Scribbles & Scraps: Darwin’s Library & Annotated Literature

Scribbles & Scraps:Darwin’s Library & the Online Display ofAnnotated Biodiversity Literaturehttp://biodiversitylibrary.org/collection/darwinlibrary
Chris Freeland
Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics,
Missouri Botanical Garden
Technical Director, Biodiversity Heritage Library
@chrisfreeland
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

About Darwin’s Library
Digital edition & virtual reconstruction of surviving books owned by Charles Darwin.
Darwin’s son Francis transferred “Darwin’s Library” to the Botany School at Cambridge University in 1908
More detail about the collection at:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/collection/darwinlibrary
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Funded Project
Digitize most heavily annotated volumes in Darwin’s Library
Funded via JISC / NEH: Transatlantic Digitisation Collaboration Grant
Partners:
Cambridge University Library
Natural History Museum, London
American Museum of Natural History
Subaward to BHL via Missouri Botanical Garden
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@chrisfreeland

Agassiz, L. Contributions to the natural history of the United States of North America.
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34117347

The scribbly bits
Charles Darwin’s Marginalia, vol. 1 (1990)
Compiled by Mario Di Gregorio & Nicholas Gill
Painstaking work to :
transcribe Darwin’s annotations & markings
assign subjects & concepts
crosslink marginalia & related annotations on loose slips or end papers
Data encoded in purpose-driven form & format intended for print
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Digitization Considerations
BHL had already digitized some of the titles through mass scanning
Some materials couldn’t be scanned at CUL for fear of damage
Truly unique documents
Higher per page scanning cost at CUL for special handling
Compromise:
Scan the most heavily annotated volumes at CUL
Include existing content in BHL
Scan “surrogates” via BHL mass scanning from NHM
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

And then the fun began…
Originally envisioned simple Flickr-like notes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfreeland/4928966390/
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

And then the reality
Realized true complexity of data parsing after getting Di Gregorio & Gill’s data
n0015.v01.p01.c0117
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01= 10—14 m / 13 w $ mere analogy $ / from_n0015.v01.p01.f1000 w m4a $ 117 On combinations of characters in old Forms $
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i an /b
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i fos /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i rsa- /b
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i tm /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:bird /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:dolphin /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:fish, sauroid /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:Ichthyosauri /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:Pterodactyl /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:reptile /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j tiz:ancient /D

Structural markup instructions
+n[4-digits] starts a book; then
=a author
=t title
=e edition data
=v volume data
=p publication details
=d date
=l location [CUL (Cambridge University Library) or Down (Down House, Kent)]
=b Beagle-era / on board
=x book has a Darwin signature (S) and/or is inscribed to him
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@chrisfreeland

In the body of the item:
n starts a new page or other piece
|n flags the other data entries
The 4-digit title number is followed by
.v?? volume number (00 = 'only’)
.p?? part number
page or other piece designator .b???r [roman-numbered front-matter]
.c???? [arabic-numbered page-count]
.d??? [end-matter with its own pagination]
.f???? [Darwin's final end-notes/slips:
f0? end-note (f00 'only')
f1? end-slip
last 2 digits numbering the sides]
[A note or slip can have a 'head-note', flagged H, describing the physical characteristics of the piece.]
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Textual-feature markup encountered in these items:
0 characters faint/faded or 0[erased] erased
1 characters deleted
2 characters crossed
3 lines counted from bottom of text
4 word illegible
5 doubtful transcription
6 word partly illegible
8 vertical
9 line across page
m medium:
m1 pencil,
1a pale
1b 'nondescript' [undeclared default]
1c dark
m2 'red' crayon
2a pinkish-orange
2b orangy-red
2c reddish-brown
m3 blue crayon
m4a 'standard' brown ink
m5a grey ink
m6a dark brown ink
m6g dark grey ink
p0 text 'ringed' (circled, boxed, etc)
p8 opening editor's bracket
p9 closing editor's bracket
a italics
c end-italics
b line-break in the layout
N 'paragraph' break
H head-note
o overwrite
q arrow -->
R characters 'retouched'
t not in Darwin's hand
T in Darwin's hand
u start of underline U double-underline
v end of underline V
/^ insert with caret
|^ end-insert
//^ insert without caret
||^ end-insert
[male] [female] signs needed
+ - superscript
- + subscript
! pin-hole

