Bring Your Collections into Booksnake
Booksnake is a flexible, content-agnostic tool for converting digital images into life-size virtual objects. Learn how Booksnake is designed to work with existing digitized collections and assess whether your institution’s collections are compatible with Booksnake.
Contact the project team with additional questions or to talk further. Email booksnakeapp@gmail.com.
1. Does your institution make collection materials accessible through IIIF?
Booksnake uses the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) to access and download item metadata and digital images. Collections that are not accessible through IIIF are not compatible with Booksnake.
If your institution hasn’t built its own IIIF infrastructure, it may use a digital asset management (DAM) system that already supports IIIF. Learn more here: IIIF-Compliant Vendors and Software Providers.
Booksnake supports version 2.1 of the IIIF Image API and IIIF Presentation API. We are currently building support for version 3.0 of the Image and Presentation APIs and will maintain backward compatibility.
Booksnake runs on URLs. However your institution serves items through IIIF, Booksnake must be able to convert an item’s catalog page URL into the item’s corresponding IIIF manifest URL. (That is, there must be a consistent relationship between the item page URL and the IIIF manifest URL, such as a stable unique identifier in the item page URL). This must be true for both the desktop and mobile versions of your institution’s digital catalog.
Booksnake displays all metadata provided in an item’s IIIF manifest. Booksnake users are best served by IIIF manifests that contain full, complete metadata records.
2. Does your institution make high-resolution images of collection materials publicly accessible?
Booksnake requires high-resolution images in order to create accurate, realistic virtual objects. Low-resolution images will result in virtual objects with visible pixelation.
Booksnake can only construct virtual objects from image files stored locally, on the user’s device. For this reason, Booksnake must be able to access and download high-resolution images using the information contained in an IIIF manifest—either directly, via image URLs in the manifest, or by using a stable unique identifier contained in the manifest to construct an image request URL.
3. How does your institution provide dimensional metadata?
Booksnake requires dimensional metadata in order to create life-size virtual objects. Without accurate dimensional metadata, virtual objects will be too large or too small.
Booksnake requires either (1) an item’s physical dimensions, or (2) both the item’s digitization resolution and the pixel dimensions of its digital image, from which Booksnake can calculate the item’s physical dimensions.
Physical Dimensions x Digitization Resolution = Pixel Dimensions
Digitizing an item involves three pieces of information. First, the item’s physical dimensions, its width and height. Second, the digitization resolution of the camera or scanner being used to capture the item. Third, the pixel dimensions of the digital image created of the item. Pixel dimensions are the product of the physical dimensions and the digitization resolution. For example, an item that is 10 inches by 20 inches and digitized at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch will produce a digital image that is 3000 pixels by 6000 pixels.
Option A: Computer-readable physical dimensions
In this schema, each IIIF manifest includes an item’s physical dimensions. These dimensions are listed in separate fields for height and width, and the values in those fields are given as numbers (not as text strings), making them computer-readable. (In some cases, Booksnake may be able to parse consistent, structured text strings.) Item records must include at least one physical measurement (height OR width), but should ideally include both (height AND width). Measurement values can be given in inches, centimeters, or other standard units.
This method is the easiest way for Booksnake to ingest dimensional metadata and produces highly accurate virtual objects—ones that exactly match the physical dimensions listed in the item record.
Option B: Computer-readable digitization resolution
In this schema, each IIIF manifest includes an item’s digitization resolution and its pixel dimensions. These values are given as numbers (not text strings), making them computer-readable. (In some cases, Booksnake may be able to parse consistent, structured text strings.) Booksnake can use this information to calculate the item’s physical dimensions, by dividing each pixel dimension by the item’s digitization resolution.
Note: For this method to work reliably, there must be a consistent relationship between the pixel dimensions of images produced when digitizing an item (sometimes called reference images) and the pixel dimensions of images served through IIIF. Item images can be consistently rescaled (e.g., all images are reduced in size by half before being served through IIIF) within or across collections, but arbitrarily rescaling item images (e.g., restricting all images to a maximum dimension) will prevent this method from working.
This method produces highly accurate virtual objects and is especially suited to compound objects, because it provides a way of automatically creating size-accurate virtual objects for each individual image associated with an item.
Option C: Consistent digitization pipeline
In this schema, item records do not contain physical dimensions or digitization resolution, but digitization resolution is consistent within or across collections. For example, an institution may follow a common digitization standard (such as the FADGI standards or Metamorfoze guidelines) when digitizing collection materials. In these cases, we can document digitization information in a reference table, which Booksnake can then consult to calculate the item’s physical dimensions, by dividing an item’s pixel dimensions (as listed in the item’s IIIF manifest) by its digitization resolution.
Note: As above, for this method to work reliably, there must be a consistent relationship between the pixel dimensions of images produced when digitizing an item (i.e., reference images) and the pixel dimensions of images served through IIIF. Item images can be consistently rescaled (e.g., all images are reduced in size by half), but arbitrarily rescaling item images (e.g., restricting all images to a maximum dimension) will prevent this method from working.
This method can reliably produce accurate virtual objects, but it depends heavily on the level of consistency in digitization resolution within or across collections.
In progress: Physical descriptions
In this schema, an item’s IIIF manifest contains a textual description of its dimensions, typically in a physical description field (or similar). These descriptions may be complex, especially when they describe an item’s dimensions in multiple different states (such as folded and unfolded, or framed and unframed).
Booksnake cannot yet parse textual descriptions of physical dimensions, but we are actively researching ways of utilizing this metadata.
Published 2023-12-05. Updated 2023-12-08.
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