5 Things Thursday: Special Collections, Elvis, NYPL, ROI

Here are five great things:

1. Before there were rules about patron confidentiality, Elvis autographed this library card to check out a book.


2. Read this paper on the rising importance of Special Collections (my favorite!).


3. Are you aware that Hack Library School compiled an entire useful e-book?


4. Thank goodness, NYPL rethinks its redesign. Read about it here.


5. Extensis has developed an ROI calculator for DAM. It really is worth it...

5 Things Thursday: Australia, Metadata for Mom, Libraries

Here are your five things:

1. Do you want your mom to understand metadata? Have her read this!


2. How are modern libraries branching out? Check out this NPR story.


3. Are you interested in Aboriginal culture? Well, the world's largest collection will soon be online.


4. Here are 32 great free webinars for librarians being offered in September. Lots of information on the affordable care act, fall books, homelessness, embedded librarianship, etc.


5. Need some resources to demonstrate the value of libraries? Stephen Abram has compiled quite a list.

5 Things Thursday: Taxonomy, Helper Apps, Vocab

Here are five things:

1. Take this survey on your favorite DAM helper app. Mine is Adobe Lightroom. We use it for all color correction, keywords and rating prior to uploading to DAM.


2. I have always wanted to attend Taxonomy Boot Camp in D.C., but my project budget will not allow for it. Perhaps yours will. You will enjoy such noteworthy speakers as Gary Carlson, Seth Earley, Heather Hedden and Bram Wessel.


3. The Chattanooga Public Library is an innovator, "striking a balance between analog and digital platforms [which] can be a difficult task in today's information age" Thanks, Gordon Belt!


4. Here is a great post on creating taxonomies and thesauri from that pesky natural language. Library systems and search have largely been reliant on users ability to post-coordinate terms while using the catalog. This is even more difficult in terms of finding the correct way to state it. Taking a lesson from e-tail, enabling findability is a constant challenge, but trends drive vocabulary (like the unfortunate jegging fashion adventure - jeans and leggings) - the same holds true of library collections.


5. Can museums use DAM systems to manage their collections? Check out this post.

5 Things Thursday: DPLA, DAM, Archives

In honor of my 450th post, here are five things plus for your enjoyment:

1. Check out all the super cool content accumulating on DPLA. I especially like the explore options (by map, by timeline) and also collections like the ski archives from Mountain West Digital Library.


2. Can a DAM system be both functional and beautiful? In my opinion, this is the next level of evolution for DAM - read what CMS Wire has to say on the subject.


3. Have you been searching for personal digital archiving resources? Your search is over thanks to the Backblog.


4. Read this piece on linked data and name matching. Interesting points about epithets, special characters, mismatches, etc.


5. Do you want to learn more about the WorldCat API? Here's a workshop for you coming up next week.

BONUS: Get a cool metadata sticker for your notebook, skateboard or car.

5 Things Thursday: MOOC, DAM, Digital Preservation

Here are five things I find interesting:

1. What is a MOOC? A massive open online course, of course. Read about the New Librarianship MOOC here on Hack Library School. I think I want to take this course immediately.


2. How can DAM interact with social media platforms? DAMNEWS examines the perils and benefits of employing DAM features to integrate with social media.


3. Does your library need more cool promotional tools for free? Check out what ProQuest has compiled for you in this Public Library Toolkit.


4. Here are some digital preservation resources - a Business Case Toolkit as well as some in-depth analysis of current digital preservation policies.


5. Preparing for banned books week September 22-28? Here are some resources from ALA as well as a quick list on Wikipedia.

Finally, an image of a librarian on the telephone from the Multnomah County Library's digital collections. Groovy eyeglasses...

CONTENTdm Conference Summary - #CONTENTdm @SPLBuzz @OCLC

I was fortunate to attend some of the CONTENTdm User Group conference held at The Seattle Public Library this week. Here are some summaries and links to resources from the presentations I found interesting. I think the presentations will eventually be linked to the website for the event, but in the meantime, I wanted to share my notes.

CONTENTdm is digital collection management software used by many libraries and institutions to allow access to digital collections.

