A Digitization Primer for Botanical and Horticultural Librarians

A Digitization Primer for
Botanical and Horticultural Librarians

• Chris Freeland
– MBG Web and Digitization Project
Coordinator
• Doug Holland
– MBG Administrative Librarian
• Heather Rolen
– NYBG Digitization Specialist

CBHL 2002: A Digitization Primer

Why Digitize?

• Makes resources broadly available while
preserving original.
• 24/7 worldwide availability.
• Capitalize on investment in resources and
technology (Collections, storage curation)
• Assimilate disparate resources
• Learn something new (It’s Fun!!)
• Pressure from above (Everyone is doing it!)


Survey Summary

13 Humble Responses!
– Little to no experience with projects
– Some with Scanning/Photoshop
• Types of materials
– Slides and glass plates 6
– Photos (Electrophoresis gels?) 7
– Printed material [loose, bound (rare books!)],
newspaper clippings, maps, architectural drawings,
seed and nursery catalogs] 10
– Herbarium Specimens 2

• Inhouse image database (Annie Malley)

What we will be covering

• Audience and Users
• Goals
• Ownership
• Preservation
• Access
• Metadata
• Scanning
• Sustainability


A Framework of Guidance for Building
Good Digital Collections

http://www.imls.gov/pubs/forumframework.htm

• Interoperability
• Reusability (Repurposing)
• Persistence
• Verification
• Documentation
• Respecting copyright and intellectual property law
• Think a little bigger and think about the future.

Audience and Users

• Who are your users
– Today
– Future

• Lifelong Learners
• Scholar/researcher
• Students
• Business Community

Why is it important to define
users?

• Guide selection process
• Determines complexity and type of
metadata
• Determines image resolution
• Determines web-site design
(Database or exhibit format)
• Determines equipment needs


How can you retain users and
keep them coming back?

• Keep adding new content

• Creating value-added content after the
initial rollout
– Lesson plans, etc.

• Create an e-mail newsletter


User Comments

• Should include a way to solicit, retain, and
respond to user comments and suggestions.
– Can tell you if you’re reaching your intended
audience
– Can provide you with wonderful comments to include in
grant proposals or to show your administration:
• “Thanks so much for sharing this. This is the internet
at its best.”
• “This is fantastic. I am most enjoying
these rare books, especially the
illustrations. I hope to use this with
teachers in the future.”


Planning and Goals

• Have clear project goals and objectives
• Be aware that funding agencies may influence
the scope of your project
• Designate a project manager.
• Identify key departments or staff
• Stay realistic (perhaps conservative) in your
production promises.
• Document all changes and evolution in your
project.


Ownership

• Copyright needs to be considered
• Holding doesn’t mean owning
• Is item in public domain?
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/copyright/

• Modify your deed of gift to include digital
distribution
• Controlling intellectual property after digitization


Selection

• Audience needs
• Good Collections
• Condition
• One or many collections or mainstreaming
• Item formats and sizes
• Metadata available or Collection condition
(Activities other than scanning require 75% or
project time)
• Rights
• Sensitive Issues (Skeletons??)
• Who else is doing the same or similar items?

Preservation and Digitization

• Digitization is NOT preservation
• Do not discard originals.
• Why not?
– Media longevity
– Software and hardware obsolescence
• Digitization does preserve original
through reduced exposure and
handling.


Preserving the Original

• Handle Items Once (Scan high!)
• Consider rehousing either before or
after scanning.
• Appropriate long term storage
• Remember 2/3 of project time has
nothing to do with scanning.


Discovery and Access
(or Scanned and Deliver)

• Online Catalog or Database
– Subject Heading or keyword search
• Finding Aids for archival collections
• Exhibit style educational page
• Don’t forget metatags and visibility to
Web search engines. (If that is one of
your goals!)


Web Access and Display

• Exhibit Approach

• Database Approach

• Both


Exhibit Approach

• Pull together text, images, maps,
documents, etc. to tell a story

• Value added information enhances the
scanned images

• Appealing to a wide audience


Example of Exhibit Approach

• Private
Passions,
Public
Legacy:
Paul
Mellon's
Personal
Library at
the
University
of Virginia


Database Approach

• Give access to images through a search
mechanism
– Generally have to know something about
the collection to find what you’re looking
for

• Appealing to a more focused audience
– Scholars, professionals


Example of Database Approach

• Making of
America

• Google Image
Search


Both Approaches

• Provide value added information to
reach a wider audience

• Also give full access to the data for
people who know what they want to
view.


