Afternoon Breakout Sessions, 1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Session Moderator: Beth Picknally Camden
Panel Presenters:
Beth Picknally Camden, University of Pennsylvania Library
Nancy Fallgren, National Library of Medicine
Jodi Williamschen, Library of Congress
In recent years, linked data has moved from being a buzzword in library circles to a rapidly evolving environment with several active library linked data projects and prototypes. The Library of Congress developed of BibFrame as a replacement for MARC cataloging, and created the BibFrame Editor tool (http://bibframe.org/bfe/) for LC catalogers (and others). The Linked Data for Production: Pathway to Implementation (LD4P2) grant (https://www.ld4l.org/), launched in 2018, included an opportunity for libraries to collaborate in linked data production. Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) libraries were invited to apply for LD4P2 sub-grants to support the implementation of linked data. The Sinopia editor (https://sinopia.io/) is now in use by LD4P2 cohort libraries for creating native linked data. Additionally, the Share Virtual Discovery Environment (Share-VDE) provides the opportunity for MARC data to be converted to BibFrame, brought together with data from partner libraries in a cluster knowledge base, and presented to users in a linked data discovery environment (https://www.share-vde.org/sharevde/).
The panelists will present linked data projects at their respective institutions and discuss how libraries are working with these linked data projects to build a metadata future beyond current MARC catalogs. Jodi Williamschen will discuss the BIBFRAME data model and the current BIBFRAME cataloging pilot at the Library of Congress. Nancy Fallgren will discuss the U.S. National Library of Medicine's involvement in linked data collaborations with the library cataloging community, as well as internal projects with implications beyond traditional cataloging. Beth Picknally Camden will discuss the development of a prototype for a linked-data discovery interface at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
Steps to Digitization in Catholic University's ICOR Library: The Ancient Arabian Lexicon of Pere Albert Jamme
Katherine DeFonzo, The Catholic University of America
The Semitics/ICOR (Institute of Christian Oriental Research) Library at the Catholic University of America houses the personal papers and research collections of Père Albert Jamme, Miss. D’Afr. (1916-2004), a renowned scholar in the field of Ancient Arabian epigraphy. Among the materials found in the Jamme Collection are card lexicon of Old North and South Arabian languages. The lexica consists of seventy-nine boxes, each classified according to script, language, and letter, followed by seven boxes of bibliographic material. Each box contains approximately one thousand individual entries written on index cards; cardstock cards; or paper of a similar size. Work was recently begun to make this important unpublished resource digitally available through Catholic University’s Islandora Digital Collections.
This project explores the challenges associated with digitizing a large paper card-file written by hand in a variety of ancient scripts. Issues to be discussed include the labeling of lexicon cards in preparation for scanning; scanner selection; and proper association of captured images with Library record metadata. Consideration will also be given to how special collections such as the Semitics/ICOR Library make decisions about which collection materials should be digitized.
Immigration History as World History: Helping Students Connect the Dots and Bridge the Gaps
Kathryn Shaughnessy, St. John's University
This briefing shares resources and curriculum developed as part of the National Archives/National Historical Publications and Records Commission-funded “Queens Immigration History Project.” Project PIs worked with subject-expert faculty and representatives from “Queens Memory” Program, the National Archives at NYC, and NYCDOE to develop Open curriculum; the assignments asked students to research family migration histories like a historian and an archivist, through the lenses of World History. PIs curated international, national and local resources, and mentored History/DLIS graduate students in creating tutorials to assist teachers and students in research/re-use of freely-available digital historical records. Teacher participants created open assignments, students created personal artifacts, some of which were contributed to public collections. The project was created with New York City immigration communities in mind, however the resources, methodologies, and assignments are adaptable to other US regions.
Time in a Medieval Manuscript: Bringing Digital Tools to Bear in Historical Inquiry
Nicholas Brown, Daryl Jackson, and Hannah Jones, The Catholic University of America
In Spring 2019, the History Department at CUA offered its “Digital Approaches to History” class for the first time. Under the guidance of Dr. Laura Morreale, students explored ways to use digital approaches and methodologies to support and complement traditional history scholarship by collaborating on a joint digital history project entitled “Reckoning Time in Medieval Pisa.” While completing this project, our team used several digital tools to conduct a close reading of a fourteenth-century manuscript (London, British Library, ADD 10027) and to examine how time was presented and understood in the small chronicle of Pisa, Italy, found within. These included:
- a collaborative transcription platform (FromThePage.com), used to transcribe the text and tag specific words and phrases related to time or timekeeping,
- a textual comparison tool (Kaleidoscope), used to identify significant discrepancies between our transcription and a printed version of the text,
- XML-TEI encoding, used to create a digital edition of the text that is both stable in a web environment and preserves the quantitative analysis we conducted,
- and a digital publishing platform (Scalar), used to publish the results of our project as long-form, born-digital scholarship.
