Variations on Video: Building the Next Generation Library Media Management System

Abstract

The Indiana University Libraries, in partnership with Northwestern University Library, recently received a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to create an open source software system for academic libraries and archives to easily provide online access to video and audio collections. This project builds on IU's success in developing the open source Variations digital music library system and on Northwestern's long history of expertise in video digitization and delivery. The speakers will describe the project objectives and organization, explaining how the project ties in with such strategic IU initiatives as Empowering People, the IU Bloomington Media Preservation Initiative, and the Libraries' own strategic directions work. The expected product architecture will also be described, including how other open source community projects such as Fedora, Hydra, and Opencast Matterhorn are involved. Finally, some requirements for the system gleaned from user research will be described.