DALNET Does DigitaLink

[August 1, 2002]
In May 2002, DALNET agreed to be a beta test site for DigitaLink, a new product from epixtech that supports the creation and maintenance of digital collections.

DigitaLink contains a suite of tools to create, store, search and retrieve digital content. A web editor, which can be used from remote locations, allows digital content to be visible during the cataloging process. DigitaLink can be used to catalog files of any type or format, however, an appropriate viewer or reader, such as Adobe Acrobat or Real Player, is needed for formats not supported by a basic Internet browser.

DigitaLink users can execute searches against metadata stored in Dublin Core XML format, along with the full text of digital documents. New iPac 2.02 Consolidated Searching technology supports a single search for print and digital content that runs simultaneously against DigitaLink, Horizon libraries, Z39.50 catalogs, and other proprietary databases.

The DigitaLink beta test project will use samples of data from three DALNET-Ameritech digitization grant projects: Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village will offer records from their Detroit Publishing Co. Postcard Collection, the Detroit Public Library will work with records from the African-American Sheet Music Collection, and the University of Detroit Mercy will offer records from the Black Abolitionist Archive. In addition, epixtech Data Services will migrate over 2000 data records and 3000 images from the UDM Shipping Collection into DigitaLink.

Beta test participants recently completed an online training session for the DigitaLink WebEditor and are now generating digital resources and finalizing mappings for Dublin Core data associated with their collections. Once test data is stored in DigitaLink, participants will engage in testing and evaluation of the product's powerful information retrieval capabilities, based on Convera's Excalibur RetrievalWare.

Through its alliance with Progressive Technology Federal Systems (PTFS) of Bethesda, MD, epixtech will offer DigitaLink with hardware, document scanning, digitization and data migration tools and services. For additional information about the beta test, including a schematic of the DigitaLink architecture, see DALNET DigitaLink Project Plan (login required).

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