Example – MBG Rare Book Site


Design vs. Development

• Usually spend too much time discussing
background colors and layout
– Too subjective

• Should focus on
– Search engine placement
– Successful searches for key phrases
– Usage statistics


“If you build it, they may not come”

• Indexing by search engines is not a
given

• Great images + great metadata does
not equal a popular site

• You must consider how search engines
work


Indexing tips


Indexing tips – <meta> tag
• <meta name="description" content="The Missouri Botanical Garden Library presents its Rare Book Digitization Project.">
• <meta name="keywords" content="botanical illustration,rare books, herbals, engravings, illustrations, botany, botanical
illustrations, medicinal plants, Desktop Wallpaper, images of medicinal plants, plant images, Jaume, Kohler">
• <META NAME="DC.Title" CONTENT="Plate 1 - Cinchona officinalis; <i>Cinchona officinalis</i> L.; quinine">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#title">
• <META NAME="DC.Creator" CONTENT="Lambert, Aylmer Bourke">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#creator">
• <META NAME="DC.Subject" CONTENT="(SCHEME=LCSH) Cinchona.|Hyaenanche.|Rubiaceae.|Euphorbiaceae.|Graphic media
: --Copper engraving -- Uncolored -- 1797 -- England.|">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#subject">
• <META NAME="DC.Subject" CONTENT="(SCHEME=LCCS) QK495 .F270 L35 1797">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#subject">
• <META NAME="DC.Description" CONTENT="Plate 1 - Cinchona officinalis; <i>Cinchona officinalis</i> L.; quinine">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#description">
• <META NAME="DC.Publisher" CONTENT="Missouri Botanical Garden">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#publisher">
• <META NAME="DC.Contributor.CorporateName" CONTENT="Missouri Botanical Garden">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#contributor">
• <META NAME="DC.Date" CONTENT="(SCHEME=ISO8601)1998-10-01">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#date">
• <META NAME="DC.Type" CONTENT="Image.Illustration">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#type">
• <META NAME="DC.Format" CONTENT="(SCHEME=IMT) text/html">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#format">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.imt HREF="http://sunsite.auc.dk/RFC/rfc/rfc2046.html">
• <META NAME="DC.Identifier" CONTENT="http://ridgwaydb.mobot.org/mobot/rarebooks?
referencenumber=QK495F270L351797">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#identifier">
• <META NAME="DC.Language" CONTENT="(SCHEME=ISO639-1) en">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#language">
• <META NAME="DC.Relation" CONTENT="QK495F270L351797">
• <LINK REL=SCHEMA.dc HREF="http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core_elements#relation">


Indexing tips - <title> tag

• Use descriptive <title> tags:

– <title>MBG Rare Books: Plate 1 -
Cinchona officinalis</title>


Indexing tips - <body> text

• Use text in your page:

– A Description of the Genus Cinchona by
Lambert, Aylmer Bourke

– Description of Page: Plate 1 -
Cinchona officinalis (Cinchona officinalis
L., quinine)


More indexing tips
• Having key phrase in all 3 (<meta>, <title>,
and body text) increases your search engine
rank

• Indexing robots follow links on pages
– They will follow the hierarchy of your site

• Robots don’t:
– Click on buttons
– Use dropdown menus
– Natively navigate or index Flash/multimedia
content


Case Study:
Köhler’s Medizinal Pflanzen

• Published 1883 –
1914

• Digitized in 1997

• Images were heavily
edited and cropped

• Text was added to
images

Case Study:

• Created static HTML pages with links
through site

• Created a list of current botanical
names with links to illustration

• NOT technically sophisticated

• Used an Exhibit Approach

Case Study:

• Receive more user feedback and image
requests for this site than any other

• Reasons:
– Popular content with interesting images
– Has been online for several years
– Simple web display that can be indexed
by all search engines


Lessons learned

• DON’T:
– spend too much time bickering over
color schemes, fonts, and layout

– confuse users and indexing robots with
irregular navigation

– ignore importance of search engine
results for your content


Lessons learned

• DO:
– spend time creating rich <meta> and
<title> tags and body text

– Learn how search engines index content

– Consider display, but focus on
development


Metadata and Electronic
Resources

• Vast amount of information, increasing at a
faster rate than is manageable
• Standards developing and evolving, using best
practices
• Web enabled search engines—many, varied in
retrieval success
• Everyone’s a publisher, everyone’s a librarian
• HTML Metatags structure and content limited,
inhibits reliable searching
• Lack of subject rich terms


