Technical Requirements

Online Exhibitions is built on the Omeka S platform. For more information regarding Omeka S please refer to their online user manual: https://omeka.org/s/docs/user-manual.

The Library is committed to supporting and showcasing Library, faculty, and student exhibitions that meet the technical requirements outlined below.

• Themes & Modules
• Digital Objects
  • Images
  • Videos
  • Audio
  • PDFs

Themes & Modules

The Library supports pre-built and community supported Omeka S themes and modules to ensure reliability and consistent functionality. Based on an assessment of available themes, the Library has chosen three suitable Omeka S themes: Thanks, Roy; Default; and Foundation. For a quick preview of these themes please visit the Omeka S themes: https://omeka.org/s/themes/.  

The Library supports modules depending on the lifetime of the project and the level of active community support in maintaining them. For an overview of the modules, please visit the Omeka S modules: https://omeka.org/s/modules/.

Digital Objects

Digital objects describe the different media used for your exhibition, such as images, videos, audio, etc.

Naming Convention

Prior to adding any digital objects to your exhibition, review your existing digital objects’ filenames and consider developing a consistent naming convention that is both short and descriptive. Appropriately naming each object in the exhibition will improve the findability and discoverability of your content on the web. Here are a few recommended approaches to naming your digital objects, followed by some examples:

• Apply the naming convention consistently across all files 
• Avoid special characters except for underscores or dashes
• Either use Camel Case (the first letter of each word is capitalized), underscores, or dashes to separate words. Avoid the use of spaces.  
• If a date is included use the date format ISO 8601: YYYYMMDD 
• Include a version, if a version number is applicable 

Examples: 

• Underscores: 20211001_peacock_butterfly_v1 
• Camel Case: PeacockButterflyV1
• Dashes: Medieval-European-Map

Images

Images should be selected intentionally and purposefully to ensure they connect with the overall narrative of the exhibition. However, before using any images in your exhibition, you need to ascertain that you have the legal rights to use and share them publicly. There may be instances where a licence is required. If you have any questions regarding the use of any images or digital objects, please contact the digital projects team.

The following guide describes methods of preparing your images for your exhibition:

• Recommended image formats are either .jpg or .png
• Follow the file naming guidelines described above to apply a consistent naming convention
• Images should have similar sizes and proportions. Recommended image sizes are: 800 pixels (w) x 600 pixels (h) or 300 x 300 (pixels). Images should not be larger than 2MB, otherwise they will take too long to render on the page
• To compress images you may want to use:
  • Compressor.io (available online, free, compression tool)
  • Kaken.io (available online, free, compression tool)
• Tools used to compress, resize or edit images:
  • Microsoft Paint application or Mac’s Preview application to resize
  • Adobe Photoshop (proprietary)
• Include long and short descriptions for accessibility purposes

Video

• Recommended video format is .mp4
• Follow the file naming guidelines described above to apply a consistent naming convention
• Video size and resolution are closely related. Aim to have a 720p resolution and a size no larger than 10MB.
• To compress videos you may want to use:
  • VLC (free)
  • HandBrake Video Transcoder (free)
  • Camtasia (proprietary)
• Include transcriptions and/or close captioning for accessibility purposes

Audio

• Recommended audio format are either .mp3 or .wav
• Follow the file naming guidelines described above to apply a consistent naming convention
• The audio file should not exceed 50MB in size.
• To modify and compress audio files, you may want to use: Audacity (free).
• Include a transcription for accessibility purposes

PDF

PDFs are popular as methods of packaging information for mass distribution and they are convenient for accessing documents that are meant to be printed. However, PDFs should be avoided as an alternative to content display. Leading User Experience (UX) research organizations recommend the use of HTML text blocks instead because they offer better navigation and interface elements that allow users to browse, find, and explore exhibition content in a more friendly and efficient manner.

In the event a PDF is used, here are some recommended steps to optimize it for the web:

1. When creating a PDF, enable the “optimize for web” options to reduce file size and avoid loss in PDF quality.
2. If choosing to create a PDF, ensure the PDF meets accessibility standards.
3. Avoid exporting an image to .pdf. Images are best saved as .jpeg or .png files.
4. Acceptable PDF sizes are between 2MB – 5MB
5. Tools used to compress PDFs:
   • Adobe free online PDF file compressor
   • Smallpdf (free, online)
   • Preview (free, Mac only)
   • Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (proprietary)