ncompass live: metadata makeover: transforming omaha public library's digital collections
TRANSCRIPT
Mary Marchio and Martha GrenzebackOmaha Public Library
Metadata Makeover:Transforming Omaha Public
Library’s Digital Collections
World Stereoview Collection, 1259 images(2008)
Early Nebraska, 440 images (2009)
Early Omaha : Gateway to the West
750+ images (2002-2003)
Trans Mississippi & International Exposition , 2800+
images(1998)
Cooperative projects containing OPL materials
Nebraska Memories (2006-current)
Western Trails(2002-2003)
Photographs by official photographer, Frank Rinehart, and papers, correspondence, and memorabilia related to the Exposition and the Indian Congress that was part of it
Donated to library at the close of the Exposition (1898) by the Exposition’s Board of Directors; additional items have been donated or purchased since then
Available in the library to researchers
Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition
Collection of some 770 images of photographs, lantern slides, postcards, stereoviews, and maps reflecting Omaha's importance as the site of the Union Pacific headquarters and point of eastern origin for the first transcontinental railway
Source: donations from the public and Library Board members, library purchases
In-library access, some check-outs
Early Omaha: Gateway to the West
1259 stereoviews dating back to late 1800s-early 1900s, depicting scenes from around the world
Gift to the library from Charles Dietz, wealthy lumber businessman, longtime President of the Library Board, and enthusiastic world traveler
For many years, available to check out or view in the library
World Stereoview Collection
United States, Nebraska, county and regional maps and atlases, mostly not cataloged
Donations and library purchases
Used by library patrons in the library
Early Nebraska
Inspired by a desire to provide better access, particularly to OPL’s extensive and unique Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition collection
1998 centennial celebration of original Exposition was impetus
Trans-Mississippi project was first effort, successful for its time
Showed OPL could manage a digital project internally—what next?
How did OPL get into the digital world?
Formation of library staff committeeSteep learning curve: organizing a projectConsultant hired to evaluate physical condition
of collectionMajor Urban Resource Libraries (MURLS) grant
Trans-Mississippi project details
Solicited bids for scanning Marian High School girls: The
Web Team
No metadata on website except titles, format, and dimensions
Metadata and cataloging
MARC records for some images in local catalog
Single record for collection in WorldCat
Libraries and other cultural institutions in Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, and Colorado pooled digital resources on the 19th century pioneer migration to the West
Scanning standards set by Colorado Digitization Program (now subsumed in LYRASIS)
CONTENTdm interface:
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/westerntrails/
Western Trails project details
CONTENTdm
Metadata and catalogingMetadata : modified Dublin Core; Library
of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials headings and LCSH
Directly uploaded to UNL server via Zebra (later transferred into CONTENTdm)
OPL: Basic metadata in Access database
Impetus for digitization: 150th anniversary of Omaha (2005)
Part of Western TrailsScanning standards: Western TrailsMetadata: Basic info in Access database (staff
use); minimal on website but rich narrative description for some “Exhibit” items
Early Omaha: Gateway to the West
34 libraries and other cultural institutions in Nebraska pool digital resources that illustrate the state’s history and geography—more than 5,500 items to date
Scanning standards: Decided by Nebraska Library Commission, which administers project
Metadata: Modified Dublin Core; Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials headings and LCSH
URL: http://memories.nebraska.gov/OPL is still contributing
Nebraska Memories
CONTENTdm
Quick and easy solution for public accessScanning standards: Same as previous projectsMetadata: Minimum needed for Flickr; captions
and tagsURL:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/omahalibrary/3110796207/in/album-72157611223061783/
World Stereoviews
Maps and atlases of Nebraska (large-format scanning contracted out with grant money)
No metadata at all, except for the Omaha maps and atlases that were included in Nebraska Memories
Early Nebraska
Image scanning is all to the same high standard (hallelujah!)
