Overview. So, you re not an expert 04/07/2016. Digitizing Community History: Get the Goods without the Bulk!

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1 Digitizing Community History: Get the Goods without the Bulk! Jennifer Coffey Director, Pflugerville Public Library Why bother? Make a plan Identify partners Identify resources Tools Scanning basics Legal (boring) stuff Publicity Finished? Overview 2 So, you re not an expert If your mind is empty, it is ready for anything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few. -- Shunryu Suzuki August Hebbe about

2 Why bother? Local history preservation Preservation of special collections Context of community Genealogical information Sophie Pfluger age 20, If you don t, who will? 5 Make a plan Collection What Where How 6 2

3 Identify partners Finding local historians, genealogist, busy bodies Friends groups Local museums City or County entities The Bohls children and Friends, about Finding Funding Grants TexTreasuresGrant Program e.html Foundation Grants Donations City or county historical societies Friends groups Patrons Free stuff Open source software Free platforms 8 Guidelines RUSA (The Reference and User Services Association Guidelines for Establishing a Local History Collection - National Archives National Historical Publications and Records Commission FAQs - Library of Congress Preservation Guidelines for Digitizing Library Materials

4 Decisions, decisions Platforms ContentDM Islandora Duraspace Omeka 10 Digital content management options ContentDM: Easy and flexible, fully hosted, developed by OCLC Islandora: Open source, collaborative, developed by the University of Prince Edward Island's Robertson Library LYRASIS hosting for Islandora DuraSpace: Open Source, developed by librarians, archivists, technologists and researchers, DuraCloud ensures content always backed up. ArchivesDirect: is a hosted service offered by DuraSpace in partnership with Artefactual Systems Omeka: Open source, offers bahosted, Web-based version or downloadable application which can be installed and hosted onsite by the organization. 11 Shneiderman(1987) criteria for evaluation of usability or some other criteria should be used in making your decision: Easy-to-learn Finding resource takes minimal time Errors of omission or commission are rare Searching is a rewarding experience Easy to remember how to use I would also add, easy to teach because you very likely will be teaching this to other staff or volunteers

5 Questions to ask: Is it fully hosted? Is the hosting free? Is there an annual support fee? If not hosted, what kind of technical support do you offer? Who owns the rights? May I get contact information for similar clients? What file types does it support? What metadata schemas does it use? What platforms can you migrate your collection to and from? What formats does it support? 13 Get hooked-up Software Video converters Image editors OCR Scanners Cameras and Camera mount 14 Free Video Editing Software Windows Movie maker Kate s video toolkit WeVideo and more Software Video Converters (i.e., converts videos to web friendly or device friendly optimization) HandBrake Convertillaa Freemake Video Converter and more OCR software MS OneNote MS Document Imaging FreeOCR 15 5

6 Equipment There is a use for that outdated device More expensive items can be purchased. You may be able to get a Friends or other interested group to donate these items. 16 Scanners The key criteria for selecting your scanner system are the: type of scanner appropriate for your materials, technical capabilities of a scanning system, and budget for scanning equipment and software Get the goods 18 6

7 Technical standards Library of Congress Building Digital Collections: A Technical Overview Digital Master Images -Sample Technical Specifications for Photograph Collections The Library of Congress Technical Standards for Digital Conversion of Text and Graphic Materials as a guideline for imaging standards 19 Rules of thumb Ask donors to identify as much as possible the people or places, dates, etc. in photographs and to give as much genealogical information as possible. Still there will be unidentified artifacts that you will have to enlist community help to identify. Scan even if you do not know who the what the photo is of or who the people are. Put the photos out on Facebook or on your website. Ask for volunteers to help identify photographs or to give genealogical information on people

8 Retouch or As is Example of poor quality original photo and low resolution digital photo 22 The Moral Compass Copyright Creative Commons Privacy and Ethics Branding, watermarks and permissions Rev. G. Stricker Immanuel Lutheran Church Served Copyright, Use and Permissions Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States Creative Commons Digital Library of Georgia -Securing Permission to Digitize and Display Collections Online ome&welcome Pflugerville Public Library Agreement Permission to display online for customizable copy. Pflugerville Digital History Archive Donation and Usage Policies

9 Get noticed Marketing, Recruiting donors, Recruiting volunteers 25 Finished product Always a work in progress Giving back 26 Questions? Jennifer Coffey Director, Pflugerville Public Library jenniferc@pflugervilletx.gov