Cross-sector collaboration for digital museum and library projects
A County-Wide Museum-Library Collaboration September 2002
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Transcript of A County-Wide Museum-Library Collaboration September 2002
A County-Wide Museum-Library Collaboration
September 2002
Crossing Organizational Boundaries
The Project
Supported by an IMLS National Leadership Grant for Library-Museum Collaboration, 2001-2003
Three-way partnership A major research library (UW) A mid-size history museum (MOHAI) 10 smaller museums and historical societies belonging to the
Association of King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO)
Project Partners
Museum of History & Industry University of Washington
Libraries Black Heritage Society of
Washington State Eastside Heritage Center Maple Valley Historical
Society Northwest Railway Museum
Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society
Rainier Valley Historical Society
Renton Historical Museum Shoreline Historical Museum White River Valley Museum Wing Luke Asian Museum
Online access to 12,000 King County Images (Fall 2003)
Web-based access to many images from smaller organizations throughout the county
Ability to search collections from one institution or across all together
Benefits for Project Partners
Increased comfort with digitization technology and cataloging methodology
Increased communication among the partners Improved image collections management Ability to add additional images and/or information after the
project is completed Workshops on image selection, cataloging, photo sales Scanning and cataloging of images Use of CONTENTdm software Hosting of database on UW server
Major Activities of Project Staff
Establish partnerships and communication mechanisms Plan workshops and other meetings Keep partners on task with image selection Determine scanning requirements Schedule and facilitate scanning Review quality of scans and upload to server Develop data dictionaries Catalog images
Preliminary records (before scanning) Full records (before Web launch)
Public outreach Evaluation
Partnerships
Communicate project planning to all partners Email/listserv Telephone Site visits
Be prepared for changes Illness Workload stress Different organizational cultures Permissions
Workshops
Assess preliminary training needs of partners Baseline survey administered in March-April
Schedule presenters, participants This is a challenge with part-timers, volunteers from multiple
institutions Be prepared to coach outside workshop framework
Site visits Evaluate workshops
What could we do better?
Scanning
Revisited UW, MOHAI requirements for past projects Experimented with size, compression level of images
to be displayed online Had to leave room in scanning schedule for equipment
repairs, rework, filling in gaps Balancing partners’ requests with vendor’s
requirements Reviewing deliverables for quality, accuracy
Cataloging
Some fields are required by UW Some systems have already been established Each institution has different ideas, differing
levels of information available Consistency desired for maintenance,
searchability
Public outreach
Presence at conferences throughout project to explain process, disseminate concept WMA Annual Conference, Keyport, WA, June 2002 LITA, Dallas, TX, October 2002 Washington Heritage Conference, Bellevue, WA, October
2002 AAM Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 2003 (tentative)
Need to publicize product (website) when complete Exhibit possibilities
Evaluation
Important at every stage in the process IMLS strongly urges use of Outcome-based
Evaluation (OBE) Measure process, not project What changed for participants as a result of project?
Project Technology: CONTENTdm
Software to “gather, organize, manage, store, and search digital material” Create digital images Put them into databases Catalog them Find them again Post them to the Web
Workstation-based image input
Scanning spreadsheets contain basic catalog records added during upload
Scanned CDs are uploaded from a workstation to the server via FTP
Web-based cataloging
For editing catalog records and server/collection administration
Can be used anywhere at any time Easy to use forms Any number of users
What to do in the field with slow connections or no connections?
Continual Updates Possible
Web-based cataloging allows instant updating even after ‘publication’ Data
Easy using the web – front end Images
More complex process – will probably require UW to do this
Multiple Databases
Each institution has its own database on the UW server Each institution’s home page can link to its separate
database on the server The website will cross organizational boundaries,
and show all the material ‘virtually’ combined
Cross-database searching
Website’s home page will search all the databases simultaneously All 12,000 images can be searched at once Searching all kinds of ways
* Format * People
* Places * Date
* Events * Subjects
Case Study: UW Libraries
UW Libraries: Lead Partner Duties
Maintain server Upgrade software Administer users Run help desk Train users
UW Libraries: Staff Involved
Systems administrator in Computing dept. Cataloging staff Special Collections staff Student workers Pacific Northwest experts Metadata specialists CONTENTdm help desk person Web producer
Benefits to UW 1 of 2
Fulfill mission Connecting people with knowledge
Create a great resource for faculty and students Relationships with MOHAI and AKCHO Re-evaluate our processes Create and document workflow processes
Benefits to UW 2 of 2
4,000 TIFF images of Seattle Get funding for our digital operation Clean up some paperwork Get less ‘glamorous’ material scanned Examine outsourcing as an option Promote our collections
Challenges of Project for UW 1 of 2
UW was the guinea pig Worked out procedures and kinks with scanners
