What’s New in the Digital Imaging Laboratory

Successful digitization results in a digital image that best depicts the physical item being digitized as accurately as possible. To ensure truthful color reproduction, color values must be matched to a known target.

Library Technology and Digital Services recently acquired X-rite’s ColorChecker, color reference targets, and camera calibration software for use in the Digital Imaging Laboratory. A digital image of the ColorChecker’s reference target is captured by each digital camera in the laboratory. These images are uploaded in ColorChecker’s software to create a DNG file. The DNG file is used to create a color profile. The color profile is then used across the lab’s image editing software to calibrate or recalibrate the color values of images created by the laboratory’s cameras.

The following samples from Le Vingtieme Siecle illustrate a digital image before color calibration and after color calibration.

Before:

After:

It is easy to discern the difference in color values. The color values of the bottom image best match the color values of the actual page.The ability to ensure color accuracy is vital to any digitization project.

LTDS August 12 – 19, 2018

The team continues to work on clean-up projects while balancing enhancements to Alma/Primo with other projects that were delayed due to implementation.

  • Alma/Primo (Jamen, Nancy, Tao)
    • Added users and refined roles
    • Loaded orders
    • Completed registration form and implemented
    • Continued work on clean-up projects (removing duplicate barcodes)
    • Discussed TOU changes
    • Prepared for changes to the letters
    • Working through migration issues
  • Desktop/Application support (Judy, Matt)
    • Replaced several smaller monitors
    • Configured a new mac mini for Central reference
    • Replaced and re-imaged several computers for staff
  • Digital Collections (Nathan, Judy, Scott)
    • Continued to add more items to Fedora
    • Re-calibrated scanner
    • Continued preparation for the Islandora audit
  • Web (Matt Jodie)
    • New WordPress site
    • Updated wording on TVNews website
    • Corrected errors resulting from migration
    • Tested accessibility improvements
  • Other (all)
    • Worked with VUIT to help hand-off classroom support (fall semester trial)
    • Continued to catch up on processing new and older ETDS
    • Upgraded Archives space

The team also resolved various issues reported through INFORM.

How to “Share Your Desktop”

Occasionally, we in LTDS will ask you to share your desktop with us. Now if you are not familiar with this concept, you may wonder how you are going to bring your desk to us and/or how that is going to help.

What we mean by “share your desktop” is for you to launch an application that will essentially show us what you are seeing at that very moment on your computer screen. How is this done? Actually, it is fairly simple. You know that application we chat with – the application that all of us have access to? It’s former name was Lync, but now it is called Skype for Business. When you are chatting with one of us, and we ask you to share your desktop, if you look at the bottom of your chat window, you will see a number of different icons. The one you want to click on looks like a monitor:

When you click that icon, you will see the following options:

Select “Present Desktop” and voila! You have just shared your desktop with us. See – pretty simple. And in fact, anyone who is using Lync can do this, so if you have a colleague in your department who is tech savy and you are chatting with them, you can share your screen with them so they can see what is happening. They may even request control which essentially allows them to remotely “fix” your machine. Once done, you just end the session and the sharing stops. If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask! We are here to help.

 

LTDS August 6th – 10th 2018

The team continued to review  INFORM requests and prioritize various tickets and began to work on reducing some of the back-log.  Beyond working on INFORM tickets and communicating various project status, the team also worked on many items including:

  • Alma/Primo (Nancy, Jamen, Tao)
    • Completed loading missing items
    • Started configuration of Proquest EDI
    • Continued to create/modify user roles as needed
  • Digital Collections (Nathan, Judy, Scott)
    • Continued to load ESSSS and Commodores to reduce back-log
    • Reviewing display changes in Archives Space
    • Scanned materials for Curator talk
  • Web (Jodie and Matt)
    • Continued to work on reported issues with areas of the new website
    • Adjust some text on the TVNews  website
    • Worked on Google Tag Manager configuration
  • Other items (All)
    • Caught up on ETDs
    • Met with Discover Garden to discuss audit process
    • Re-image and replace several older computers
    • Attended several meetings with others in the library and on campus.
    • Began preparing for migrating the library SharePoint environment to the new version
    • Started review of the Library Active Directory (AD) Organizational Unit (OU) in preparation for the new directory services (project Genesis)

 

LTDS July 30 – August 3 2018

Although the web refresh is in production and we have gone live with Alma,  the team continues to work on both systems.  The team is also reviewing additional projects that have been on hold.  A few of the items that LTDS worked on last week are below.

