Share these talks and lectures with your colleagues
Invite colleaguesCase study
Smart stacking of machine learning and semantic technologies in media management
Journal of Digital Media Management,
9
(3),
232-239
(2021)
Abstract
The television sector has well-established industry standards and conventions around the description of franchises, shows, episodes and other aspects of production and distribution. However, time-based metadata describing specific moments and clips are much rarer. This is in large part because, without augmentative or assistive technology, such metadata is hard to produce at scale and at sufficient quality. This paper describes a project at the US-based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that combined machine learning and semantic technology to provide time-based metadata describing moving image content that both linked back to and enriched the organisation’s broader information domain. The content chosen for the project was a selection of episodes from ‘Sesame Street’, the long-running and much-fêted show aimed at preschoolers produced by the Sesame Workshop, and the featured taxonomy (part of a larger in-development PBS knowledge graph) was developed by the PBS Education division.
Keywords: industry standards; franchises; production and distribution; time-based metadata; Public Broadcasting Service (PBS); Sesame Street; Sesame Workshop; PBS Education division
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Sally Hubbard is currently working on the transition to cloud-based media supply chains. She has an extensive background in enterprise-wide metadata and media management strategy; the implementation and development of standards and best practices; and the encoding and repurposing of archival collections for organisations within the cultural heritage and media and entertainment sectors.
Maureen Harlow is responsible for taking care of PBS assets from the beginning to the end of their broadcast lives. Over her years at PBS she has overseen the digitisation of over 30,000 “1 and 2” tapes, and the arrival of around 50,000 pieces of new media. She is an alumna of the University of Notre Dame and UNC Chapel Hill. Previous engagements have included time spent at the Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill archives, and the National Library of Medicine, where she was a National Digital Stewardship Resident.
Athina Livanos-Propst is Digital Librarian for PBS Education, overseeing the metadata implementation and strategy for PBS LearningMedia. She specialises in cataloguing and special collections. Her primary focus is on born-digital collections and school libraries.