Metadata and Standards

• Metadata definition: data about data; data
that aids in identification, description and
location of networked resources
• Standard Generalized Mark-up Language
(SGML)--1986
– Structure for producing documents
– Document Type Definition (DTD) created for
each type of material or individual publication
– SGML’s support of encoding text AND
description of document in the header


Dublin Core Basics

• http://purl.oclc.org/dc/
• How it began
• Why it is important
– Simple to create
– Easy to understand
– International
– Flexible
• Descriptive, Structural and Administrative metadata
• All elements repeatable, all optional


Dublin Core Elements

• Title • Subject
• Creator terms/classification
• Publisher • Rights Management
• Contributor • Source
• Description • Type
• Identifier • Language
• Date • Relation
• Format • Coverage


How MBG uses DC for a book
• Title: Icones pictae plantarum rariorum descriptionibus et
observationibus illustratae / Auctore J.E. Smith, M.D. Fasc.
1-3.
• Creator: Smith, James Edward
• Subject_LCSH: Botany -- Pictorial works.
• Subject_LCCS: QK98 .S657
• Description: 2 p.l., 18 numb. 1. : 18 col. pl. ; 50 cm.
• Publisher: London, 1790-93, Missouri Botanical Garden
• Contributor: Photography and Web design by Debbie Windus.

• Date: 1998-09-01
• Identifier:
http://ridgwaydb.mobot.org/mobot/rarebooks/title.asp?
relation=QK98S657
• Relation: QK98S657
• Rights:
http://ridgwaydb.mobot.org/mobot/rarebooks/copyright.asp

How MBG uses DC for a page/image

• Title: QK495F270L351797_0060.jpg
• Creator: Lambert, Aylmer Bourke, 1761-1842 Subject:
Cinchona.|Hyaenanche.|Rubiaceae.|Euphorbiaceae.|
Graphic media : --Copper engraving -- Uncolored --
1797 -- England.|
• Description: Plate 9 - Cinchona angustifolia
• Publisher: Missouri Botanical Garden
• Contributor: Missouri Botanical Garden
• Date: 1998-10-01
• Type: Image
• Format: jpeg
• Identifier: 0060
• Source: QK495.F270 L35 1797


Subject Access

• Controlled vocabularies

– Vocabularies and thesauri
– Taxonomies
– Access


XML
• METADATA
– descriptive
– facilitate discovery
• OAI
• MARC
• EAD
• Dublin Core

– administrative
– identify/manage/preserve digital object(s) over time
• info on where pieces reside
• info on how to view digital object
• info on scanning process


XML

• METADATA cont.
– structural
– storage/presentation of digital object(s)
• METS (metadata encoding and transmission standard)
» http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets

• TEI (text encoding initiative) http://www.tei-c.org
• TEI for Libraries (5 levels of encoding)
• http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/tei/

• METAe -automatic metadata creation
• http://meta-e.uibk.ac.at


XML

• SGML/HTML/XML
– Standard Generalized Markup Language (1986)
– Hypertext Markup Language (1989)
– eXtensible Markup Language (1996)

• XML
– a document markup language for defining
structured information
– a language used by computers to define hidden
information about the structure of a document


XML

• XML cont. -best of both worlds
– storage
• can store any kind of structured info/not limited
to Web delivery
– presentation
• flexible development/design


XML

• XML is a lot simpler than SGML and is sometimes
described as an 80/20 solution: you get 80% of the
power of SGML for 20% of the effort
• You can use XML without thinking ahead and make up
your elements en route as long as they nest within each
other. This is called writing "well-formed" rather than
"valid" XML. Purists discourage this but people will do it
anyhow.
• XML is specifically designed to work easily with the
Web.
– http://facultyweb.at.nwu.edu/english/mmueller/ariadne/teixintro/
index.htm


XML

• XML and NYBG digitization project

XML text
Images
files

Public access GSDL software
server suite

Public use


XML

• XML/NYBG project
– lack of adopted standards
– nature of the data
– delivery mechanisms

• Research!


