A digital library for everyone

Leslie Fox

INFO 266

Cottrell, M. (April 15, 2013). A digital library for everyone. American Libraries. Retrieved from: https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2013/04/15/a-digital-library-for-everyone/

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a project, spearheaded by Maura Marx, to digitize the nation's little known cultural archives and share them for free with everyone.

DAPL will be a portal to a fraction of what's out there. An array of digitized special collections from the Smithsonian to the National Archives. It sets out to unite these materials in a single virtual space. 

The Digital Hubs Pilot Project is a confederation of seven digital libraries (six state and one regional) that make up the beginning of what's available at DPLA. Several other cultural and educational institutions are also involved in states such as: Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah. Harvard University is on board to share their digital collections as well. DAPL will be more of an aggregator of existing collections than a repository. "The purpose of the DPLA is to establish a platform of resources that will help libraries and other cultural heritage institutions to succeed in the digital area," says John Palfrey, president of the DPLA board of directors.

Here's a link to the now launched site: Digital Public Library of America .

How to destroy special collections with social media in 3 easy steps: A guide for researchers and librarians.

Leslie Fox
INFO 266

Werner, S. (July 31, 2015). How to destroy special collections with social media in 3 easy steps: A guide for researchers and librarians. Wynken de Worde. Retrieved from: http://sarahwerner.net/blog/2015/07/how-to-destroy-special-collections-with-social-media/


In her blog, Wynken de Worde, Sarah Werner posts her notes, amazing slides, and audio form her talk given at Rare Book School. She argues that while many Special Collections libraries are reaching out to users with social media, there are many ways this can go wrong, frustrate users and send them away. She uses humor to give examples of how keeping images locked up tight, treating everything as a joke or pretty picture and by relying too heavily on analytics for engagement by users can send researchers away and undermine the purpose of special collections.

The author then points out ways that social media can be used without damaging your special collection or stifling research and perpetuating misunderstandings. Werner asserts that special collections can grow using social media if you digitize with open access licenses; teach your audience to think about the past rather than laughing at it, and choose your aims carefully. Don't confuse popularity with engagement.

This presentation uses humor to engage the reader, but it is the detail and professionalism in the images presented as examples that I took special note of. A helpful resource for any special collections library wanting to utilize social media.

Reimagining the Academic Library

Go Circular! by zeronaut 

Micka, Tracy

INFO266, Fall 2016

Lewis, D.W. (2016, April 21). Reimagining the Academic Library [Webinar]. In Spring 2016 ACRL-Choice Webinars. Retrieved from http://acrlchoice.learningtimesevents.org/webinar-apr212016/

Summary:

David Lewis, Dean of the University Library at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and thought-leader on the changing role of academic libraries, recently provided a webinar for ACRL members about his new book, Reimagining the Academic Library. The focus of David Lewis’ hour-long presentation (and the premise of the book) settles on the question, what does it mean to be a library/librarian as our collections go away? Working from a number of Clayton Christensen’s theories, including Disruptive Innovation and Jobs to be Done, Lewis succinctly outlines the forces faced by academic libraries, the things we need to think about moving forward, and a prescriptive list of the 10 things we need to do right now.  For Lewis, it all centers around flipping the role of the academic library from an institution that brings in content from the outside, to one that preserves and makes available scholarly content created by, and important to, their own scholars. The lynchpin is to retire the legacy print collection now. Right now. The sooner the print items go away, the sooner the library can focus on strategies to help students and faculty do what they need to do in a way that is more effective, convenient and affordable. Of course, this has everything to do with the disruptive innovations of purchase-on-demand, open access, and growth of high quality OER / digital content. There’s no love coming to commercial publishing companies from Lewis. Lewis understands the economics of information and the evolving environment of the scholarly record- and you will begin to as well after reading his book (or watching this webinar).

My comments:

Lewis makes a strong case for what remains the touchiest of subjects: throwing away good books! Ok, not throwing them away, but getting them out of the library (ideally in some kind of consortial arrangement), in order that we may have space and resources to provide a service that ‘the market’ (google, etc) cannot. What we really need is space for students to study and a sustainable model of preserving the scholarly record- which, by the way, he points out, is a wicked problem given the high rates of link rot and content drift. Still, his presentation is not all about pointing out obvious obstacles and unsolvable problems, rather he’s quite optimistic that we can make the leap. Watch the webinar (you don't have to be an ACRL member- just fill out the form), or read the book to find out how! This would be a great book for a staff read & discuss event.

Reexamining the Documentation Strategy of Archival Acquisitions in a Web 2.0 Environment

Hamby, Megan

Thomas, L. M. (2012). The Embedded Curator: Reexamining the Documentation Strategy of Archival Acquisitions in a Web 2.0 Environment. RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts & Cultural Heritage, 13(1), 38-48.

This article introduces the term “embedded Curator” which is essentially someone who documents a specific community using a collection policy while also serving as a resource to that community. With the ever developing digital age we live in, the article discusses the need to find ways to archive digital material using collection development policies and the struggle with preserving digital records in time before they no longer become available. These curators can use a something called More Product Less Process (MLPL) which helps with community and donor relationships and the collection or they can speak directly to their donors early on before records are gifted to an institution. Thomas stresses the importance of sharing archival processes with donors and communities so that these communities might be better informed in how they can back up and preserve important files for archiving.

