Global Memory Net
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Global Memory Net (GMNet) is a world
digital library A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital me ...
of cultural, historical, and heritage image collections. It is directed by Ching-chih Chen, Professor Emeritus of
Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...
, Boston, Massachusetts and supported by the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
(NSF)'s International Digital Library Program (IDLP). The goal of GMNet is to provide a global collaborative network that provides universal access to educational resources to a worldwide audience. GMNet provides multilingual and multimedia content and retrieval, as well as links directly to major resources, such as
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...
,
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
,
Million Book Project The Million Book Project (or the Universal Library) was a book digitization project led by Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science and University Libraries from 2007–2008. Working with government and research partners in India (Dig ...
, and
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
.


History

Global Memory Net superseded Chinese Memory Net (CMNet

which was founded in 2001 as a NSF/IDLP project. It was intended to make Chinese cultural and heritage resources globally accessible in a multimedia format. "The experiences and knowledge gained from
MNet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
made me realize the need to rethink the model for information dissemination and use," wrote Chen in 2001.Chen, Ching-chih. 2001. Chinese Memory Net (CMNet): A model for collaborative global digital library development, In: Global Digital Library Development in the New Millennium: Fertile Ground for Distributed Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration. Beijing, China: Tsinghua University Press. pp. 21–32

/ref> CMNet later expanded to represent global collections and officially became Global Memory Net in 2003.


Collections

Reflecting GMNet's origins in CMNet and Prof. Chen's earlier PROJECT EMPEROR-I, an interactive multimedia project

the strongest portion of the collection's content is from China and Asia. This collection includes over 8000 images and featured videos of this
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
and the original discovery and excavation of the Emperor's terracotta army. Additional to the Asian collections are materials from around the world. A number of comprehensive collections are included, covering specific sites, cultures, and other overarching themes from content collaborators, including the UNESCO's
Memory of the World Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

Asia Division
of
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, national libraries, academic institutions, and some private groups. These collections feature images of geographical locations and historical sites, historical manuscripts, maps, art, indigenous crafts, weapons, pottery and musical instruments. Every image is accompanied by metadata information. Images of musical instruments are linked with the audio and video files, and with notations. Metadata is recorded in multiple languages. In general, English is provided and is often also available in the local language of the object's country of origin. A recent ongoing project is the multilingual and multimedia documentation of all the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s, known as World Heritage Memory Net. Collections in GMNet are broken up into the following categories to help users browse the extensive content: * Antique Maps * Arts, Paintings, Poetry * Cathedrals, Churches, Shrines, Temples * Ethnic Groups * Historical Cities * Musical Instruments * National Libraries * National Memories * Old Civilizations and Culture * Palaces- Ancient and Current * Selected Museums * UNESCO
Memory of the World Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
* UNESCO
World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...
In addition, GMNet also includes instant access to over 2530 digital collections from over 80 countries in the world in it
World Digital Collections


Usage


Search Methods

When one enters GMNet, all collections can be searched using an open search box, which allows traditional search by metadata fields (such as title, date, location, keyword, source, etc.) in multiple languages. Advanced Search with additional Boolean Operators is available for both Collections and images by language and by multiple fields. Information in GMNet is retrieved not only by the traditional way of searching by collection listings, country, or timeline, but especially by enhanced search methods including freely browsing, randomly looking for images of interest, finding similar images, zooming for details, and obtaining appropriate annotations. GMNet's search capabilities include: *
Content-based image retrieval Content-based image retrieval, also known as query by image content ( QBIC) and content-based visual information retrieval (CBVIR), is the application of computer vision techniques to the image retrieval problem, that is, the problem of searching ...
(CBIR): ''This is one of the key features of Global Memory Net.'' :A user can gain familiarity with an unknown collection through CBIR using ''Random'' and ''Browse'' image searches, which allow users to browse the collections without requiring knowledge of the language used to describe the records. Randomizing allows users to view a randomized overview of thumbnail images for a collection; users can then follow their visual or contextual interests and narrow their focus if they wish by using the ''Similar'', ''Larger'', and ''Info'' functions. ''Similar'' retrieves images of the same color and shape, and uses the CBIR developed by Prof. James Z. Wang at
Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
, but modified in-hous

Users can enlarge the thumbnail images (magnification varies with resolution) and also obtain additional descriptive information, including multilingual, multimedia and links where available. * Traditional Search: :When one has some knowledge of a given collection or of specific information that they are seeking within that collection, a search box allows traditional search by metadata fields (such as title, date, location, keyword, source, etc.) in multiple languages. * Geographical Search: :Collections are also accessible through a navigation bar link to a listing by country, leading to multiple browsable images and information. * Temporal Search: :All Collections are listed on a sliding timeline which links to individual Collection pages with information and browsable images. Users can scroll through the centuries viewing all relevant Sites Collections related to the time period of interest.


