Batch metadata assignment to archival photograph

collections using facial recognition softwareKyle Banerjeebanerjek@ohsu.edu

Why should anyone care?

Current methods for assigning metadata are:

•Slow

•Difficult

•Error Prone

•Incomplete

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Filing code stencil cards at the W. Atlas Burpee Company Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

A few challenges

• Libraries and archives use external systems to maintain metadata

• Archival images are huge and clunky to work with

• Metadata standards for image files are implemented inconsistently and weren’t designed with library needs in mind

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Automation

• Process in bulk• Use metadata embedded

within the image

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Fran Bilas Spence and Jean Jennings Bartik work on ENIACARL Technical Library

• Use the file system• Use consumer grade software as a force multiplier• Improve search engine visibility and simplify

migrations

What you need to get started

• A computer with the operating system of your choice

• Mad programming skilz

• Modest scripting ability (any language)

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Image metadata demystified

$ head lovejoy-moskovetz_1923.tif

II▒▒▒@d▒▒F▒(1▒2▒▒ ▒▒]BI▒▒ ▒Ci▒Black and white photograph of Esther Pohl Lovejoy and Doctors Elliot and Moskovetz in Athens in 1923.▒▒['▒▒['Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows2012:04:10 14:16:16<?xpacket begin="" id="W5M0MpCehiHzreSzNTczkc9d"?>

[a few lines deleted here]

<rdf:Description rdf:about=""

xmlns:tiff="http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/">

<tiff:ImageWidth>6046</tiff:ImageWidth>

<tiff:ImageLength>4880</tiff:ImageLength>

[a few more lines deleted]

<dc:subject>

<rdf:Bag>

<rdf:li>Lovejoy</rdf:li>

<rdf:li>Moskovetz</rdf:li>

</rdf:Bag>

</dc:subject>

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Facial recognition

• People are an important access point• Provides authority control by nature• Identification of individuals helps

determine other details

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Facial recognition primerWPI Transformations

• Extraction of faces simplifies manual identification

• Non-specialist staff can do more metadata work

Useful software

• Free Picasa software works great

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• Stores person info in a combination of contacts.xml and .picasa.ini files

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Since I know you’re wondering, it’s no good for…

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.picasa.ini

[lovejoy-esther_portrait_nd.jpg]

faces=rect64(135a175de074cd8b),c0ef2256901bfbb6

backuphash=23375

[matarrazo-joseph_2001.jpg]

faces=rect64(3407026fe607ac00),c2c65f903b3150cb

backuphash=33

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contacts.xml

<contact id="c0ef2256901bfbb6" name=“Esther Pohl Lovejoy" modified_time="2012-11-26T09:48:04-08:00" local_contact="1"/>

<contact id="c2c65f903b3150cb" name="Joseph Matarazzo" modified_time="2012-11-30T15:02:10-08:00" local_contact="1"/>

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Adding metadata en masse

• Exiftool (available for all platforms) is incredibly handy

exiftool -XMP-dc:Subject+=‘My new heading’ myimage.tif

exiftool -XMP-iptcExt:PersonInImage+=‘Doe, John’ myimage.tif

• Notice the Dublin Core subject tag• DC doesn’t define people explicitly as subjects

so we used IPTC extensions here

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Exiftool is useful for reading metadata

• Exif stores excellent technical metadata so it’s nuts to hand key this into other systems

• Usage is brain deadexiftool filename (Labeled display)

exiftool –X filename (XML)

exiftool –T filename (Tab delimited)

• Many powerful options

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You need 3 image metadata standards

• Exif for technical metadata

• IPTC for many descriptive fields

• XMP for specialized information needed by archivists and librarians

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A glimpse into the future

• Social metadata• Union catalogs contain better metadata than

local catalogs• Create richer and more accurate metadata

much faster and cheaper than is otherwise possible

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Before going nuts on your photos…

Picasa can mess up existing metadata if you let it write tags (facial recognition doesn’t use tags)

You can create new tags, but don’t expect other software to read them

Facial recognition is a handy tool, but don’t use it as a crutch

Always test before performing batch metadata modifications or you may wind up blasting out existing metadata

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Takeaways from this presentation

1. Facial recognition is easy with Picasa

2. Exiftool is incredibly useful for reading and writing image metadata

3. Learning to use embedded metadata is easy and makes too much sense not to do

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Thank You!Kyle Banerjee

banerjek@ohsu.edu