About Annotation Studio

The annotation studio constructs JSON blobs of content from user input via generated forms. The content is associated with IIIF resources, typically a canvas carrying an image (but could later be audio, video and other media). These JSON blobs are W3C Web Annotation Data Model annotations, that target IIIF resources. This means that it creates content conforming to an open standard (the W3C model), associated with content presented in an open standard (the IIIF model).

The original motivating use cases were driven by crowdsourcing scenarios, but it can be used to create content for any purpose - creating IIIF-based interactives, as a plugin to a CMS or other workflows.

It requires configuration with one or more capture models, which can be thought of as content type definitions that define the fields to ask for, and hints to control the user interface. For example, a capture model for a Person might specify name, as a single line text box; description, as a multi-line text area; date of birth, as a date picker; occupation, as a drop down from a constrained list; and location, as a map picker. The capture model also specifies how the target of the annotation should be captured from the user - does the content apply to the whole image, or do we need to get the user to draw a box selection to highlight a particular region?