> and then write a parser (in Python or Ruby) that
> will read the values from that spreadsheet and produce a dublin_core.xml

Sai,

That work has already been done in PHP: http://tds.terkko.helsinki.fi/utils/ I just used it for a small project. I tweaked it a tiny bit and tried to clarify the documentation, but otherwise it works really well.
Regarding the DSpace metadata registry, I'd recommend sending your question to dspace-tech maillist.

Jason
-- 



>>> On 6/18/2009 at 1:38 PM, in message
<[log in to unmask]>, Andrew Hankinson
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 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=8747 
> 16&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] 
>> >
>>