Primary resource material online: research and teaching perspective

Digital imaging projects of the G.W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport Museum, funded by the Library of Congress and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, are explained and demonstrated with comments on how the Library has incorporated the projects’ outcomes into its workflow. Upon reapplying for additional funds, the Library was asked by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to instead reach out to scholars in the field and determine what their actually needs were in developing new scholarship. The Library hosted a conference and developed a survey to measure the scholars’ needs. Methodology and preliminary results are discussed

DiSCmap : digitisation of special collections mapping, assessment, prioritisation. Final project report

Traditionally, digitisation has been led by supply rather than demand. While end users are seen as a priority they are not directly consulted about which collections they would like to have made available digitally or why. This can be seen in a wide range of policy documents throughout the cultural heritage sector, where users are positioned as central but where their preferences are assumed rather than solicited. Post-digitisation consultation with end users isequally rare. How are we to know that digitisation is serving the needs of the Higher Education community and is sustainable in the long-term? The 'Digitisation in Special Collections: mapping, assessment and prioritisation' (DiSCmap) project, funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Research Information Network (RIN), aimed to:- Identify priority collections for potential digitisation housed within UK Higher Education's libraries, archives and museums as well as faculties and departments.- Assess users' needs and demand for Special Collections to be digitised across all disciplines.- Produce a synthesis of available knowledge about users' needs with regard to usability and format of digitised resources.- Provide recommendations for a strategic approach to digitisation within the wider context and activity of leading players both in the public and commercial sector.The project was carried out jointly by the Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR) and the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM) and has taken a collaborative approach to the creation of a user-driven digitisation prioritisation framework, encouraging participation and collective engagement between communities.Between September 2008 and March 2009 the DiSCmap project team asked over 1,000 users, including intermediaries (vocational users who take care of collections) and end users (university teachers, researchers and students) a variety of questions about which physical and digital Special Collections they make use of and what criteria they feel must be considered when selecting materials for digitisation. This was achieved through workshops, interviews and two online questionnaires. Although the data gathered from these activities has the limitation of reflecting only a partial view on priorities for digitisation - the view expressed by those institutions who volunteered to take part in the study - DiSCmap was able to develop:- a 'long list' of 945 collections nominated for digitisation both by intermediaries andend-users from 70 HE institutions (see p. 21);- a framework of user-driven prioritisation criteria which could be used to inform current and future digitisation priorities; (see p. 45)- a set of 'short lists' of collections which exemplify the application of user-driven criteria from the prioritisation framework to the long list (see Appendix X):o Collections nominated more than once by various groups of users.o Collections related to a specific policy framework, eg HEFCE's strategically important and vulnerable subjects for Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics.o Collections on specific thematic clusters.o Collections with highest number of reasons for digitisation

Paying Tribute : Migrant Memorial Walls and the 'Nation of Immigrants'

Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The Spanish Flu in the Dominican Sisters\u27 Archives

This 2020 coronavirus pandemic prompted an investigation into the health crisis of a century ago. The Dominican Sisters Archives in San Rafael, CA, contain annals, pictures, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings which document the experience of the 1918- 1919 flu in Vallejo and have been recently processed and described in a finding aid published on OAC by an archive intern, Alison Howard, under the direction of the archivist, Jack Doran. Sixteen Dominican Sisters lived in St. Vincent’s Convent in Vallejo at the time; they administered and taught in St. Vincent’s high school and elementary school. Vallejo was a town of about 11,000 (census of 1911) but had doubled in size because the Great War required more workers at the Mare Island Navy Yard, adjacent to the town

