Abstract:

The pace at which a technology moves from “emerging” to “production” continues to increase. The support systems around that technology must match that pace. One recent example is the use of 3D modeling, visualization and printing within research and education. Once the realm of Hollywood, it is now completely feasible for an art history researcher to create a high resolution 3D scan of an ancient sculpture, or for a medical student to work with a 3D print of a tumored organ.

This presentation will showcase our work in building an open-source digital library capable of keeping up with the demands placed on it by rapid innovation. By utilizing a cloud-computing platform with dynamic metadata capabilities and pluggable support for new technologies, this library aims to make sure storage and categorization is never a hindrance to innovation.

Our platform challenges many of the existing conventions of digital asset repositories, by flipping to a user-centric, content-delivery focused approach. This allows us to be responsive and flexible as users express their needs.

In this session, we will use our recent exploration of the aforementioned 3D space to provide an example of this approach, and explore ways in which these capabilities are already enhancing teaching, learning, and scholarship. We will discuss the capabilities of this new platform and the ways in which it was able to grow to support this new requirement, enabling students to view and manipulate 3D objects in their browser, within their LMS, or on their mobile devices. We will also discuss the ways in which other institutions can join in the open-source, cloud-centric development and deployment process.

Keywords:

Digital Asset Management, digital libraries, 3D modeling, cloud software.