American Library Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA 2012 As practitioners involved with digital projects, we feel a discussion on the use and value of digital libraries is valuable for librarians across many disciplines. Our discussion on digital libraries will offer colleagues the valuable opportunity to discuss how to start a digital library project, issues they have encountered, and the opportunity to seek the advice of their peers. We hope our discussion on the future of digital libraries is inspiring and helpful to institutions just starting to investigate digital libraries, as well as those already embarked on projects of their own. We welcome all interested librarians to bring their questions about digital library projects to this facilitated discussion. Speakers: - Julie Judkins, Digital Librarian, Center for the History of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School - Krystal Thomas, Digital Library Coordinator and Archivist, Theodore Roosevelt Center, Dickinson State University

1. Julie Judkins
and Krystal
Thomas
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL
REVOLUTION. WHERE ARE
YOUR LIBRARIES?

2. MSI, Archives &
Records Management,
Library & Information
Science, University of
Michigan
Digital Librarian,
Center for the History
of Medicine (CHM),
University of Michigan
Medical School
American Influenza
Encyclopedia based
on research materials
for DTRA & CDC
funded projects
Anticipated launch
October 2012
Developed with
MPublishing
142 U.S. archives
JULIE JUDKINS

3. MSI, Archives and
Records Management
from University of
Michigan
Digital Library
Coordinator and
Archivist, Theodore
Roosevelt Center at
Dickinson State
University
Working since late
2009 on the Theodore
Roosevelt Digital
Library
DL launched
November 2011 with
4,000 items, currently
holds over 11,000
items
Works with nine
contributing partners
KRYSTAL THOMAS

4.  Who is our audience?
 What standards should we follow?
 What information should be in our collection policy?
 What software/hardware will we need?
 How will we finance this project? How will we maintain it?
 How much staff time will we need? Do we need a new staff
member?
INITIAL PLANNING

5. Create a
comprehensive
collection policy
 What materials do we
want to include in the
scanning project? What
materials do we want to
exclude?
 Where do our materials
originate from? What
sources have them?
 Will we include
everything forever? Will
we ever “deaccession”?
WHAT TO SCAN?

6. AIE
 Independent web
designer
 MPublishing
 Digital Conversion Unit
(digitization)
 Scholarly Publishing Office
(backend)
 Financed by grants (NEH,
Robert Wood Johnson),
initial research funded by
DTRA & CDC
TR Digital Library
 On-site resources were
scarce but we had the
funding to find good
vendor partners for
servers, software and
preservation
 Financed by grants, state
and federal funding –
fighting to become a
permanent line of the
DSU budget
RESOURCES REQUIRED

7. Before 1923?
You’re in the clear for
published materials
After 1923?
Published? Under
copyright
Unpublished? If the
author died in 1941 or
before, in the clear!
COPYRIGHT CONCERNS
 What is your level of risk?
 Talk to a lawyer and get your guidelines written so that everyone
knows what level of risk the organization is going to take
 How much research will need to be done? How much time are
you willing to take with research? What resources will you need
to complete that research?

8.  How do we afford to
maintain this project
over time?
 How will we migrate to
new formats over time?
 Do we have a disaster
plan?
 What do we need to do
to ensure long-term
preservation of the
images and metadata?
LONGEVITY
University of Utah

9.  Partners for the TR
Center has been
essential – we don’t
own 98% of the
materials in our
collection…but we paid
to get most of them
scanned and cataloged
 The AIE wouldn’t be
possible without the co-
operation of archives
&MPublishing
COLLABORATION
University of North Carolina, Asheville

10.  Before Launch
 Who will use our collections and what are their needs? Their
expectations?
 During Launch
 How can we test the usability of the new site? How do we implement
suggestions?
 After Launch
 How do we track site usage? What behaviors should we be tracking?
 What additional features or content need to be added to meet the
future/on-going needs of our audience?
USER TESTING

11.  Where is your audience?
 On the web: build excitement for the project through a social media
presence
 Locally: hold a “launching soon” event to get your local community
invested in the project; hold a small panel discussion or conference
with speakers or activities related to your project
 Can you use local volunteers? International volunteers? They can help
promote the project.
 Present at research conferences
 Write an article or case study for a peer-reviewed journal
 Use your listservs, social media and professional networks
GETTING THE WORD OUT

12.  The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital
Encyclopedia www.influenzaarchive.org
 Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library
www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org
 Walt Whitman Archivewww.whitmanarchive.org/
 National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults
www.digitalvaults.org/
 Community and Conflict: The Impact of the Civil War in the
Ozarkswww.ozarkscivilwar.org/
 Minnesota Reflectionswww.reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/
 Europeanawww.europeana.eu/portal/index.html
 World Digital Librarywww.wdl.org/en/
SOME INSPIRATION