Keynote Speaker - Stephanie Chase, SPL Director of Library Programs and Services

The main event kicked off with an inspiring presentation by Stephanie Chase of The Seattle Public Library. With experience everywhere from NYPL to the Multnomah County Library system in Oregon, Stephanie had many ideas to share regarding user experience in a time of information parity versus scarcity. An interview with Ms. Chase can be found here. There is also a paper called Digital Isn't Working (Yet) which brings up many relevant points.

Stephanie spoke a lot about the fact that libraries and institutions can have all this cool stuff, digitized or not, but if users do not know how to find it or even that it exists, it is not useful. When serendipity (i.e. a patron doing research) causes an intersection with something the library owns or has online, they meet an exact need. However, taking cues from the advertising industry to promote the items can be key.

Stephanie also quoted one of my favorite librarians turned UX gurus, Aaron Schmidt (weareinflux.com/ux), to talk about how a site or experience needs to be useful, usable and desirable. Creating that experience digitally and in the physical library requires a talent for connecting people with information with a human element, an enthusiasm for the material and asking what experience can users have regardless of format? All in all, some very intriguing points.

The presentation also used this example from Google Analytics UK of a poor guy trying to find skim milk in a store. Think about this next time you think about your website.

Automated or Nothing: Large Textual Projects in CONTENTdm, Utah State Archives

The Utah State Archives digitized an enormous amount of content in a short time with few staff resources. Gina Strack gave an overview and shared some helpful hints on tools she uses to automate parts of the digitization and metadata processes.

From using Microsoft Access to create tab delimited files and demonstrating how the container list plus the digitization data can be integrated to form the final collection metadata on giant compound objects, Ms. Strack highlighted several useful tools such as Quick File Rename.

In addition, there is a treasure trove of resources in the Best Practices section of the Utah State Digital Archives site on everything from building good digital collections to metadata and imaging guidelines.

Washington Rural Heritage: Collaborative Digitization in Washington State

Evan Robb of the Washington State Libraries talked about the Washington Rural Heritage project, a statewide collaborative digitization initiative. The feature of this presentation was an example of how the Sno-Isle Library System partnered with the South Whidbey Island Historical Society to get an invaluable local history resource digitized and accessible. Becky Bolte and Colleen Brazil, who I met at InfoCamp last year, got into the nuts and bolts of working on a unique collection in a collaboration with the historical society.

This was inspiring to me as I work with the Ballard Historical Society and something like this could help take collection access to a new level.

The project involved selection for scanning, descriptive information supplied by the experts at the historical society, confirmation of permissions for usage of materials, scanning, a Google form to collect metadata, and catalogers at Sno-Isle vetting the metadata, cleaning it up and making it into Dublin Core compliant values for ingestion into CONTENTdm.

Ultimately, photos and videos are displayed on this wonderful site. Some of the tools used or mentioned included Viewshare which is a free platform for customizing views of collection items and the resources found on the project page at the Olympic Peninsula Community Museum site.

From Boutique to Mass Digitization: Metadata Description Using Existing Finding Aids, Brigham Young University

Marisa Snyder and Becky McKown from BYU described some amazing efficiencies they created when converting finding aids to more useable interactive online records. From making the finding aids DACS compliant to using Archivists' Toolkit and prioritizing which collections to process based on patron driven input, their mode of mass digitization embodies More Product, Less Process in a big way.

Their team worked collaboratively with the collection curators to turn static finding aids into more easily searchable CONTENTdm items with links to the materials. You can see an example here as well as many more on the site for the collections.

5 Things: Get a Job, DAM, Subject Headings

Lots of great advice this week on landing a library job as well as other interesting material:

1. Best article I've seen on how to land a library job. While some of this advice applies to landing any job, this one does not shy away from subjects like competitiveness, flexibility in thought and location and finally, doing your research - you are a librarian after all!


2. That said, over on Hiring Librarians, there is an interview with a hiring manager on how to best present yourself.


3. LAC Group also features the top five skills required by the librarian of today (and tomorrow).  I heartily agree with digital preservation and information curation especially!


4. Can there truly be objectivity when applying subject headings? James Weinheimer puts in his two cents. I agree regarding consistency and that the end user (the searcher) is largely unaware of subject headings.


5. From the DAM Foundation, is your organization ready for total digitization?

BONUS FOR SEATTLE/PNW FOLKS: Registration is open for InfoCamp 2013!

