1. Innovative Ideas Forum
April 10th 2008
National Library of Australia
What is the Mediapedia
Douglas Elford, Digital Preservation
David Pearson, Digital Preservation

2. Mediapedia
Designed to:
• enable the identification of various media types
for assisting with collection planning,
assessment, documentation, infrastructure and
preservation
• recording business knowledge, from either
internal or external communities, about these
various media formats to enable to making a
risk management evaluation or preservation
decision

3. Usage
Internal
• Recording business knowledge
• Media identification for the Digital Preservation Workflow Project
• Assist in the identification of media for offers and collection assessment
• Assist in the identification of media when managing collections and
information technology infrastructure
• Assist in the understanding the environment within which to make
preservation assessments
• Support the Digital Preservation Plan
External – Regional [future possibilities]
• Similar use by cultural institutions and government e.g. MAGDIR,
Collections Council, Collections Australia, Digital Heritage Collections Action
Plan Framework, etc.
• Recording business knowledge
• Share with others who also have a similar needs
External – International [future possibilities]
• Recording business knowledge
• Community of shared ‘trusted’ knowledge
• Collaboration on conservation options for various media
• Collaborative voting system to enable community quantification of risk
management

4. Classification
In order to cover such a wide range of media type, a systematic
approach has been taken to view them a more generic
perspective.
Initially they have been categorised by their:
• genre or area of use type,
followed by their:
• process
• carrier
• enclosure/housing (optional),
• trade name or common name (optional).
Associated information includes:
• Intermediate Tool / Access Path / technical requirements
• Conservation assessment and community conservation
knowledge
• Genre Specific Specifications & Data Sheets

5. Classification Schema
Genre (Category)
• Recording of the media genre
(category)
Data, Microform, Moving
Genre
Image, Sound, Still Image &
Unmediated
Process
• Recording of the type of process used
to record information Process
e.g. magnetic, magnetic/optical,
mechanical, optical, paper,
photo chemical, photo
mechanical, photo digital, solid
state, etc.
Carrier/Housing
Carriers + (Enclosure)
• Recording of the type of carrier, and
optionally its enclosure.
e.g. disc, disc/disk cartridge,
disc pack, etc.
Name Name
• Basic instructions on recording
Common Name of the carrier used to
physical media.

6. Mediapedia Prototype - Floppy
Form View

7. Mediapedia Prototype - Floppy
Form View - Environmental Specifications

8. Mediapedia Prototype - Sound
Form View

9. Mediapedia Prototype - Sound
Form View - Environmental Specifications

10. Mediapedia Prototype - Sound
Form View – Materials: Tape Variants

11. Mediapedia – Other Views

12. Mediapedia - Search!
Contact: digitalpres@nla.gov.au
[coming soon to a web near you - www.mediapedia.org.au/]
A Digital Preservation SkunkWorks Project