Sharing Your Digital CollectionRose Fortier, Coordinator of Digital Programs, Marquette University
[email protected] Coffin, Community Liaison/Service Specialist, WiLS
South Wood County Historical Museum
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/swch/id/1229/
rec/232
Why digitize?• Connect to your
community• Reach new audiences• Improve access to
“invisible” materials• Protect fragile or heavily
used materials• Learn more about your
collections• Contribute to our
collective knowledge
What do you mean, digitize?
• Selecting materials• Reformatting materials
(scanning or photographing)• Adding metadata
(descriptive information)• Making available online• Storing and maintaining
digital files and data (digital preservation)
Wisconsin Historical SocietyMilwaukee Public Libraryhttp://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319
Defining a digital collection
• A good digital collection…– Is publicly accessible– Is searchable - Includes keywords and other descriptive
information (metadata) so users can find what they’re looking for
– Uses software that is sustainable (will be around for a long time) and interoperable (can be migrated or shared)
– Remains true to the original materials– Respects intellectual property rights
Selecting materials
• Decisions to make– Digitize selections from a collection• Good for collections with like materials
– Digitize an entire collection• If it’s very large, how will the project be staged?
• Do you have the rights to put up the collection?– Physical ownership doesn’t translate to copyright
Digital reproduction
• Assess/choose the collection based on your digitizing capabilities
• Can it be done in-house– Where to outsource reproduction if not– Great area for fund-raising
• Make sure your images are being reproduced to current standards– NISO’s
A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections
Image editing• How much image
editing should you engage in?– Two schools of
thought
Carroll University, Charles & Rufus King Digital Collectionshttp://content-dm.carrollu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/King/id/60http://content-dm.carrollu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/King/id/1707
Metadata
• Probably the most important step– Describes the object and adds access points– Allows users to find the item and to know what
they’re looking at• Metadata adds context and allows it to stand
on its own
Milwaukee Public Library, Horace Seaman Wisconsin Infantry Collectionhttp://content.mpl.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/horace
Keys to metadata
• Be consistent!!!– Use controlled vocabularies• Update and maintain the CVs
– Create a local style guide• We modeled ours after the one provided by
Recollection Wisconsin– Wisconsin Heritage Online Metadata Guidelines
Where do I start
• Most people start with image collections– Advantages and disadvantages to starting with
images• Get your feet wet– Start with a small, well-described collection
• Bring in enthusiastic staff members• Foster collaboration– Both within and without your institution
Collaborations
• Many tools exist– Google Drive for metadata entry
• Spreadsheet with Forms
• Social media– Collections on social media
• MPL has a Flickr photostream
– Soliciting metadata through library’s Facebook page• A type of crowd-sourcing
recollectionwisconsin.org provides free access to a growing set of state and local history resources from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across Wisconsin.
South Wood County Historical Museum,Wisconsin Rapids
http://content.mpl.org/u?/swch,64
Recollection Wisconsin also provides guidelines, training and support to contributing partners and offers opportunities for visitors to share their own stories, images and comments.
UW-Madison Archiveshttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/
SSRecIDSearch?repl1=UW&repl2=UW.uwar00831.bib
Program sponsors and partners• WiLS• Milwaukee Public Library• University of Wisconsin-Madison• Wisconsin Historical Society• Nicholas Family Foundation• Academic libraries, public libraries, archives,
museums, and historical societies around the state
Wisconsin Historical Societyhttp://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/248
Founded as Wisconsin Heritage Online in 2004– Original mission: “to inspire education and discovery by
making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage available to the public via the World Wide Web”
New name, Recollection Wisconsin, and new website launched in 2013– Addition to mission: “and provide opportunities for
audiences to discover personal connections to the past.”
Three Lakes Historical Societyhttp://content.mpl.org/u?/tlhs,88
February 2014: recollectionwisconsin.org includes:132,142 historical resources from 208 digital collections
…and more content is added every month.
McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapidshttp://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319
• Apply Recollection Wisconsin standards and guidelines for digital imaging, metadata, and digital preservation
• Ensure that digitized resources are freely available to the public for personal, educational, informational, recreational and research use
• Ensure that digitized resources are in the public domain or cleared for public access
• Accept responsibility for preservation of digital master files
Contributing Partners are expected to . . .
Mount Horeb Public Libraryhttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?repl1=WI&repl2=WI.hitch0187.bib
– File naming– Digital preservation– Protecting your physical
collections– Metadata– Project promotion– Video tutorials on photo
scanning and assigning titles to historic photos
recollectionwisconsin.org/guidelines
– Project planning– Selecting materials– Copyright– Creating digital images
Woodville Community Libraryhttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/
SSRecIDSearch?repl1=WI&repl2=WI.indh0078.bib
Ways to participate– Add up to 50 items to the
Recollection Wisconsin Shared Collection in Omeka, recollectionwi.org/contribution
– Build a collection hosted in CONTENTdm by Milwaukee Public Library
– Build a collection using an OAI-compliant platform of your choice
– More info: recollectionwisconsin.org/organizations
Wisconsin Historical Societyhttp://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/march/id/663
Recollection WI Shared Collection
• recollectionwi.org• Hosted in Omeka by WiLS• User-submitted content and small, first-time
collections from libraries and historical societies
• Submit content using form at recollectionwi.org/contribute
CONTENTdm
• Produced and distributed by OCLC• Hosted by Milwaukee Public Library through
Recollection Wisconsin• $200 one-time setup fee• Annual hosting fees starting at $75 for 500 items
• Hosted by OCLC• “Quick Start” version (up to 3,000 items) free for OCLC
FirstSearch Base Package subscribers
• Hosted on your own server
http://content.mpl.org/ashland
http://content.mpl.org/ashland
http://content.mpl.org/ashland
http://content.mpl.org/ashland
ResCarta Web
• Free and open source• Host it yourself; or hosting available through
Northern Micrographics (fee-based)• ResCarta Foundation – based in La Crosse• OAI-compliant (metadata can be harvested by
Recollection Wisconsin)• rescarta.org
http://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/research/general/history.html
http://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/research/general/history.html
http://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/research/general/history.html
Omeka
• Free and open source• Host it yourself; or subscribe to hosted
version, omeka.net• Developed by the Center for History and New
Media, George Mason University• OAI-compliant (metadata can be harvested by
Recollection Wisconsin)
http://uwoshkosh.omeka.net
http://uwoshkosh.omeka.net
http://uwoshkosh.omeka.net
Digital Public Library of Americadp.la
Bringing Wisconsin collections to a national stage
Digital Public Library of Americadp.la
“The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science.”
• Conversations are underway to establish a “content hub” for DPLA in Wisconsin. Hubs are “the on-ramp to the DPLA” for local organizations.
• Minnesota Digital Library reported a 50% increase in digital collections use after joining the DPLA.
• DPLA Community Representatives in Wisconsin: Dorothea Salo, UW-Madison SLIS and Mark Merrifield, Nicolet Federated Library System
Other tools for online sharing
• Historypin• Flickr• Tumblr• Pinterest• Picasa• FacebookConsider these as ways to expand your reach, not your primary digital archive.
Milwaukee Public Libraryhttp://content.mpl.org/u?/HstoricPho,1302
Milwaukee County Historical Societyhttp://www.historypin.com/channels/view/42465
Milwaukee County Historical Societyhttp://www.historypin.com/channels/view/42465
Milwaukee County Historical Societyhttp://www.historypin.com/channels/view/42465
Lester Public Library, Two Riversflickr.com/photos/lesterpubliclibrary
wiscohisto.tumblr.com
For more information– Find out how your
organization can start a digital project at recollectionwisconsin.org/organizations
– Get in touch with Recollection Wisconsin at recollectionwisconsin.org/contact or [email protected]
McMillan Memorial Libraryhttp://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/mcml/id/178/rec/33
Thank You!
Mineral Point Historical Societyhttp://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/
singleitem/collection/mphs/id/3/rec/29
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