5 Things Thursday: Adaptive Metadata, Coding, Archives

Check out these 5 things:

1. What is Adaptive Metadata? Sounds like custom metadata fields and sets to me. Always a good idea to allow flexibility for unique use cases.


2. Should catalogers, metadata librarians and digital humanists learn coding? Check out this post  on Cataloging Futures and its excellent linked post to consider. My take - a resounding yes, though not necessarily to do coding themselves, but to understand how everything integrates in a cohesive system.


3. This is poetic. Thirteen ways of looking library catalogs in verse...


4. Leave it to Aaron Tay to find the coolest tools in school - how to create curated digital flipboard magazines.


5. Are you ready for Archives Week (October 6-12th)? Here are some suggestions on getting ready from the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan NY. Besides decorating your archives week tree, that is...

The Seattle Public Library Adds Zinio!#SPLBuzz

I love magazines. I still get print magazines for the obvious fashion glossies, but I am extremely excited to use my library card to access other magazines using Zinio via my favorite library system, The Seattle Public Library. All you need is an SPL library card and US Weekly can be yours.

Check it out...

5 Things Thursday: DPI, DAM, ISBN API, LR

I thought I would hook everyone with acronyms in the headline...

Here are more than 5 things to think about in the sunshine.

1. Great article on The Signal regarding resolution for digital preservation. Features a discussion between David Riecks and Barry Wheeler.


2. Who wouldn't like an infographic on Digital Asset Management?


3. Comparing ISBN API's from OCLC, LibraryThing and Open Library on code4lib.


4. Here is a nice LR plug-in with a search and replace feature.


5. Here are two great resources for innovative librarians - Libraries Thriving and a post on reinventing librarians from The Guardian.

BONUS: Internet Archive: Wayback Machine

5 Things Thursday: Solo Librarian, DAM, CEPIC, DMS

Here are five things to consider this week:

1. What is it like to be a solo tech librarian in the middle of a cornfield?


2. What is document management software (DMS) and why is it so hard to get users to use it?


3. Is frictionless photo licensing a dream or can it be reality? What is CEPIC up to in this regard?


4. Can you get a DAM demo meant for your audience? Check out this DAM Vendor directory to figure out where to start.


5. For my fellow SJSU alums, check out this 23 Things educational series for students and alumni.

5 Things Thursday: SFMOMA, Libraries, DAM

Here are five more things:

1. Check out this new digital collection at SFMOMA - the Rauschenberg Research Project.


2. What if you have a non traditional library job (like I do). Here are tips for breaking out and feeling proud.


3. One of my favorite librarians to follow on Twitter, Julia Skinner, was interviewed here on the courses she teaches and others interesting stuff.


4. How can non-profits leverage digital asset management?


5. Interested to hear what Dan Cohen has to say about the DPLA project? American Libraries tells us here.

BONUS: 40 Great Apps for Mobile Reference and Outreach

DOUBLE BONUS: PLUS Registry

5 Things Thursday: Born Digital (on the 4th of July?), Webinars, DAM, Interviewing

Here are five things to help you celebrate Independence Day:

1. Have I mentioned all this useful information from OCLC on Born-Digital content?


2. Here are 35 FREE webinars for librarians. My favorite is "How to Build Websites Like Hollywood Builds Movies."


3. Here is a plethora of information on how to nail your library interview from Mr. Library Dude.


4. More astute observations from Meredith Farkas on what library users want and a creative solution she participated in at Portland State - Library DIY.


5. And, it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't mention something DAM related. This week - DAM and social media from DAMNEWS.

Happy 4th of July from Mod Librarian and the NYPL holiday postcard archive!

5 Things Thursday: Young Americans, Libraries, Amelia Earhart

Here are 5 more exciting topics to explore:

1. Certainly by now, you have all seen the Pew Internet study on young Americans' library habits. If you have a short attention span, look to Joe Murphy's site for an astute summary.


2. A New Zealand museum archive seems to have some photos pointing to the possibility that Amelia Earhart lived for a time as a castaway. They have no photos of Jimmy Hoffa...