Metadata is all over the lot:MARCDublin CoreFlickrPeggy Marrs’s postcard cataloging schemeZilch
Public and staff access difficult (inadequate search function)
Hard to find on main OPL webpage
Multiple projects in multiple platforms
What to do?
We needed to:Find…Clean up…Enhance…And reinvent…
…our metadataTrans-Miss: 3785 imagesOthers: 4456
Total: 8241 images
Almost everyone involved in original projects gone or distracted (retired, deceased, moved to other positions)
Memories failingPaper trail/documentation spottyMultiple projects, each with different parametersProject manager (Martha) inexperiencedNot much staff time available (“spare time”
project)
Challenges
Images up to current standards; no rescanning needed
Original cataloger on our team (Mary Marchio) Assistance from OPL employees with unique
knowledge and skills, or memories of previous projects
Great support from Devra Dragos and Allana Novotny, Nebraska Library Commission
Library staff’s reluctance to purge or even tidy old files (computer and paper)
Administrative support
Pluses
OPL contribution to UNL’s Trans-Mississippi & International Expo portal site (http://trans-mississippi.unl.edu/)
Internal OPL proposal suggesting new digital site: Aug. 2012
CONTENTdm QuickStart (hosted): March 2013
CONTENTdm vs Omeka or other option?
Getting started
PlusesIs hosted and user-
friendlyGood support, forum,
documentation, webinars; NLC uses
Looks like every other digital collection website
More expensive as your collection grows
CONTENTdmMinuses
Can get started free with OCLC subscription
Can use “out of the box”Records can be synced to WorldCat
Working group: Patrick Esser, Mary Marchio, Lindsey Bray, Deirdre Routt, Martha Grenzeback
Many webinars and much reading on CONTENTdm and digitization standards
In 2013, Deirdre created OPL Metadata Guidelines for CONTENTdm Entry, largely based on:Nebraska Memories Metadata Guidelines
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/metadata.pdf
Huntington Digital Library Guidelines Metadata Creation and Applicationhttp://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16003coll9/id/0
Plan of action
Created timeline (delusional)
Allocated tasks
Where should we start?
Began trying to track down any available data on OPL’s digital images
Created “trial” collection (Millard Town Memories)
Decided to start with Trans-Mississippi collection
Crosswalk for MARC records to Excel/Dublin Core, created by Patrick Esser
Cataloging from scratch—everything but the first 600 or so records; minimal info created by Patrick using info from TMI guidebook and Official Catalogue
Enhancing records; enriching descriptions, adding subject headings (LCSH, TGM), adapting to Dublin Core standards
Trans-Mississippi
Mary created local authority file which we use for all collections
Problematic because metadata had been directly uploaded via internet to Western Trails database; OPL kept no real record
Almost all images in Western Trails were also in Nebraska Memories
Allana Novotny kindly compared holdings to get a list of OPL items not in Nebraska Memories, and Mary Marchio cataloged
Early Omaha/Western Trails
Nebraska Library Commission had all the metadata, which they retrieved and provided to us in Excel spreadsheet format
We changed a few fields to fit our own requirements, but otherwise pretty smooth
Nebraska Memories
Most of the maps in this project uncataloged; only the Omaha maps had been uploaded to Nebraska Memories
Cataloging from scratch using Excel
Early Nebraska
Created document: How to Upload Items to CONTENTdm (settings, choices, etc.)
Use Excel template with fields that match the fields in the CONTENTdm template for a particular collection
Dublin Core, Thesaurus of Graphic Materials, LCSH
Proofread in Excel. Check that names and subjects appear in our local authority file (also Excel)
Batch upload to CONTENTdm
Save all metadata spreadsheets in folder for each collection on network drive and in the cloud
Our process
New site!http://cdm16747.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/
Decide on collection content carefully
User forums very helpful; also looking at other digital libraries
Don’t be shy! Grill everyone involved in past projects
Track down any documentation (memos, reports)
Document! What you did and how you did it. No detail is too small (today’s small may be tomorrow’s big)
Lessons learned
