I'm pretty sure you can add extra fields to the dublin_core.xml file and
import it. I think I did something like this a few years ago, but I'm a bit
fuzzy on the details.
For the metadata creation, it might be worth your while to save the Excel
spreadsheet to a CSV file and then write a parser (in Python or Ruby) that
will read the values from that spreadsheet and produce a dublin_core.xml
file. If you gather the photo files in the same location,
you can then use the DSpace bulk importer to import everything into
your collection.

See here:
http://www.tdl.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/DSpaceBatchImportFormat.pdf

You may be able to add extra fields to the search index. See here:
http://wiki.dspace.org/index.php/Modify_search_fields

On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 1:32 PM, Deng, Sai <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Andrew and Yan,
> Thanks for the reply and the information!
>
> About DSpace metadata registry, we can add new schema or new elements to
> it, but the elements won’t be searchable, right? (We can change the
> input-forms.xml to make it display in the submission workflow if we will
> have item by item submission.)
>
> In our case, we already have the herbarium metadata in excel sheet created
> by Biology Dept. They are now in loose Darwin Core and kind of free style.
> If I would like to do data transformation (transform it to a mixture of DC
> and Darwin Core possibly) and batch import the xml to DSpace, how to
> proceed? Where should I add the Darwin Core metadata (in the dublin_core.xml
> as well)? It seems that it only has dcvalue element.
>
> Sai
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Andrew Hankinson
> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:03 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Digital imaging questions
>
> Hi Sai,
> "Archival Quality Images" has some meaning, but it might be helpful to look
> up a standard and start your investigation for a new camera based on the
> recommendations of that standard. You might find this page from the Library
> of Congress helpful:
>
> http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/content/still.shtml
>
> I think your indication that RAW/TIFF is a pretty safe bet, but being able
> to point to an actual standard might make your case for a new camera a bit
> more convincingly.  Other factors to take into account (other than
> megapixels and format) are color reproduction, image 'noise'
> specifications,
> DPI, lighting, (and probably many other things).
>
> For DSpace you don't even need to map the elements of Dublin Core to
> DarwinCore. Dspace has the ability to input different schema in its
> metadata
> registry. You can then modify the "inputforms.xml" file in the Dspace
> config
> directory to add the appropriate fields for the additional metadata fields.
>
> Hope this helps!
> -Andrew
>
> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Deng, Sai <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Hi, list,
> >
> >
> >
> > A while ago, I read some interesting discussion on how to use camera to
> > produce archival-quality images from this list. Now, I have some imaging
> > questions and I think this might be a good list to turn to. Thank you in
> > advance! We are trying to add some herbarium images to our DSpace. The
> > specimen pictures will be taken at the Biology department and the library
> is
> > responsible for depositing the images and transferring/mapping/adding
> > metadata. On the testing stage, they use Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd digital
> > camera
> >
> > (
> >
> http://www.fujifilmusa.com/support/ServiceSupportSoftwareContent.do?dbid=874716&prodcat=871639&sscucatid=664260
> ).
> > It produces 8 megapixel images, and it doesn't have raw/tiff support. It
> > seems that it cannot produce archival quality images. Before we persuade
> the
> > Biology department to switch their camera, I want to make sure it is
> > absolutely necessary. The pictures they took look fine with human eyes,
> see
> > an example at:
> >
> http://library.wichita.edu/techserv/test/herbarium/Astenophylla1-02710.jpg
> >
> > In order to make master images from a camera, it should be capable of
> > producing raw or tiff images with 12 or above megapixels?
> >
> >
> >
> > A related archiving question, the biology field standard is DarwinCore,
> > however, DSpace doesn't support it. The Biology Dept. already has some
> data
> > in spreadsheet. In this case, when it is impossible to map all the
> elements
> > to Dublin Core, is it a good practice for us to set up several local
> > elements mapped from DarwinCore?
> >
> > Thanks a million,
> >
> > Sai
> >
> >
> > Sai Deng
> > Metadata Catalog Librarian
> > Wichita State University Libraries
> > 1845 Fairmount
> > Wichita, KS 67260-0068
> > Phone: (316) 978-5138
> > Fax:       (316) 978-3048
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> >             [log in to unmask]
> >
>