3. Ever wonder if blogging counts as publishing in terms of tenure? Lauren Pressley sets us straight.


4. Although I wish I had attended the Photo Metadata Conference in Barcelona earlier this month, these presentation links will have to suffice.


5. This list on The Signal includes some of my favorite resources for community digital archives. Denver Public Library, anyone?

 

5 Things Thursday: Unbrary it, Metadata, DAM, Librarian Wardrobe

Lots of things this week - there might be a bonus beyond merely five:

1. The interviewer is interviewed - listen to the Elegant Workflow interview with DAM guru Henrik de Gyor.


2. Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere - this clever post demonstrates how metadata can be used without necessarily compromising Mr. Revere's personal life - to locate him.


3. Sick of jargon filled librarian speak? Try Unbrary It to demystify library terminology and acronyms.


4. Want to see every library and museum on a map? It is pretty impressive!


5. Always one of my favorite sites - Librarian Wardrobe announces a party for ALA2013.

BONUS: How do you know if you need a DAM system?

DOUBLE BONUS: Why would Library and Archives Canada take millions of documents out of public domain?

5 Things Thursday: EAD, DAM, NYPL, NARA

Here are five things to consider this week:

1. Check out this ultra useful site by the EADiva. I learned about EAD during my MLIS, but years of not using it have left me rusty. This site is as clear as can be. Simplicity and beauty and function...


2. Save New York libraries by signing petitions on the Screwy Decimal site.


3. Watch a webinar on being a DAM superhero and then take a DAM quiz.


4. What will the library of the future be like? University of Washington professor Joe Janes shares some insight.


5. What does the National Archives have against paper clips and staples. Lots!

5 Things Thursday: XML, Corbis, Adlib, Inspiration

I'm back! Many thanks to Henrik De Gyor of Another DAM blog and podcast fame. Here are five things:

1. A recent project rudely reminded me that I need to remember the XML validator.


2. Did you know that Corbis Images has a cave full of archival photos?


3. Here's a collection management system that is new to me. Adlib seems flexible and sustainable.


4. As usual, Hack Library School has helpful guidance on keeping track of inspiration.


5. Here is an interesting piece on the Here and There blog devoted to archival processing and museum stuff. Nice blog!

5 Things Thursday: Vocabulary, Teens, Goodreads

Curated by Henrik de Gyor.

1. Registered Organization Vocabulary (RegORG) & Asset Description Metadata Schema (ADMS) http://bit.ly/174fJ6x

2. Teens and the Future of Libraries: Sharing Best Practices” Webinar Archives and My Questions for Thinking http://dlvr.it/3RVN5P

3. The Padagogy Wheel V2.0: It’s all about transformation and integration
http://tinyurl.com/padwheel2

4. Looking for a 'Good Read'?
http://infospace.ischool.syr.edu/2012/10/16/goodreads-and-social-cataloging/

5. How to separate fact and fiction online
http://www.ted.com/talks/markham_nolan_how_to_separate_fact_and_fiction_online.html

Thank you to Henrik for the amazing content curation!

5 Things Thursday: Metadata, Internet Archive, Wearable Computing

 Here are five things from guest contributor Henrik de Gyor:

1. From Cronkite to Couric: Internet Archive gets $1 million to expand TV news collection http://ht.ly/lg2Ll

2. BBC archives celebrating the beauty of steam locomotives http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/collections/p01277qd/steam-railways

3. Wearable Computing, Long Before Google Glass http://www.technologyreview.com/view/515006/from-our-archive-wearable-computing-long-before-google-glass/

4. How Inconsistent Metadata Impedes Music Industry Growth http://t.co/cdp2gJVsgu

5. “Metadata as the Cornerstone of Digital Archiving” seminar reports http://www.tameyourassets.com

5 Things Thursday: Archivists, Metadata and More!

Guest post by Henrik de Gyor

1. Digitizing history: 82,000-manuscript collection Vatican Library goes online http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/05/02/digitizing_history_82000manuscript_collection_vatican_library_goes_online.html

2. Leaving Cloister of Dusty Offices, Young Archivists Meet Like Minds
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/nyregion/archivists-bringing-past-into-future-are-now-less-cloistered.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


3.Digital, Not Dusty: The Archivist’s Tale http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/opinion/digital-not-dusty-the-archivists-tale.html