  • Alma/Primo (Nancy, Jamen, Tao)
    • added missing holdings records
    • EDI profile creation
    • continue work adding users
    • procedures for adding batch records
    • Adding and reviewing work orders
  • Digital Collections (Nathan, Judy, Scott)
    • Several items digitized for publications
    • Continued to add items to the repository
    • Upgrade Islandora Modules
    • Reviewing the DIL operations in comparison to Washington University’s lab
    • Began preparation for Discovery Gardens review of our configurations
  • Web (Jodie and Matt)
    • Several projects related to the staff directory
    • Continued to review methods to optimize the website
  • ETD (Nancy)
    • During the migration,  processing ETDs were slowed down. Work to resolve the back log is proceeding
  • 3D Lab (Scott)
    • Moved and performed some maintenance on the printers
  • Other items (All)
    • Responding to various Inform tickets
    • Adding documentation for the web site,  Alma/Primo, and other projects
    • Investigating power options in Baker
    • Continued to work on printer/scanner issues

 

LTDS Last week (July 23-28)

 

Alma, PrimoVE, and the web refresh went live  Monday and Tuesday!  Although these activities we the highlight of the week,  the team also worked on several additional items including the issues below.

  1. Circulation transactions in Alma are duplicated
    1. Caused by some transactions not loading correctly during the final switch over.  Ex Libris is working on the solution.  We expect this to be resolved within a week
  2. Duplicate charges appearing in user accounts
    1. This is the same issue as #1 and should be resolved within a week
  3. Missing holding and item records
    1. Some of the items and data (<0.3%) did not migrated correctly.  Many of these can be corrected in an automate method but the fix needs to wait until the circulation transaction issue is resolved (#1).
  4. Web site access strangeness
    1. The majority of these issues were caused by the DNS changes and were corrected within 24 hours as the various DNS servers were updated.  At least one issue was caused by the storage issues across campus (see #6) but has been resolved.
  5. Unable to connect to Acorn/Workflows to verify information
    1. This is a side effect of the storage issues on Wednesday.  It appears that the indexes were corrupted which we are working to resolve now (thanks Jamen).
  6. Non-responsiveness of the Lectionary, ETD, DiscoverArchive, Digital Collections news online, public website (indirectly),  and other applications
    1. Caused by a campus storage issue on Wednesday and has been resolved.
  7. Some public computers (virtual computers) not responding or unable to login
    1. Caused by the storage issue (#6) and should all be respond now.
  8. TVNews Standard Definition SnapStream server in the Baker server room
    1. The issue originated with a blown transform across from Baker.  Once the power was restored, the UPS in the server room did not respond.  This is the only remaining server in Baker and is in Baker due to the cable connections.  The system is now running but we are working on a permanent solution.
  9. A few printers with scan to email functionality stopped sending email.
    1. A side effect of the web refresh, web server migration.  Most (all??) of these issues have been corrected.
  10. Various Alma items
    1. The implementation team is working to update the configuration in various areas of the system.   Many of these changes had been in pre-production but added after June 27th.  As a result, the change need to be made again in the system (many thanks to Jake, Michael, Mary Ellen, Tao, Nancy, and Jamen for quickly starting the edits).

Brains!

We thought it would be fun to show you an example of something we print with our 3D printers. This is a print of a brain scan one of our patrons had made during a study they participated in. They were able to convert the scan to a file compatible with our printers.

Why not take a look at a site like Thingiverse and find something you would like to print? Then you can email the .STL file or a web link to ebl3dprint@vanderbilt.edu to have it printed.

What happens with my links to books and searches in Alma?

I have links to books and searches in Acorn.  What happens when we migrate from Acorn and DiscoverLibrary?

Many people have created links using the options available at http://acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu/help/ to use in training materials as well as permalinks from DiscoverLibrary and to FindIt@VU (SFX) resources.  LTDS has created several redirects that will allow these links to continue to work after we go live with Alma/Primo.    We believe that these redirects will handle the majority of links to resources.  However,  if you encounter a broken link please submit an INFORM and we can review the issue.

We have attempted to simulate the type of links in the new system.  A full list of the current type of redirects is available at https://ltds.library.vanderbilt.edu/primo/primo-acorn-sfx-redirects/ .  Please let me know if you have any questions about the type of redirected searches or if we have missed any links.

 

Updating Library Hours/Closed Dates in Alma

Alma allows staff in each library to update the library hours in Alma. Staff assigned to do this must have the Circulation Desk Manager role for that library. Ideally there should be more than one staff member able to update library hours in each library. However, if both of those people are out of the office, LTDS can still change the hours for any of the libraries. Just submit an INFORM in plenty of time before the hours change.
Questions? Please submit an INFORM.