Pressure to get better computer security Need to create cooperative strategies
With other institutions With commercial companies
Communications Commercial scanner doesn’t make the same judgment
calls as staff/student scanners
Challenges of Project for UW 2 of 2
Training grant staff Maintaining 2 workflows Re-evaluating all our processes Adapting to new processes 4,000 images out of circulation at one time
Identifying so many images Pulling so many images at once Re-filing
UW Libraries: Collections Scanned
A.C. Warner C.F. Todd Theodore E. Peiser Dearborn Massar Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civil Works Administration UW Campus
A.C. Warner
500 photographs from early 1900s Northern Pacific Railway Seattle, ships on Elliot Bay, waterfront mills Photographer for Lowman and Hanford, publishers
C. F. Todd
425 photographs. 1905-1930 University of Washington campus Seattle waterfront Denny regrade activities Pike Place Market Seattle buildings especially apartments
Theodore E. Peiser
150 photographs. 1860s to 1900 Seattle scenes Departing for the China Expedition/Boxer Rebellion Temporary camps including Camp Lawton Corrals & stables for troops in Seattle
Dearborn Massar
3,000 photographs. 1943-1963 Team of Phyllis Dearborn and Robert Massar Contemporary architecture of the Pacific Northwest Commercial and residential Interiors and exteriors
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
450 photographs Medical, hospitals and nursing Industrial arts projects Domestic arts projects Earthmoving projects Agricultural and lumber projects Highway and street construction School building and playground projects
Civil Works Administration
Photographs from 1930s Infrastructure projects Playfield and park improvements School projects Hospital and nursing activities Airport improvement
UW Campus
1,532 photographs Covers early history of UW Includes more recent architectural images
Case Study: MOHAI
MOHAI: Lead Partner Duties
As a lead partner, duties include: Hiring, housing, and overseeing staff paid by grant Managing grant budget, including keeping track of
matching time contributed by all partners Assisting with training of AKCHO partners Choosing 4,000 images
MOHAI: Staff involvement
Collaborative project involves staff throughout museum: IT – workstations, computer troubleshooting Library – image selection, training Curator of Photography – image selection, training Historian – metadata, training Education – evaluation External Affairs – grant-writing, publicity Fiscal office – budget matters Special events office – meeting set-up Administration – overview Interns and volunteers – image filing and re-filing
Challenges of Project for MOHAI
Challenges of taking on a digitization project: Smaller staff (than UW) means people already wear
more than one hat Selecting 4,000 appropriate images is an enormous
undertaking Dealing with grant requirements and people can
take as much time as doing the project Granting agency now suggests needs assessment
and requires evaluation
Benefits of Project to MOHAI
Benefits of working on a collaborative project: Grant funding means 4,000 images will be scanned and
cataloged (less than 2,000 are already online) Entire website makes Seattle history more accessible to a
broader audience—MOHAI’s mission Collaborative nature supports our relationships with peers in
the heritage community Increased visibility may lead to increased photo sales
MOHAI image selection approach
Used project to greatly expand knowledge of collections not previously examined Moen Collection – early snapshots of Ballard Glass lantern slides ca. 1880s-1890s
Expansion of images from important collections Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection Webster & Stevens
Addition of images from collections frequently requested Century 21 color slides
Formats not possible to scan in-house Glass negatives Oversize
A few images not in King County but important to King County history
AKCHO image selections 1 of 4
White River Valley Museum 402 images of Auburn and Kent area Possibility of adding more Buildings; businesses; homes; farms; Northern Pacific
Railroad; Japanese American community represented Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society
497 photos Selected broadest possible spectrum from fairly specific
collection, including: ocean-going vessels; shipyards; tugs; sailing ships; maritime characters; and trades
AKCHO image selections 2 of 4
Eastside Heritage Center 801 images representing Eastside history, primarily Redmond,
Bellevue, and Kirkland Northwest Railway Museum
Railroads; lumber mills; mining; wooden bridges May select railroad-themed images from UW and MOHAI
collections and assist with their cataloging Rainier Valley Historical Society
Rainier Valley/Columbia City streetscapes; small town life and urbanization; streetcars/transportation; schools; sports; local businesses and industries
ACKHO image selections 3 of 4
Black Heritage Society Activities relating to African Americans in King County from its earliest years
Maple Valley Historical Society 434 images of Maple Valley and vicinity (Ravensdale; Georgetown; Black
Diamond; Hobart; Taylor) Local industries/commerce; Schools; Transportation; Sports/recreation
Renton Historical Museum 400 images scanned, with offer to contribute 100 additional images Renton people, places, and activities depicted, including schools;
built and natural environment; people at work and at leisure; family portraits; and disasters
AKCHO image selections 4 of 4
Shoreline Historical Museum 211 images scanned, with possibility of adding more if time
permits Images depict Shoreline vicinity since 1880s, including early
settlers; Interurban; Aurora Ave. businesses; Playland Wing Luke Asian Museum
162 images scanned Ownership issues, geographic limitation made for smaller contribution
Asian Americans in Seattle’s International District are represented