4. 520,000 Pages of Parts Marked by Philharmonic Musicians http://archives.nyphil.org/

5. Metadata: the rise of data on the web and in search http://m.guardiannews.com/news/datablog/2013/may/14/metadata-rise-of-data-web-search

Bonus: support this important DAM project!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/anotherdampodcast/transcribing-another-dam-podcast

5 Things Thursday: Personal Digital Archiving, Copyright, RDA

Here are five things from guest contributor Henrik de Gyor:

1. Library of Congress ebook “Perspectives on Personal Digital Archiving” http://t.co/ktU6ikpXrC
2. Library of Congress: “Enhancing Access to the Library’s Collections” https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eujLEl2X4WE#!
3. "The Copyright Killings" webinar recording http://picturepark.com/copyright
4. Collection for metadata of 38,000 maps and images http://t.co/pPxzNoh9Ak
5. Deployment of RDA (Resource Description and Access) Cataloging and its Expression as Linked Data http://www.niso.org/news/events/2013/dcmi/rda/#slides

Deaccessioning: Controversial Even in Tough Times for Cultural Institutions

I heard a great report on NPR this morning regarding the cash crunch affecting many cultural institutions like Chicago's Field Museum. The topic of deaccessioning collections has long been fraught with controversy for archives, museums and special collections. This story provides some context of the fiscal realities behind these decisions.

5 Things Thursday: DAM NY, Angry Photographers, Copyright

Here are five things from esteemed guest editor Henrik de Gyor:

1. Cataloging endangered languages http://t.co/L0QJSTJS
2. Copyright law: Five ways to protect authorship http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/copyright-law-5-ways-to-protect-authorship/s2/a552845/
3. Photographers' anger at law change over 'orphan works' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22337406
4. Google's Digital Asset Management Tool? http://lexne.ws/i99
5. Henry Stewart DAM NY conference this week http://www.henrystewartconferences.com/dam/damny2013/

5 Things Thursday: DAMMY's, Music Metadata, Kickstarter

While Tracy is taking a break until June, Henrik de Gyor is filling in for 5 Things Thursday.

1. DAMMY award submissions are now open for applications


2. Nice graphic of The Padagogy Wheel


3. Why Modern Musicians Should Care About Metadata


4. Help support Transcribing Another DAM Podcast to make it easier to reference


5. It will take "years" to catch up with all the data from Drones

5 Things Thursday: Call for Submissions

Due to a recent busy work schedule and some recent volunteer activity at my local historical society, I feel I need to take a brief hiatus from Mod Librarian until mid-June.

That said, I would welcome a guest contributor or contributors and/or any interesting links to metadata, archive, cataloging, or digital asset management related news to aid in the compilation of 5 Things.

Is anyone out there up for the challenge? I greatly appreciate it!

5 Things Thursday: The Brevity Edition

Going through a major DAM system upgrade this week is arduous. Here are five things without much explanation.

1. What should MLIS students be reading?
2. Infographic on why digital asset management is crucial to your organization.
3. Spring issue of Seattle Area Archivist.
4. Data is sexy according to NY Times.
5. Another DAM Podcast with the Harley Davidson DAM experts.

5 Things Thursday: Twitter Archive, Dublin Core, DAM

Here are five things for springtime.

1. Wondering about the much anticipated Library of Congress Twitter Archive? Here is an update on the project.


2. Can you effectively use Dublin Core metadata for SEO purposes? Yes you can, for a variety of reasons explained here.


3. What is the true value of a digital asset? Here is a nice presentation on the subject by Mark Davey.


4. Do you like ambitious library projects as much as I do? Well, six UK libraries will be archiving the digital history of the UK - about 4.8 million websites. Read about it on Wired UK.


5. Jill Hurst-Wahl talks about Henrik de Gyor speaking to her class about digital asset management skills, coding education resources and the vital importance of metadata in life in this post.

5 Things Thursday: Spring Cleaning, DAM Findability, Crowdsourcing

I am freshly back from a wonderful trip to the Big Apple and ready to present 5 things for you to consider:

1. Curious about music librarianship? Get the scoop on Hack Library School. As with any concentration, it helps to focus your efforts, join applicable organizations and network with other music librarians.