Linked Data

GMNet links to outside data sources to provide more additional information resources to the user. These resources include Online Computer Library Center, OCLC,
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
, Million Books,
Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...
and
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
,
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
, and
Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...
.


Projects

Registered users may create up to 3 projects and save images in a durable portfolio within GMNet. As users search through the collections they can save and add notes and metadata to individual objects.


Partners

GMNet's partners can be divided into two categories:


Technology partners

* Howard D.Wactlar, School of Computer Science,
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
,
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania, U.S. * James Z.Wang, College of Information Sciences and Technology,
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
,
University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was de ...
, U.S. * Jian-bo Shi, School of Computer Science,
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania, U.S. * Von-Wun Soo, Chen-Yu Lee, Chao-Chun Yeh, Department of computer science,
National Tsing Hua University National Tsing Hua University (NTHU; ) is a public research university in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. National Tsing Hua University was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, the then-president of the university, Mei Yiqi, and other ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
* Piero Baglioni, Rodorico Giorgi, Department of Chemistry,
University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...
, Italy *
Takashi Nagatsuka was a Japanese poet and novelist. According to prominent historian Ann Waswo, Nagatsuka Takashi was born into a landowning family. Generally, he was born in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. More specifically, his place of birth was 国生村 (Kosshō ...
,
Tsurumi University is a private university in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Tsurumi University traces its origin to Tsurumi Girls' High School, which was established in 1925. In 1953, Tsurumi Girls' Junior College was established, and it was chartered as ...
, Department of Library, Archival, and Information Studies, Yokohama, Japan


Content partners

* Global Memory Net, 2003 on - US Library of Congress, Asian Division; Hainan University, Hainan, China; Shanghai Jiao-Tong U, Shanghai; Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Tsurumi University, Yokohoma, Japan; University J. J. Strossmayer, Osijek, Croatia; Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi, Vietnam, etc. * Chinese Memory Net, 2000-2002 - Peking University, Beijing; Tsinghua University, Beijing; Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, Shanghai, China; Academia Sinica, Taiwan; National Taiwan University, Taiwan. * Piero Baglioni, Rodorico Giorgi, Department of Chemistry,
University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...
, Italy


Related projects


World Heritage Memory Net (WHMNet)Launched on April 29, 2011
WHMnet is a model global digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage collections related to the current 911 World Heritage Sites of 151 countries inscribed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
National Tsing Hua University Memory Net
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817212943/http://memorynet.nthu.edu.tw/en/ , date=2011-08-17 Launched on April 23, 2011, NTHU Memory Net was developed jointly by NTHU an
Global Connection and Collaboration
to create an online multimedia and multilingual knowledge base celebrating Tsing Hua's Centennial Anniversary. NTHU Memory Net is based on the same conceptual framework and uses the i-M-C-S system which was developed for GMNet, and enhanced for WHMNet.


Awards


American Library Association, “LITA names winner of 2006 Kilgour Award”
April 18, 2006, Accessed February 20, 2009.
Ching-chih Chen receives 2008 Beta Phi Mu Award
March 18, 2008, Accessed May 19, 2011.