Subject indexing instructions
ad adaptation
af affinity
an analogy
behbehaviour
beha animal locomotion (other than flight)
behb breeding (natural)
behc communication
behd direction-finding, navigation
behe expression, emotion
behf flight
behh habit
behi instinct
behl learning/memory
behm mind/cognition
behn nesting, other 'home'-making
behp perception, sensation
c2- criticism (negative)
c2+ (positive)
cc conditions, climate
cce elevation (as fact, not process)
ccf fresh-water
ccs salt-water
cct terrestrial
ccw weather, wind
ccx confinement
ch change
che chemistry
chel luminescence, phosphorescence
chem manure, fertilisers
chet taste
co coral
crcreation(ism), religion
cs crossing
ct cell-theory, histology
dg degeneration
ds descent
dv divergence
em embryology
ex extinction
f fertility (vs. sterility)
fa fauna
fd food
fdm meat
fgfertilisation and generation
fge eggs
fgm mechanisms of
fgn nectar

n0015.v01.p01.c0117
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01= 10—14 m / 13 w $ mere analogy $ / from_n0015.v01.p01.f1000 w m4a $ 117 On combinations of characters in old Forms $
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i an /b
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i fos /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i rsa- /b
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01i tm /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:bird /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:dolphin /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:fish, sauroid /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m01j faz:Pterodactyl /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m02= 14 u "Ichthyosauri" / @14 w $ ⸮ $
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m02i rsq /b
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m03= 22—24m / from_n0015.v01.p01.f1000 w m4a $ 117 On combinations of characters in old Forms $
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m03i fos /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m03i sph /c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m03i tm /B/c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m03j faz:fish /e
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m04= 25 c "Crustacea" a[corrected to `Cetacea']c
|n0015.v01.p01.c0117:m04i rsz /b

Agassiz, L. Contributions to the natural history of the United States of North America.

<magic> = code
Regular expressions & SQL inserts
No UI for adding annotations, all data driven
Parsing completed by:
Scholars & programmers, not generalists & enthusiasts
Parsing code is reusable within project, unlikely to be useful outside due to data input
Purpose-driven, specific
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Data Model
http://code.google.com/p/bhl-bits/downloads
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Future
Extensibility
Delivered the scholarly, nth degree option
Can be reused for simpler annotations
Phase II
New Darwin originals from CUL
Replace surrogates with originals
Refine user interface / user experience
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Outcomes & Perspective
Incorporation of unique material of interest to many domains
Biology
Humanities
General public
A glimpse into Darwin’s mind
And the minds of historians of science
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Acknowledgements
Transatlantic Digitisation Collaboration Grant, Phase 1 sponsored by:
United KingdomJISC Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education Founding Council of England & Wales (HEFCE) to Cambridge University Library and Natural History Museum (Award CCICP002)
United StatesNEH National Endowment for the Humanities to Darwin Manuscripts Project of the American Museum of Natural History, with subaward to the Missouri Botanical Garden (Award PX-50026-09)
Contributors
Cambridge University Library (http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk)
Natural History Museum, London (http://www.nhm.ac.uk)
Darwin Manuscripts Project (http://darwin.amnh.org)
The project wishes to express its gratitude to William Huxley Darwin for permission to reproduce the Darwin manuscripts.
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Credits
Edition of Darwin's annotations and other marks. Mario Di Gregorio and Nicholas Gill, updated by Gill and produced as part of the Darwin Manuscripts Project of the American Museum of Natural History. Adam Goldstein and Huw Jones served as bibliographers. David Kohn, PI
Digitisation of original Darwin copies by Cambridge University Library. Grant Young, PI
Digitisation of surrogate copies by the Library of the Natural History Museum (London). Jane Smith and Judith McGee
Additional surrogates drawn from works digitised by member libraries of the Biodiversity Heritage Library and contributors to the Internet Archive.
Transcription interface developed by the Biodiversity Heritage Library Technical Unit at Missouri Botanical Garden. Chris Freeland and Mike Lichtenberg
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

Lyell, C. Principles of Geology. 1837.
Awesome

Questions?http://biodiversitylibrary.org/collection/darwinlibrary
Email: chris.freeland@mobot.org
Twitter: @chrisfreeland
Chris Freeland
Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics, Missouri Botanical Garden
Technical Director, Biodiversity Heritage Library
#bhlib #tdwg
@chrisfreeland

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Scribbles & Scraps: Darwin’s Library & Annotated Literature

by Chris Freeland on Oct 18, 2011

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