2. This is an amazing interview with Mary Flanagan, director of Tiltfactor Lab. I believe I mentioned her previously as she is responsible for many brilliant metadata games for crowdsourcing. Find out more here.


3. Henrik de Gyor discusses DAM trading cards and DAM voodoo dolls. The voodoo dolls are DAM issues common to many DAM professionals including but not limited to lack of user adoption, bad filenames, non-existent back ups, poor search results...


4. Want to clean up your image archive? Spring is the perfect time and you won't even need environmentally friendly cleaning products, simply some organizational chops.


5. One of my favorite topics - findability. This article on DAMNEWS actually lists some handy tips like providing a literal description (sometimes a cigar is just a cigar), the importance of fewer relevant keywords over more less accurate keywords, and subdividing asset catalogs.

Mod Librarian Visits NYPL!

5 Things Thursday: DAM Gurus, Ranganathan, Conferences

Here are five plus things to ponder this week:

1. How are conferences helpful? Jill Hurst-Wahl delineates the ways here. If nothing else, a conference or unconference is an opportunity to hob knob with like minded professionals. I am a huge fan!


2. Are you a DAM Guru? There is a program for that - this site connects seasoned professionals with those new to digital asset management.


3. If you have five minutes to read about the father of library science, S.R. Ranganathan, take a look at this on the SILAS site. It will knock Dewey out of the park...


4. Although my blog rarely appears on any lists, here are 6 indispensable library tech blogs. I especially like the Free Range Librarian.


5. An insightful piece in The Atlantic on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the ramifications for cultural heritage preservation.

BONUS: Check out these very thorough metadata guidelines from the Minnesota Digital Library. Whether you are trying to develop your own process or simply interested in how other organizations work, this is a must skim.

Next Thursday is my birthday, so Five Things will return on April 4th. Enjoy!

5 Things Thursday: Taxonomy Testing, Web Archiving, DAM

Here are five wonderful things to peruse and consider this week:

1. How do you test a taxonomy? Heather Hedden tells us how and explains the difference between evaluating and testing, an important distinction.


2. Were you breathlessly awaiting the Web Archiving Life Cycle Model? The folks at Archive-It provide a lovely graphic and a white paper.


3.  My favorite DAM expert, John Horodyski, wrote a whitepaper called A Guide to the Lifeblood of DAM. Excellent and with a focus on metadata.


4. Here are three projects librarians should be helping - UnGlue.it, LibriVox and LibraryBox. Check out all the details on Hack Library School.


5. For fun - a link to a t shirt design I really like...

@DPLA: Digital Public Library of America

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has been popping up in library news frequently as the official launch on March 18th approaches.

From a great article in American Libraries, to a LibraryBox SXSW project, DPLA is ready to launch in a big way. But what exactly is DPLA and did the idea originate or coincide with an OCLC report on Digital Libraries from November of 2011?

Indeed, there is some overlap - for instance, Emily Gore is the DPLA Director of Content and was one of the participants in the 2011 convening. There is a lot of overlap on the steering committee as well.

So what is the DPLA and how will it work? Although I expect many blog posts and articles to be written on just this subject in the next week, I thought I would boil it down. DPLA will integrate and aggregate existing content from hub libraries across the country. This is best explained here in the section on the Digital Hubs Pilot Project.

In addition, Elements of the DPLA gets into the nitty gritty - metadata, content, code and tools.

Stay tuned for a post next Monday for the launch itself with more insight and information.

5 Things Thursday: ISBN, Digital Etiquette, Maria Semple, Archives, DAM

Here are your five things for the week:

1. Ever wonder how to compose a proper email? Here are some etiquette tips.


2. Read about the digital life of a historic archive - the Association of Cultural Equity (ACE), a vast and remarkable assemblage of field recordings, instruments, books, posters and other artifacts collected by the legendary American archivist Alan Lomax over the better part of the 20th century.


3. For Seattle folks, Maria Semple, author of Seattle based Where'd You Go Bernadette, faces off with beloved Nancy Pearl at Town Hall.


