Global Memory Net
Type of site | International education |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Owner | United States |
| Created by | Prof. Ching-chih Chen, Simmons College |
| URL | http://memorynet.org/ |
| Commercial | No |
Global Memory Net (GMNet) is a world digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage image collections.[1] It is directed by Prof. Ching-chih Chen of Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)/International Digital Library Program (IDLP). The goal of GMNet is to provide a global collaborative network that provides universal access to educational resources to a worldwide audience. GMNet provides multilingual and multimedia content and retrieval, as well as links directly to major resources, such as OCLC, Wikipedia, Internet Archive, Million Books, and Google.
History
Global Memory Net superseded Chinese Memory Net (CMNet) [2], which was founded in 2001 as a NSF/IDLP project. It was intended to make Chinese cultural and heritage resources globally accessible in a multimedia format. "The experiences and knowledge gained from [CMNet] made me realize the need to rethink the model for information dissemination and use," wrote Prof. Chen in 2001. (Chen, 2001, p. 22) [3] CMNet later expanded to represent global collections and officially became Global Memory Net in 2003.
Collections
Reflecting GMNet’s origins in CMNet and Prof. Chen’s earlier PROJECT EMPEROR-I, a interactive multimedia project [4], the strongest portion of the collection’s content is from China and Asia. This collection includes over 8000 images and featured videos of this World Heritage Site and the original discovery and excavation of the Emperor’s terracotta army.
Additional to the Asian collections are materials from around the world. A number of comprehensive collections are included, covering specific sites, cultures, and other overarching themes from content collaborators, including the UNESCO's Memory of the World, Asia Division of Library of Congress, national libraries, academic institutions, and some private groups. These collections feature images of geographical locations and historical sites, historical manuscripts, maps, art, indigenous crafts, weapons, pottery and musical instruments. Every image is accompanied by metadata information. Images of musical instruments are linked with the audio and video files, and with notations. Metadata is recorded in multiple languages. In general, English is provided and is often also available in the local language of the object’s country of origin. A recent ongoing project is the multilingual and multimedia documentation of all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, known as World Heritage Memory Net.
In addition, GMNet also includes instant access to over 2530 digital collections from over 80 countries in the world in its World Digital Collections. As might be expected in a composite collection linking to diverse digital collections, broken or misdirected links are occasionally encountered.
Collections in GMNet are broken up into the following categories to help users browse the extensive content:
Usage
Registration
The site can be browsed without registration. However, access to images is available only to registered users; broad demographic information is collected for statistical purposes, but there is no fee.
Search Methods
GMNet's featured search methods offer capabilities like Random and Similar, thus the project can provide access to a much wider audience than traditional metatdata retrieval methods like Title, Keyword, or browse, though these are also offered. When a Random search is requested, the computer randomly selects files to display. The user may then choose their search path based on his or her visual or contextual interest. The Similar search function uses content-based image retrieval (CBIR) which was developed by Prof. James Z. Wang at Penn State University, but modified in-house.[5] The Random and Similar search methods allow users to browse the collections without requiring knowledge of the language used to describe the records.
User’s Projects
Registered users may create up to 3 projects and save images in a durable portfolio within GMNet. As users search through the collections they can save and add notes and metadata to individual objects.
Partners
GMNet's partners can be divided to two categories:
- Technology partners [6]
- Howard D.Wactlar, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- James Z.Wang, School of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Jian-bo Shi, School of Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Von-Wun Soo, Chen-Yu Lee, Chao-Chun Yeh, Department of computer science, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
- Piero Baglioni, Rodorico Giorgi, Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Italy
- Content partners [7]
- Global Memory Net, 2003 on - US Library of Congress, Asian Division; Hainan University, Hainan, China; Shanghai Jiao-Tong U, Shanghai; Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Tsurumi University, Yokohoma, Japan; University J. J. Strossmayer, Osijek, Croatia; Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi, Vietnam, etc.
- Chinese Memory Net, 2000-2002 - Peking University, Beijing; Tsinghua University, Beijing; Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, Shanghai, China; Academia Sinica, Taiwan; National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Related Projects
- Million Book Project, Carnegie Mellon University
- China-US Million Book Digital Library Project [8]
- India-US Million Book Digital Library Project
Sources
References
Chen, Ching-chih. 2001. "Chinese Memory Net (CMNet): A model for collaborative global digital library development," In: Global Digital Library Development in the New Millennium: Fertile Ground for Distributed Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration. Beijing, China: Tsinghua University Press. pp. 21-32. [9]
For extensive references, consult the detailed listing and full-text files of the sources listed in GMNet Archives.