Shift #57 (1 hr) - Images, Captions, Alt Text & Metadata Workshop Recording

Shift #57 - Images, Captions, Alt Text & Metadata Workshop Recording

Friday, July 26, 2024 | 12-1 pm CST/1-2 pm EST (1 hr)

Details

Michelle Hurt, student/intern

Jennifer Gonzalez, practicum supervisor

This is a screenshot of the webinar recording about images, captions, alt text and metadata. This was helpful to watch because the Library of Congress has specifics about published works. 

This was another video recording but about images, captions, alt text and metadata - all things that are applicable to our blog posts. Each blog post we write (most will write one but we have the option to write another) will need at least one image. Jennifer used an example image on the Library of Congress main page and showed us which "free to use" images we can use; these already have a rights statement attached to them so we're able to use it. We can also click on the search bar "photos, prints & drawings" to look for specific things. We need to make sure that we stay away from cartoon drawings (as these are most likely still in copyright and not free to use). Images with "rights advisory" means there are no known restrictions so we can use them. Jennifer also talked about the need to create captions for images. A caption should have exact title of the image in brackets, then year (period), then the specific Library of Congress department. 

 

Next, Jennifer discussed the use of alt text and metadata. Every image needs alt text because it is what is ready by a screen reader and shows if your connection is working. We can include the alt text for any image we use in in Word by right-clicking on the image, but we also need to add it below the image as part of the draft so Jennifer and the blog review committee can easily see it. In regards to metadata, it allows users to find results quickly. It is used to help with retrieval, usage (someone can get from one specific item on a topic leading to another book or material of the same topic like all the uses of a word), management (how things are organized), accessibility (how people find things, especially those who have a cognitive impairment) and discovery. Jennifer also talked about the importance of controlled vocabularies and taxonomies (which she said is used so that everything comes together). Before the webinar was done, she encouraged us to subscribe to In Custodia Legis. Doing so helps the Law Library's metrics and shows engagement, especially when click on the links in each blog or when we repost blogs. Even leaving comments on blog posts helps!