4. A little digital asset management snippet - know your strategy and use cases!


5. The ISBN number may become a thing of the past...

5 Things Thursday: NYPL, DAM's Gone Wild, Digital Humanities

Many interesting things to peruse this week:

1. Check out this webinar presented by Picturepark and the talented DAM managers at Harley-Davidson. Turns out, they have similar issues to all DAM administrators and some awesome solutions.


2. Big news in a big library system - NYPL and Brooklyn merge technical services without attrition! Learn how here.


3. Want to learn what a Digital Humanities Librarian does? As always, Hack Library School gets the scoop.


4. How are UC Berkeley researchers going to revolutionize e-books? For one thing, by making them app-based and not web-based.


5. Am I the only aging hipster sad to miss Exene Cervenka of seminal 80's band X speaking at the Los Angeles Public Library Foundation?

Alaska's Digital Archives

"Alaska’s Digital Archives purpose is to provide a single easy to use location for institutions across this state to share their historical resources."

Take a look at this collaborative effort between Alaska's academic and historical institutions, libraries and museums. It is a truly remarkable unified source for historical photographs, albums, oral histories, moving images, maps, documents, physical objects, and other materials from libraries, museums and archives throughout Alaska.

Powered by OCLC's CONTENTdm, the digital archive includes everything from ethnographic material to newspapers, videos, and of course, lots of information on the Gold Rush.

More than the contents of the collection, the cooperation needed to create this resource, sometimes between organizations unused to information sharing, can serve as an example for any consortium attempting a similar feat.

Special Collections: The Next Generation

Are you familiar with the Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan? I wasn't until I started researching ways to integrate MARC records, EAD, finding aids, user tagging and interoperability.

The collections are amazing, but the behind the scenes peek offered by the articles on the About page will fascinate any librarian working on similar collections. Although a little outdated in the high-speed world of technology, the fact that this collection re-imagined traditional finding aids using metadata from EAD and MARC and a database of information about soldiers who served in the Polar Bear Expedition is innovative.

Special collections, especially online, should create connections for users enabling discovery through browsing and even happenstance. In addition, the social features, now commonplace in systems like CONTENTdm, were interesting choices for archival use.

5 Things Thursday: Just Show Up!, Digitization, DAM, Training

5 Things Thursday: Just Show Up!, Digitization, DAM, Training

Here are five things from the new Wordpress blog location. Enjoy!

1. From Hack Library School, a topic near and dear to my heart - 'Apply Yourself.' I have heard too many reticent library students lament that they don't have the experience to do X, Y or Z. Many people ask how I got my dreamy job. I simply applied. And I show up and work hard every day.
2. Duke University innovates yet again. Check out this new library service Digitize This Book! Digitization on demand for Duke users could be the wave of the future in helping libraries assess what requires digitization.
3. One of my favorite lines on Henrik de Gyor's Another DAM blog "Some vendors like to confuse clients." Read about the DAM Glossary here.
4. Check out this interesting and oddly accessible post on Improving Linked Data from Smithsonian Libraries. Even though the subject matter is botany, the situation applies to any type of unique collection of materials.
5. Did you know that OCLC offered so much training? Check out the Training Courses here.

BONUS DAM: What's in a filename? David Riecks can tell us all about naming and the vast importance for providing unique identifiers.

Happy Valentine's Day from the NYPL

Design Sponge got a sneak peek at The New York Public Library's valentine collection.

 

Happy Valentine's Day from the NYPL

Design Sponge got a sneak peek at The New York Public Library's valentine collection.

5 Things Thursday: Social Media, DAM, Get a Job

Here are five more tantalizing information related things for Valentine's Day:

1. Ten social media tips for libraries that are easy to implement and maintain.
2. How did the NYPL increase card sign ups by 35% using smart social media?
3. Want to know how to explain what you do for a living as a digital asset manager? Think iPod...
4. Another old but awesome post - can a DAM handle rights managed assets?
5. From the Hiring Librarians website, more stats on getting hired. Ranking high on this list is networking, presenting yourself well and luck. I agree with two out of three, but you make your own luck!

#alamw13: @LibraryCongress: AutoDewey

This is the final in the ALA Mid-Winter series about a great presentation from the Library of Congress on AutoDewey.

Caroline Saccucci, Head, Dewey Section, and Julianne Beall, Assistant Editor, DDC, presented on the automation of converting LCC to DDC. The entire slide deck can be found here as a PDF.

