS (content management system) holds the greatest promise. It satisfies all of the above except some of the richer image display options, and those could be added over time.

By staying with the Dublin Core metadata set, we can achieve OAI compliance and expose our collection to a global search community.

The plan is to develop an image digitization capability in-house and begin digitizing the images and creating content records in Drupal for them. The details for this system will be worked out in the first few months of 2008.