XML
• XML sites
– http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/sgml-xml.html
– http://www.w3.org/XML/
– http://www.ucc.ie/xml/#exec
– http://www.xml.com/

• SGML sites
– http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/general.html
– http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/SGML/

• Listservs
– http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/XML4Lib/
– http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/lists.html


Scanning

• Principles for
Scanning
• Access (not
preservation)
• Storage
• Outsource options


Howard Besser’s Principles

• Scan at the highest resolution appropriate to
the informational content of the originals
• Scan at an appropriate level of quality to avoid
rescanning and re-handling of the originals in
the future--scan once
• Create and store a master image file that can
be used to produce derivative image files and
serve a variety of current and future user
needs
• Use system components that are non-
proprietary


Besser’s Principles Cont.

• Use image file formats and compression
techniques that conform to industry standards
• Create backup copies of all files on a stable
medium
• Create meaningful metadata for image files or
collections
• Store media in an appropriate environment
• Monitor and recopy data as necessary
• Outline a migration strategy for transferring
data across generations of technology
• Anticipate and plan for future technological
developments

Scan Basics

• Digital formats—Master/Archival, access,
thumbnail
• Always keep a facsimile master
• Minimum recommended standards-
NARA/LC/CPD
• Hardware requirements:
– Scanner that exceeds your standards
– Workstation—At least Pentium III, 650mhz,
storage (20+gigabyte)
– Server for display and archiving


MBG Imaging Lab Specs

• See handout


Scanning

• Your requirements may be different
than the accepted norm
– Maybe 600 dpi is too low for your
project

• Should be aware of generally accepted
guidelines
– Have to know the rules before you break
them

Scanning Guidelines

• Review handout


Scanning

• Software—Scanners come with some
basic software, Adobe Photoshop Lite
• Keep current on software
• Physical facilities for scanning
• When to outsource/special materials


Outsourcing

• What?
– Contract work to service providers
– Off-site, on-site, imaging only, image/content
display/management provider, ASP (application
service provider)
• Why?
– Factors to consider
• Project size
• project expectations
• staff size


Outsourcing

• Why? Cont.
• staff expertise
• available resources (funding for staff training and
equipment, physical space)
• deadlines


Outsourcing

• NYBG/Mellon Digitization Project
– 3 titles from RB collection
– conservation efforts necessary
– 21 month grant, no lab, no allocated space to
build lab, no staff, no expertise, no extra
funding for equipment or staff training, project
expectations (grant stipulates archival quality
imaging, hard deadline)
– image capture outsourced to east coast vendor,
quality checks performed in-house


Outsourcing

• Weighing the pros and cons
– fragile/rare materials under supervised control
vs. equipment costs and
updates/staff/expertise/time/ physical space
• Worth consideration
– …”For digitization projects, institutions and service providers
are working with developing technologies and a new
vocabulary, creating new quality and production benchmarks,
and trying to determine best practices. All the while, digital
technology continues to evolve. Both parties must collaborate
to determine capture requirements, costs, and deliverables;
manage the process; and agree on criteria.” -Meg Bellinger,
President, Preservation Resources, Moving Theory into Practice, 2000.


Outsourcing

• Vendors
– Octavo http://www.octavo.com/
– Systems Integration Group
http://www.sigi.com/
– Preservation Resources
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/presres/
– Saztec http://www.saztec.com
– Innodata http://www.innodata.com/
– Northern Micrographics http://www.normicro.com/
northern_micrographics.htm


Sustainability

• Digitization shouldn’t be a fling, (when
others are paying the bills) It is a
marriage and more.
• Time = Money
• Permanence
• Data Migration and Emulation
• Review and schedule upgrades
• Documentation

Cost

• Not cheap, but consider the value of objects,
the investment already made on your
collections and your organizational mission .
• Prices range from $7 - $35 per image
• Most projects are funded on soft money.
Attempt to incorporate scanning into normal
operating budgets.
• Scanning is 1/3 of total cost.
• Largest cost is in research and time invested
in creation of metadata or organization of
collections.


Staffing

• Staff with tolerance for ambiguity
• Staff with creativity
• Training in metadata, scanning
• Photographic skills (artistic eye)
microcomputer skills, web design skills
• Staff with risk taking attitude


Concluding Thoughts

• Create digital products worth preserving
• Collaborate!
• Adhere to standards
• Refresh/migrate your data
• Don’t forget preservation metadata-
digital products are not copies, but new
artifacts


A Digitization Primer for Botanical and Horticultural Librarians

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