The U.S. Congressional Serial Set

Digitization Project

A collaboration of Readex Corporation

a division of NewsBank, Inc.

and Dartmouth College Library

2005 - 2013

This little book was written for our partners at Readex Corporation to commemorate the end of the U. S. Congressional Serial Set Digitization Project.

The Dartmouth Project Team

Government Printing Office book binders 1910

The story to preserve and digitize the U. S. Congressional Serial Set involves many, many people and many, many, many volumes.

June 2009 celebration at Readex upon reaching the original project goal.

To know the U. S. Congressional Serial Set is to love it.

There are almost 16,000 volumes shelved throughout the Dartmouth College Libraries.

Volumes were retrieved from the following libraries:•Baker Berry Library•Feldberg Business & Engineering Library•Kresge Physical Sciences Library •Dana Biomedical Library•Sherman Art Library•Rauner Special Collections Library •Storage Library

What’s inside the Serial Set:•Transcontinental Railroad

•Smithsonian Institution Report

•Census Data

•US Geological Surveys

•Requests for Pensions

•War of the Rebellion •Budgets

•Post Master General Reports

•Patents

•Teapot Dome & WatergateIllustration of the silk worm stages The first test color scan

Voyages of Discovery…

Perry’s Expedition to Japan

Fascinating birds of a feather.

Frightful trips

Addresses from Prominent People

Brushes…

…and the plants from which they are made.

Scientific Experiments…

…of all types

Animals…

…and their insides.

Native American Information

Along the way we found a remarkable surprise...

Osage Dance, 1880 -A scene in a war dance, Kiowas, Pawnees, & Osages participating.Julian Scott Ledger Artist A. Graphite and colored crayon on laid ledger paper. Purchased through the Robert Strasenburgh II 1942 Acquisition Fund: D.2003.18.2 Provenance: Julian Scott: by descent in the family; sold to Morning Star Gallery Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1986; sold to Mark Lansburgh, Class of 1949, 1986; sold to present collection, 2003. Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

Original drawing held by the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College.

War Dance, 1890 - Participated in by Kiowas, Osages, and Pawnees. Drawn in color by a Comanche boy at Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Agency , Oklahoma, September 1890. Reproduction of Osage Dance in Report on Indians Taxed and Indians Not Taxed in the United States (Except Alaska) at the Eleventh Census: 1890 (United States Census Office. Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, 1894) Serial Set volume 3016, p. 532

The drawing was reproduced in Serial Set number 3016, page 532.

Another surprise…

From a little book comes…

A very, very big map !

How did all this get done?

Shipments consisted of 60-65 volumes per week.

These would be retrieved in sequence order from the stacks.

The Process at Dartmouth:

Cleaning the Books:

The books tended to be dusty so they were vacuumed and dusted.

Applying Leather Consolidant

The sheepskin covers had become powdery so each volume was treated with a 2% Klucel G solution; treatment and date noted on verso of title page.

Inscribe front flyleaf with Serial Set number.

Inventory Control

Add barcodes

The Serial Set had not been linked in the Library’s on-line catalog so for each volume an item record was created. In this project we exceeded the system’s limit for item records in a single bibliographic record – twice!

Once the item records were created each volume was checked out to “Readex Repair” as it came for treatment. This was critical to keep track ofwhere each volume was located throughout the workflow process at Dartmouth.

There was a lot of processing.

In the beginning of the project we assessed the condition of each book prior to sending to Readex for scanning; however, we discovered that such great care was being taken at Readex with each volume that we soon decided detailed pre and post scanning reviews were not necessary.

Minimal Repairs

Many volumes had torn pages which were repaired with heat set tissue or japanese tissue. This was also the case for the hundreds of maps which needed a lot of mending.

Extra Paper to Trim

Ready for Readex pick up with Packing Slip

After repairs are done the shipments are wrapped in plastic ready to go to Readex in Chester, VT.

When the books arrived at Readex the project staff tracked each volume from the point of receipt from Dartmouth until it was returned.

At Readex project staff carefully scanned each book on a Kirtas machine.

The Readex Process

Great care was taken to protect the fragile volumes during the scanning.

Quality control was applied throughout the production to obtain the best images and confirm completeness of the volume and the publication.

Large maps were placed in on a table and photographed from above.

Throughout the process the volumes were treated with care.

The Editorial Team developed vocabulary to enhance a user’s search experience.

When all volumes were accounted for they were packed and returned to Dartmouth.

Returned to Home Base

Post Scanning Repairs

Dartmouth staff delayed some repairs until post scanning. This allowed the Readex team to obtain the best scan possible while minimizing damage to the book.

Typical treatments included:•spine lined with japanese tissue•new spine using morki tissue•hollow tube

Casing in with japanese tissue

New Serial Set number labels were made to match the original ones that had fallen off.

Repairs completed ready for final inspection.

Ready for the return home to the stacks.

Paper is preserved at Dartmouth College Library…

…and the digital is secure at Readex.

When it was finished…

Project Statistics

Serial Set Journals 1-15

Journals ETC

American State Papers

Senate Executive Journals

Volumes 15,402 31 106 38 162

Pages 11,564,311 26,359 131,705 40,392 172,797

Publications 370,205 65 106 6,354 339

Maps 74,495

Project staff at Readex Corporation and Dartmouth College Library had preserved and digitized:

–The American State Papers–U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1789 - 1995–Senate Executive Journals –House and Senate Journals.

11,935,564 total pages 15,739 total volumes

The Readex Team 1995 - 2013

Data Conversion, Support & Book transport:Jim Weeks Carol ForsytheElsa Lamphere Sharon KnightSheila Grey Jen KnightWanda Anderson Bob Glidden

John Martin Patsy BohenCherie Marcotte Brittany BenoitKelley Lauren Buster WarwickKarl Lauren Korrie HeidenJulie Bartolotta

The Readex Team 1995 - 2013

Editorial:Lenore Relihan Dee SheldonTony Pettinato William StearnsBrian Benoit Claudia SmithAnn-Marie Whittaker Seamus DunphyEmily Stringham Corky FarrarBen Hunt

On-going technical support:Alex Odulo Mellissa Garrow

The Dartmouth Team 1995 - 2013

Project Team:John Cocklin Barb SagravesWendy Wolfe Brian MarkeeMarien Levy Tristram Wolff Richard Langdell Matt Agnoli Beth Hetland Ryland Ianelli Elizabeth Rideout

Cataloging & Metadata SupportBarb Bushor Stina McCarthyRosie Vanasse

The Dartmouth Team 1995 - 2013

Off Site Retrieval SupportBrian Courtemanche Marie GuerinTodd Minsk Joanne MessineoJim Guay Phil GarranBruce Wiedrick

The project teams were supported in countless ways by the following individuals:

Readex DartmouthMike Walker John R. JamesVicky Gardner Richard LucierDavid Braden Jeff HorrellAugust Imholtz David SeamanDan Jones Elizabeth Kirk

To you all we say, “ Thank you!”

This book was printed at Dartmouth College Library and

hand bound in Preservation Services,

July 2013.

Copyright 2013 Trustees of Dartmouth College