A presentation given at the International Image Interoperability Framework event held at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City on May 11, 2016. Randy Stern Harvard University

1. IIIF as an Enabler to Interoperability
within a Single Institution
Randy Stern
Harvard University IT - Library Technology Services
Jeff Emanuel, Jud Harward, Rashmi Singhal
Harvard University IT – Academic Technology Services
Jeff Steward
Harvard Art Museums
IIIF Conference – May 11, 2016

2. Source:
https://www.google.com/search?q=silo+image&tbm=isch&imgil=RiQOsTIRwam6LM%253A%253B0mzTRDo1jIO2nM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.co
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Digital content sharing at Harvard - Before

3. The goal - IIIF at Harvard - After

4. Use Cases
• The Library: An updated page viewer for the Digital
Repository Service – with smooth zoom/pan, 2 page view, etc.
• HarvardX: Embedded, annotated display of Harvard Library
images in HarvardX courses delivered on the edX platform
• Canvas course platform: Display and comparison of Library
and faculty-uploaded images in on-campus courses web sites
• Harvard Art Museums: Create online exhibits and digital tours
with museum image content from the digital repository

5. IIIF – to the rescue
• A common API
• Opens Harvard library digital content for reuse
over the Web
• Allows Harvard to reuse external content
• ** Breaks down silos within Harvard, and enables
reuse of content

6. Mirador – a IIIF enabled image viewer for the university

7. Metadata
(Titles, Authors,
Subjects, etc.)
Digital
Images
Related
Authorities
Names, Places
Annotations
&
Transcriptions
IIIF Presentation API IIIF Image API Linked Open Data Open Annotation
OPEN APIs – Harvard entities can reuse and embed each others content
• Library
• Canvas/edX
Course
• Museum TMS
Databases
• Library
• Course Image Sets
• Museums
• Linked Data
for Libraries
• CATCH
annotation
store
D
a
t
a
s
o
u
r
c
e
s

8. Annotations – a further opportunity
The International Image Interoperability Framework
Now
• Enhance teaching through faculty commentary
• Enhance learning through student discussions
• Record private observations
Future
• Enhance research through collaborative annotation
• On manuscripts for textual criticism
• On images of art objects for conservation and publication
• On collections of visual materials to create a research corpus

9. Mirador – annotations
The International Image Interoperability Framework

10. Image Media Management LTI application
The International Image Interoperability Framework
Goals
• Filling a gap in Canvas
• Faculty–contributed content
• Shared through IIIF
Future
• Seamlessly import image
media from any IIIF-
compliant repository
• Further define, and expand
access to, annotation
capability

11. Image Media Management LTI application
The International Image Interoperability Framework
Goals
• Filling a gap in Canvas
• Faculty–contributed content
• Shared through IIIF

12. Harvard Museums
The International Image Interoperability Framework
Goals
– Enhance desire to view physical objects
– Expand options for comparative images in digital tours platform
– Prove museums data is interoperable
Future
– 3D object viewing
– 3D object virtual reconstruction
– Viewing of complex living documents like curatorial object files and
archives

13. Harvard Art Museums
The International Image Interoperability Framework

14. So now…
• “The Book” is live on edX
using images from the
library digital repository
• The library IIIF service exposes millions of images
– http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/iiif/5981214/0,0,1200,1200/full/full/native.jpg
• The library has a new book viewer for the digital repository
– http://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:5981093$7b
• Faculty and teaching staff staff can upload, curate, share,
and display IIIF-compliant images in their online and
residential courses
The Book: Histories Across Time and Space
Drawing on the rich collections of Harvard’s libraries and
museums, learners are invited to explore the book not simply
as a container of content, but as a meaningful physical object
that has shaped the way we understand the world around us

15. And it’s being more widely adopted
• HarvardX and Harvard’s Academic Technology Group
– Are developing additional LTI image display and
annotation tools for use in the Canvas and edX
course platforms
• The Harvard Art Museums
– have deployed a beta of IIIF for image access and
viewing and have embedded Mirador in a digital
tour builder platform

16. IIIF Interoperability at Harvard
Library
IT
Digital
Humanities
Faculty
HarvardX
Harvard
Library
IIIF – Open Access
Mirador – Open
Source
Mirador embedded in
“The Book”
Page Turner for the library
Digital Repository
IIIF APIs – 100,000 book
objects for the world
Image Viewer for
course web sites
Image Viewer for the
Art Museums
Academic
Technology
Harvard
Art
Museums

17. Brief Chronology
• 2010 Harvard library technologists tracking IIIF
• 2012 – Focus group of faculty, academic technology, library staff and
library technology assess options for a new page turner
• 2012 – Harvard commits $40M to and funds a IIIF developer
• 2013 – “The Book: Histories Across Time and Space” begins
development
• 2014 – Harvard Library IIIF services for 120,000 books and
manuscripts (5M page images) plus 10M still images
• 2015 – “The Book” launches, Art museums IIIF manifest service for
250,000 art objects
• 2016 – 3 Mirador-based apps launch: Harvard Library Viewer, Image
Media Management LTI-Canvas app, Art museums digital tour builder

18. Harvard IIIF collaborators
Harvard Faculty
• Prof. Jeffrey Hamburger (working grp, The Book)
• Prof Afsaneh Najmabadi (working grp)
• Prof. Peter Der Manuelian (working grp)
• Prof. Suzanne Blier (working grp)
• Prof. Dan Smail (The Book)
• Prof. Ann Blair (The Book)
• Prof. Leah Price (The Book)
• Prof. Thomas Kelly (The Book)
• Prof. Beverly Kienze (The Book)
Harvard Academic Technology Services
• Jud Harward, Dir. Of Research Computing in the Arts and
Humanities
• Jeff Emanuel, Assoc. Dir. of Academic Technology
• Rashmi Singhal, Senior Software Engineer and co-Lead
developer of Mirador (with Drew Winget of Stanford)
• Arthur Barrett, Sr. Software Engineer
• Jazahn Clevenger, Instructional Software Developer
• Brandon Bentley, Sr. Instructional Technologist
• Alan Wolf, Managing Director
HarvardX
• Samantha Earp, Executive Director
• Robert Lue, Faculty Director
Harvard Library
• Franziska Frey, Associate Librarian for Preservation,
Conservation and Digital Imaging
• Willam Stoneman, Curator of Early Books & Manuscripts
• Wendy Gogel, Manager of Digital Content and Projects
• Kate Bowers, Collections Services Archivist
• Barbara Meloni, Public Services Archivist
• Kerry Masteller, Reference and Digital Program Librarian
• Mary Clare Alternhofen, Librarian for the Fine Arts Library
Harvard Library IT
• Tracey Robinson, Managing Director
• Randy Stern, Dir. Of Systems Development
• Chip Goines, Senior Developer, IIIF and Mirador
• Dave Mayo, Developer, Mirador
• Janet Taylor, Usability Librarian
• Julie Wetherill, Systems Librarian

19. Continued…
Harvard Art Museums
• Jeff Steward, Director of Digital Infrastructure and
Emerging Technology
• Tom Lentz, Director Emeritus
Harvard Academic Technology Group
• Mike Hilborn, Assoc. Dir. of Academic Technology
Development
• Annie Rota, Director of Academic Technology

20. Thank you!