In our poster for the Bridging the Spectrum Symposium, we will discuss not only the outcomes of our digital history project, but also the challenges we faced and the steps we took to overcome them. Finally, we will discuss how the use of digital methods enhanced and complemented our scholarship, instead of overshadowing it, as some might fear.
Comparing the Online Viewers of Three Digital Manuscript Repositories
Ben Turnbull, The Catholic University of America
From creating new editions of ancient texts to revealing never-before-seen details about medieval readers and readership, there is so much that we can gain from the digitization of manuscripts. Many institutions are rendering manuscripts more accessible than ever before by creating online repositories of digital facsimiles. Such repositories are vital for professional scholars and curious enthusiasts alike to access the wonders of the manuscript tradition. However, many inconsistencies still exist in how these projects have chosen to display their manuscripts through online viewing interfaces. For my project briefing, I will compare the manuscript viewers of three distinct projects: Penn In Hand at the University of Pennsylvania, the Digital Vatican Library and the Digitised Manuscripts at the British Library. By comparing how manuscripts are displayed in these three viewers, I will emphasize the best components of each and suggest a hypothetical fourth viewer to combine the best features of each for optimal accessibility and usability.
Bridging the Gap: Meeting Student Worker and Patron Needs through Technological SolutionsShira Loev Eller, George Washington University
At GW Libraries, student workers staff the frontline reference desk. When we migrated to a new discovery layer in 2018, librarians needed an efficient way to assist student workers with troubleshooting. We also wanted to encourage them to refer in-depth research questions to librarians. Therefore, Research and User Services (RUS) instituted a new protocol for student workers to contact librarians through Slack, a communication tool already used by our organization. We created a Slack channel where student workers could get a prompt response to questions or ask if a librarian was available for a walk-in. This dovetailed with instituting a new software for making research appointments: Calendly -- a simple-to-use tool which integrates with librarians’ work calendars. Using these tools has allowed RUS to meet patrons’ information needs while freeing time to do other tasks. Participants will leave this session with ideas for identifying gaps that interfere with communication and reference service, and using technology to address those areas.
The Summer Library Challenge at NOAA Central Library
Erin Cheever, Jamie Roberts, Katie Rowley, and Hope Shinn, LAC Group
A creative outreach program may be an unexpected choice for a federal library, but that was the road taken by NOAA Central Library with 2019’s Summer Library Challenge. The Challenge was inspired by the traditional library summer reading program, tailored to a special library serving scientists by focusing on library services and resources in addition to reading. Total participation was 40 people, or just over 1% of NOAA’s Silver Spring campus. Currently, the NOAA Central Library is transitioning to a more fully digital library as it reduces its physical footprint and augments its e-resources. Email is the primary mode of reference interactions and scientists complete many transactions via self-service on the library’s website. By contrast, the Challenge brought in foot traffic and interactions with librarians. With 1,000 views on the LibGuide for the Challenge, this program raised the profile of the library even beyond its participants.
E-Resources Troubleshooting and User Support to Patrons at a Distance
John Coogan, University of Maryland Global Campus
How does a library serving 80,000 patrons worldwide provide user support for troubleshooting e-resource access issues? This briefing will describe some diagnostic tools and self-help pages provided by the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) Library, discuss some of the challenges faced in providing user support, and touch upon some new technologies that may improve authentication, identity management, and communication with users.
Outreach to Non-Degree Seeking Graduate Students: Aspects of Student Focused Critical Librarianship and Fostering an Inclusive Research Community
Jordan Sly and Suzanne Wilson, University of Maryland
In this presentation, we aim to demonstrate the importance of instructional outreach and programming to non-degree seeking graduate students; an often overlooked population on many university campuses. We will discuss our findings from a recent survey of this population at our institution which sought to gauge their motivations for enrolling as non-degree seeking students, their familiarity with library spaces and services, and their needs for success in their courses. As our data show, students within this classification have multiple goals; all of which can be assisted by the university library to varying degrees. We will argue that these students present a conduit to aid in university graduate matriculation, student success, and a potentially influential alumni network. Our goals for this study are to assess the needs and gaps in knowledge of non-degree seeking students and determine an appropriate and beneficial library intervention to aid in their work, to establish a closer connection between the Graduate School administration, and to market library services to both traditional and non-traditional graduate students.