THE STATUS OF CIRCULATION SECTION IN TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY CENTRAL LIBRARY

This study entitled ”The status of circulation section in Tribhuvan University Central Library” has been carried out basing upon the substantive issues raised by its users about the important aspect of circulation section, its opening time and duration. There is the problem of overdue books. And questions have been raised about the clearance certificate which is compulsory for the PG students, who, in fact are not the bonafied members of TUCL. The present study has been carried out with the objectives to find out the obvious reasons behind it revealing the present status of circulation services of TUCL. This study also discusses about the opening time of TUCL, book issued and returned per year, the users opinion about over dues and compulsory clearance system for the PG students. This study has not covered the over all aspects of TUCL, but only about its circulation section and faculty members and students of other department, are not included due to lack of time and resource. This study has great significance to know the present status of circulation system of TUCL and to find out the problem faced by PG students outside the University Campus, Kirtipur. Different literature, explaining circulation system of various academic and public libraries have been reviewed to get information related to our study. About eleven literature have been reviewed from books, Journals and web. The study has been focused on circulation system of TUCL. However, other activities like membership, overdue, and clearance certificate services have been implicitly carried out. Data have been collected using questionnaire method in this research. Collected data have been tabulated, analyzed and interpreted in a systematic way. Hundred questionnaires were distributed and they were duly filled and returned. 70 percentage of the respondents have said that they are satisfied with the present opening time and rest 30% showed their dissatisfaction. Majority of the respondents (76%) urged TUCL to provide more effective services. They ( 68%) suggested to improve the card filing strictly following alphabetical order. (68%) of the respondents expressed their concern about the proper shelving of books in the book shelves. Majority of the respondents(55%) also pointed the need of the library regular orientation program. A brief summary including all the facts and figures have been provided and a succinct conclusion has been drawn. Necessary recommendation has been made based upon the study. • Circulation service should be carried out till the library opens. • There must not be wide gap between library opening time and circulation service providing time. • Books are to be properly shelved. • Cards are to be filed strictly in alphabetical order. • Library orientation programs are to be conducted timely. • Advocacy of rules and regulation should be properly done. • Circulation section has to be well equipped technically. • Circulation staffs are to be made more cooperative and users friendly. • Some additional staffs are to be deputed in the circulation section. • New books are materials are to be supplied in the library. • The dissatisfied PG students of other campuses are to be reminded and explained about the reason and policy of TUCL

Planning a Central Cartographic Web Portal for the Revolutionary War Era, 1750-1800

The Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is developing a Central Cartographic Web Portal, focusing on the American Revolutionary War Era. This curated database will provide broad access to primary source documents that will include a judicious selection of the best and most informative printed and manuscript maps from approximately ten collections in the U.S. and Europe. The materials will focus on military mapping; 18th century American maritime charts; and urban mapping. The theme of the American Revolutionary War Era will serve as a pilot and model for additional themes in future years. Two advisory teams, one composed of curators and humanities experts, the other of technical expertise for cataloging and data management, will advise and create protocols for all aspects of the project. The site will improve access to vastly expanded resources through technology; advancing the scholarly, educational and cultural enrichment missions of all participating institutions

Improving Public Record Access

Nantucket\u27s public and historic records are maintained by many different institutions and are kept in various forms. The project\u27s goal was to address this fragmentation and find a way to improve access to public and historic records on Nantucket. The team researched other collaborative digitization projects and interviewed record-holding organizations on the island to create an inventory of existing records and to gauge interest in the creation of a single website to provide access to Nantucket\u27s records. The team identified the key steps for a successful digital collaborative project, developed a prototype records database and web interface, and recommended how Nantucket should move this effort forward

Speaking the Same Language: Using Controlled Vocabularies to Search Museum Collections Databases

This study set out to see how controlled vocabularies help people find collections materials in electronic museum databases.It did this by interviewing collections staff from four museums. Eight people from library and non-library work areas at the four museums, who regularly search a museum database in the course of their work, were asked about their experiences with using controlled vocabularies to search. How people used controlled terms depended upon their job tasks and upon their knowledge of terms, past experience and training, and whether they trusted that terms would deliver good search results. Difficulties in using them were identified as being to do with terms themselves; the knowledge of the person searching; and the quality of information in the database. Despite controlled terms rarely being used alone for searching, respondents considered that controlled terminologies are important tools within museum databases for accessing collections. Controlled terms are resource intensive and need institutional backing to work well. Peer support, formal training, staff with database and controlled terms experience, and access to terms lists are some specific factors that would assist controlled vocabularies to work better for the people who search museum databases. Museums need to allocate sufficient financial and administrative resources to controlled terms, if they are serious about improving access to their collections