I found this article interesting because it focuses on how important it is to implement a solid collection development policy in order to archive important and relevant digital materials from various communities. According to Thomas, “well-designed collection development policies and deeds of gift can provide curators with tools and documentation to allow them to change their minds about the direction of the collection…should they need to do so” (p. 40). These embedded curators can also impact the collection and archival processes by speaking to the donors about the importance of maintaining their records for future archiving. This was interesting because often I hear of stories of archival records coming to repositories in boxes without any arrangement or order. By speaking directly to important donors whose records are anticipated being gifted, curators and archivists would be able to satisfy their collection policy much easier. 

Empowering Libraries to Innovate

Clark, L. (2015, June 02). Empowering Libraries to Innovate. American Libraries, 46, 20-24. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from Academic Search Premier.

Summary:

This article discusses the Knight Foundation’s attempt to inspire libraries to innovate. The article reviews the Knight Foundation’s challenge to increase the effectiveness of technology to meet users’ needs in more effective and efficient ways. This foundation is funding projects for libraries to increase access to digital technology. The foundation is attempting to streamline the process of cataloging public domain books. The purpose of funding these projects is to motivate libraries to become more innovative,

Evaluation:

This article examines the issues that come with trying to digitalize content in libraries. In an increasingly digital world, libraries need to become more innovative in incorporating digital content into their collections. Libraries need to become innovative if they wish to stay relevant in this new digital age. This article gives several innovative solutions to increasing digital access to library users.

Beyond the scanned image: A needs assessment of scholarly users of digital collections

Kimura, Camden

Green, H.E., & Courtney, A. (2015). Beyond the scanned image: A needs assessment of scholarly users of digital collections. College & Research Libraries, 76(5), 690-707. doi:10.5860/crl.76.5.690

Summary: In this article, Green and Courtney (2015) report the results of their research on the needs of faculty in digital collections. Through the course of interviews with fine arts faculty and a survey of English and history faculty, they discovered that digital collections are not created with faculty needs in mind. Among the highest needs for image, text, and multimedia collections were better metadata, searchability, searchable text, and the ability to download images and multimedia (Green and Courtney, 2015, p. 695).  Overall, these interviewed and surveyed academics were not satisfied by the functionality of the digital collections that they used. This has very little to do with content, but rather with usability.  Green and Courtney conclude that digital collections need a “user-centered focus” to be of most use to academics (2015, p. 701).

Evaluation: The bad: this research probably has interesting results and implications, but Green and Courtney watered down the presentation of results so much that there is not nearly enough information for the reader to do much of anything. I would have liked more information so I could properly assess whether or not their conclusions were reasonable or even have some deeper context for their conclusions. The good: what little they do present in the paper is extremely valuable for those creating and curating digital collections, even outside of academia; usability is the most important part of digital collections. Green and Courtney conclude that users must be engaged at nearly every point in the creation of digital collections. I think this is good (albeit a bit obvious) advice for any creating digital collections. We must be first with concerned users, almost over content; if our digital collections are not created in such a way that users can use the collection the way they need to, then we have failed to create a good digital collection. Once we have determined what the users need and especially how the users will be using the collection, then we can focus on curating content. This will create the best digital collection for our users.

Local History Preserved in Growing Online Collection

O'Meara, Chansamone

Reference:
Flank, J. (2015). Local history preserved in growing online collection. Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/lake-norman-mooresville/article37197438.html

Summary:
Mooresville's Public Library continues to grow it's Special Collection in hopes of preserving the local history. It's holding include essays, newspapers, oral histories. Help sought in identifying growing number of photos. The collection spans several decades and includes: essays, letters, newspapers, audio/video recorded history, photographs, films, and other historical artifacts related to Mooresville, North Carolina. The collection was created in 2007 according to it's website, to "promote a deeper understanding of the community" by expanding access to its historical artifacts. It is a slowly growing and expanding special collection. Andy Poore, the curator of the special collections for the Mooresville Public Library is seeking to help to identify 3,000 to 4,000 unidentified photos online. Some artifacts are very fragile and require restoration. It spent $13,000 using a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to restore a film shot in 1944 that depicts everyday life in Mooresville.

Evaluation:

The article provided a good reason why Special Collections are an important part of a library's collection. It can requires a lot of work and money but it is worth the time and effort especially when it comes to preserving history.

“promote a deeper understanding of the community” by expanding access to its historical artifacts, its website says.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/lake-norman-mooresville/article37197438.html#storylink=cpyis::

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Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic Library Setting

Nicole J. Hoback

Reference:

Johnson, J. (2015). Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic

            Library Setting. Urban Library Journal, 21(1), 16-27.

Summary:

The article, written by Johnson (2015), discusses the development of digital cultural heritage collections, which has been stated as a project that has not been typically operated by libraries. Indian University Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is an urban academic library, which focused on the case study as it follows the relationships built with two separate organizations to establish a cultural heritage collection. The intension for these projects is not only to bring more information to the public’s eye through digitization, but also to bring collaboration between libraries, archives, and museums. The two projects focused on the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Throughout both projects, microfilming presented an issue for digitization, as the library had never worked with this material in digitization. Content and format, were the unforeseen issues that continued to rise up during this process, but overall IUPUI hopes that other libraries will reach out to their community to create a collaboration of learning and experience for students and librarians.

Evaluation:

Overall I really enjoyed this article and the insightful information, which they provided as a collaborative effort needed between libraries, archives, and museums. All three of these institutions are focused on education and preserving, but it is interesting that they are not often combined on projects. Community outreach such as these, allow for academic libraries to become involved in the community that they are set in, creating an open environment. One thing the article stated that I found most interesting was, “building a successful digital collection is less about the technology and more about developing a relationship with that organization.” Often times in our technology run world we forget the importance of real time communication and collaboration, but this project shows that you can have technology and collaboration, creating a project for communities and university students to enjoy.