The original Frontiers of Science material was bequeathed to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library of the University of Sydney by Angela Raymond and Miriam Butler. Preparing the Images and Metadata Scanning of Comic Strips To expedite the process, it was decided to rely heavily on technologies that we were already familiar with or that could be quickly integrated into existing (open source) architecture. These included but were not limited to: importation of the digitized pulls to the institutional repository, metadata tagging of the items, processing of images (for thumbnails and for use with the image viewer), processing of metadata, indexing of image metadata for browsing and searching functionality, creating the browse and search front-end, tag cloud generation, deciding upon and implementing an image viewer, presentation and layout design (within University style constraints), and developing the site, including associated historical and descriptive content and complying with (as far as practicable) W3C standards. Many tasks needed prioritization and consideration within the short time frame. We wanted the Frontiers of Science website to be launched to coincide with this, meaning the deadline at the time was 6 weeks away. There was an upcoming exhibition of Frontiers paraphernalia at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Ultimo, Sydney, which was to coincide with Science Week. Our goal was to offer simple, robust, flexible discovery tools including search, faceted browse and a tag cloud, combined with a novel display mechanism. Having been given permission to digitize the original strips, Sydney eScholarship at the University of Sydney sought to make the Frontiers of Science strips available once again, this time online, for wider access by scholars and enthusiasts.
Zoomify modules series#
The early art work in the series was by Andrea Bresciani, continued later by David Emerson, with the aim of disseminating information about current topics in science in a novel and entertaining way. The series was co-written and produced by Professor Stuart Butler from the School of Physics at the University of Sydney and journalist and film-maker Bob Raymond. The Rare Books and Special Collections Library at the University of Sydney was bequeathed the rights to the original strips, or “pulls”, of the Frontiers of Science comic strips which were published in over 600 newspapers worldwide from 1961 to 1982. This approach allowed for a rapid development cycle (6 weeks) to deliver the site on time as well as provide us with a framework for similar projects.
Zoomify modules code#
Time and resource constraints dictated the use of (mostly open source) code modules wherever possible and the integration and customisation of a range of web-based applications, code snippets and technologies (DSpace, eXtensible Text Framework (XTF), OmniFormat, JQuery Tools, Thickbox and Zoomify), stylistically pulled together using CSS. We wanted to enable users to search and browse through the images simply and effectively, with an intuitive and novel viewing platform. We aimed to create a website that could disseminate these comic strips to scholars, enthusiasts and the general public.
The Rare Books and Special Collections Library at the University of Sydney, in association with Sydney eScholarship, digitized all 939 strips. The Frontiers of Science illustrated comic strip of ‘science fact’ ran from 1961 to 1982, syndicated worldwide through over 600 newspapers.
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