TRLN's Collaborative Manuscript Digitization:

Shifting Gears in Duke's Publication Process

Sean AeryDigital Projects DeveloperDuke University Libraries

TRLN Annual MeetingJuly 13, 2012

Project Background

Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina

http://www2.trln.org/ccc/ 2011-2014IMLS LSTA Grant

Project Background

Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina

http://www2.trln.org/ccc/ 2011-2014IMLS LSTA Grant

Project Background

Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina

http://www2.trln.org/ccc/ 2011-2014IMLS LSTA Grant

Large-Scale

400,000 scans

37 archival collections

4 institutions 3 years start-to-

finish

"The CCC project is the first attempt by a library consortium to conduct a collaborative manuscripts digitization project on this scale."

CCC Website

Shifting Gears(2007 Report)

Shifting Gears: Gearing Up to Get Into the Flow

Erway, Ricky, and Jennifer Schaffner. 2007. Shifting Gears: Gearing Up to Get Into the Flow. Report produced by OCLC Programs and Research. Published online at:

www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2007-02.pdf

Extending the Reachof Southern Sources (2007-2009 UNC SHC

Study)

http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/archivalmassdigitization/

Collaboration

Project Staff

■ Joyce Chapman, TRLN project librarian, project manager

■ Sam Leonard, TRLN digital production manager

■ Laura Clark Brown, UNC, chair, principal investigator

■ Jenn Riley, UNC, interim principal investigator

Steering Committee Includes:

■ Brian Dietz, NCSU ■ Kat Charron, NCSU, faculty liaison

■ Liz Milewicz, Duke ■ Yvonne Belanger, Duke, assessment consultant

■ Andre D. Vann, NCCU

Cross-Institutional Working Groups: 1) Production/Materials Mgt; 2) Metadata; 3) Evaluation; and Graduate Assistants

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Strategies & Standards for

• Intellectual Property

• Digitization

• Metadata

• Digital Access / Storage

• Materials Transfer

• Evaluation

Digital Collections at Duke

Pre-CCC Project

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Digital Collections Interface

Tripod2 Discovery/Access Application

• Custom Collection Portals

Digital Collections Interface

Tripod2 Discovery/Access Application

• Custom Collection Portals

• Robust Search/Browse

Digital Collections Interface

Tripod2 Discovery/Access Application

• Custom Collection Portals

• Robust Search/Browse

• Rich Item Interaction

Building Digital Collections

Duke, ca. 2011

Large-Scale DigitizationAt Duke

Small-Scale Everything Else

Description & Publication Can't Keep Up

Cumulative, 6-month intervals

Problems

• Huge backlog (digitized but unpublished)

• Stakeholder anxiety

• Hard to take on new projects

Building Digital Collections

Challenging the Old Model

CCC's Impact at DukeA Kick in the Pants

The Challenge

16 Years 3 Years

The Constraints

No resources ($) provided for:

• Metadata

• Interface development

Building Digital Collections

The Large-Scale Option (2012)

Building Digital Collections

The Large-Scale Option (2012)

Building Digital Collections

The Large-Scale Option (2012)

Building Digital Collections

The Large-Scale Option (2012)

Building Digital Collections

The Large-Scale Option (2012)

How it WorksTechnology

How it Works

How it Works

How it Works

How it Works

How it Works

The OutcomeFinding Aid as Interface to Digitized

Content

UNC, NCCU, NCSU Interfaces

Variations on a Theme

Tradeoffs: What's Lost?

• Distinction of individual objects

• Faceting/advanced search

• SEO

• Linking to items

• Highlights

But is it Good Enough?Evaluation Working Group Activities

Quantitative

• Usage tracking / Web analytics

• Materials prep time (conservation, IP review, transport)

But is it Good Enough?Evaluation Working Group Activities

Qualitative (Years 2 & 3)

• Interviews (scholars, faculty, K-12 instructors)

• Course activities (3 undergrad courses)

• Survey (targeted to potential users)

• Reengage "Extending the Reach of Southern Sources" participants

Early Returns at Duke

• "A game changer"

• Applying publication technique beyond CCC materials

• Alleviating our backlog gridlock

• Publication via finding aid = the new default

Looking Ahead

• Integration w/Tripod2 for common discovery

• Item interaction (PDF, image view tools?)

Summary

• Ambitious TRLN digitization project

• Collaboration is key

• Variations between institutions on implementation

• Significant catalyst in re-envisioning Digital Collections at Duke

• Evaluation plan underway

Thank You

Sean AeryDigital Projects DeveloperDuke University Libraries

sean.aery@duke.edu