References

:For extensive references regarding additional publications by Dr. Ching-chih Chen, consult the detailed listing and full-text files of the sources listed i
GMNet Archives
Other Publications authored by Collaborators and Third-Parties are listed below: * "Global Memory Net is now universally accessible through the Web,” Library Times International, 24 (1): 7 (July 2007). * Chen, Ching-chih, “The role of art libraries and their partners in documenting and preserving the threatened cultures: The case of Global Memory Net and the World Heritage Digital Library,” IFLA Art Libraries Section Newsletter, No. 60, pp. 4–5 (2007). * "LITA Names Winner of 2006 Kilgour Award,” Library Times International, 23 (1): 8 (July 2006). * Badurina, Boris and Ching-chih Chen, 2006. "Osijek Treasures Are One Click Away at the Global Memory Net," In: Proceedings of the LIDA (Library In the Digital Age) Meeting, Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 31, 2006. * Wang, James Z., Kurt Grieb, Ya Zhang, Ching-chih Chen, Yixin Chen, and Jaia Li, "Machine annotation and retrieval for digital imagery of historical materials," International Journal on Digital Libraries, 6 (1); 18-29 (February 2006). * Borbinha, Jose, Ching-chih Chen, and Stavros Christodoulakis, "Multimedia, contents and management," International Journal on Digital Libraries, 6 (1): 1-2, February 23, 2006 (online). Editorial of the Special Issue on Multimedia, Contents and Management, edited by Borbinha, Chen and Christodoulaks. * Zhang, Shengqiang and Ching-chih Chen, "Global Memory Net and development of digital image information management system: Experience and practice," Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE, 6A (11): 1216-1220. November 2005. * Chen, Ching-chih, "Global Memory Net Offers the Word Instantly: Offers the World Instantly: Potentials for Universal Access to Invaluable Japanese Contents," Translated by Prof. T. Nagatsuka, Journal of Information Processing and Management, 47 (11): 751-760. February 2005. * Nagatsuka, Takashi and Ching-chih Chen, 2005. "Global Memory Net offers new innovative access to Tsurumi's old Japanese Waka poems and tales, and maps," Digital Libraries: Implementing Strategies and Sharing Experiences roceedings of the 7th International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL 2005), Bangkok, Thailand, December 12–15, 2005 Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. pp. 149–157. * Thatcher, Victoria, "The Global Memory Network- Where Art and Artifacts Meet 21st Century Technology," Information Link (Simmons College), 9 (8): 1, 3 (October 2005). * Baglioni, Piero, Rodorico Giorgi, and Ching-chih Chen. 2003. "Nanoparticle technology saves cultural relics: potential for a multimedia digital library," In: Online Proceedings of DELOS/NSF Workshop on Multimedia Contents in Digital Libraries, Crete, Greece, June 2–3, 2003. * Cheng, Gordon. "Chinese Memory Net and China-US Million Book Digital Library Project" PLUS Bulletin pp. 34–36 (March 2003). * Antonuccio, Irene "Collaborzione tra la Fondazione Bonino-Pulejo e la National Science Foundation: Arte e cultura su Internet: La professoressa Chen ha illustrato il progetto: Global Memory Net," Gazzetta del Sud, Messina, Italy, December 20, 2003 p. 16. "Global Memory Net," was presented at Fondazione Bonino-Pulejo in Messina, Italy, December 18, 2003, and followed by local TV interview. * "Message from the Chair: Asia, Africa, and the Middle East," AAMES Newsletter: A biannual publication of the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Section of ACRL/ALA 1 (1): 1-3 (November 2003). * Wang, James Z.,
Jia Li Jia Li is a Chinese-American statistician and computer scientist known for her research on image retrieval. She is a professor of statistics and of computer science at Pennsylvania State University. Education and career Li studied information an ...
and Ching-chih Chen. 2003. "Machine annotation for digital imagery of historical materials using the ALIP system," In: Online Proceedings of DELOS/NSF Workshop on Multimedia Contents in Digital Libraries, Crete, Greece, June 2–3, 2003
PDF Version
* Soo, Von-Wun, C. Y. Lee, C. C. Lin, S. L. Chen and Ching-chih Chen. 2003. "Automated semantic annotation and retrieval based on sharable ontology and case-based learning techniques," In: Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE
Joint Conference on Digital Libraries The Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL) is an annual international forum focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, and social issues. It is jointly sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE ...
, Houston, TX, May 29, 2003
PDF Version
* Wang, James Z.,
Jia Li Jia Li is a Chinese-American statistician and computer scientist known for her research on image retrieval. She is a professor of statistics and of computer science at Pennsylvania State University. Education and career Li studied information an ...
and Ching-chih Chen. 2002. "Interdisciplinary research to advance digital imagery indexing and retrieval technologies for Asian art and cultural heritages," In: Proceedings of ACM Multimedia (Workshop on Multimedia Information Retrieval), Juan Les Pins, France, December 2002. 6 p. * Wactlar, Howard D. and Ching-chih Chen. 2002. "Enhanced perspectives for historical and cultural documentaries using Informedia technologies," In: Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL), Portland, OR, July 15–18, 2002. pp. 338–339
PDF Version
* Soo, Von-Wun, Chen-yu Lee, Chao-Chun Yeh and Ching-chih Chen. 2002. "Using sharable ontology to retrieve historical images," In: Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL), Portland, OR, July 15–18, 2002. pp. 197–198
PDF Version
Aggregation-based digital libraries American digital libraries