What is most intriguing is that LCC and DDC are similar enough in treatment of individual literary works and individual literary authors for inclusion in AutoDewey to be useful, especially for the same catalogers that use LCC.

In some cases, selections must be made to direct AutoDewey to the correct literary time period or form of literature. Nevertheless, it can take less than ten seconds and no longer than one to two minutes to assign the DDC information and even to automate its inclusion in a MARC record.

The most interesting part of the slide deck is from page 11 onwards showing the actual examples of AutoDewey in action and the thought process behind the alogirithms used in creating this useful tool. I love the catalogers examples beginning on slide number 18.

Thank you to Caroline Saccucci for providing this link and information.

5 Things Thursday: Shhhh, RDA, DAM User Error

Here are five things library and digital asset management related:

1. The Annoyed Librarian is annoyed again - by all those noisy libraries. Read about it here. I suppose she liked the Oreo's Whisper Fight commercial...
2. The Library of Congress really has every resource including this one for RDA Carrier Types.
3. Do your DAM users make mistakes? Here's how to manage user error.
4. Want to see the 11 most beautiful museum libraries in the world? My favorite is the library at the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum, designed by Tadao Ando, Osaka, Japan.
5. Want to be a "famous" librarian? The Free Range Librarian offers some tips on sustainable fame.

BONUS: Speaking of famous librarians, did I mention that I met the lovely Nancy Pearl at ALA Mid-Winter? She was signing some of the reprinted works from the Amazon Book Lust Rediscoveries series.

Oreo Super Bowl Commercial Features Librarians!

This commercial proves that libraries are "in" right now.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kMWLYYcAYw?wmode=transparent]

#alamw13: Sustainable Collections, Backstage, Crowley

Here are brief reports on three vendors I visited during the ALA Mid-Winter conference that offer really great services for collection management and digitization.

1. Sustainable Collection Services : this innovative company takes an unglamorous yet vital collection issue, weeding, and turns it into a tangible and data-driven solution. Their deselection decision support tools can analyze library statistics and even cross reference collections of custom specified partner institutions to devise an actionable plan for weeding materials. I was impressed by the collective experience of the team behind this company, as well as the recognition that every library collection is unique.
2. Backstage Library Works : Backstage is a team of digitation experts that offers a one-stop shop for scanning, cataloging, conversion, duplication, storage, authority control and all other services related to preserving library materials. This company can work offsite or can assemble a team to work onsite in your library. The scope of the services offered as well as the flexibility makes this a great resource when a project lacks resources.
3. Crowley : Crowley specializes in imaging - from scanning precious materials to providing the best in imaging equipment. From a book to an oversized map or poster, Crowley can handle any type of digitization required by a library, special collection, museum or archive.

5 Things Thursday: Digital Collections, Citing a Tweet, Future of Libraries

Taking a brief break from my ALA Mid-Winter reporting (don't fret - there is much more to come), here are five things:

1. From the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog Impatient Optimists, an article on America's attitude towards libraries in the digital age commenting directly on the Pew report - Jessica Door astutely observes that there is little else that would garner 91% of Americans' support.
2. How do you cite a Tweet in an academic paper?
3. Ten technology ideas your library can implement quickly by Elyssa Kroski. From automating blog posts to post to Twitter to creating a special events wiki, these are easy implementations for anyone to try.
4. An homage to the institutions that read this blog frequently - here are links to marvelous digital collections from the University of Washington (Architecture of the Pacific NW), the University of Toronto (Anatomic Collection), and Grinnell College (Computer Science Museum Catalog).
5. Finally, explore librarian career paths on Pinterest.

#alamw13: @ExLibrisGroup Rosetta

I visited the Ex Libris booth at the ALA Mid-Winter conference because I was interested in learning more about Rosetta - a digital preservation system.

Coming from the digital asset management side of things, this product seems to incorporate all of the standard features of a good DAM along with some others specific to "preserving cultural heritage and cumulative knowledge."

As expected, Rosetta is scalable and expandable, allowing for ease of ingesting batch materials and separating permanent and working repositories for safety. Like a digital asset management system, Rosetta allows for the enforcement of item-level access rights as well.

Differing from the DAM world, is the focus on the ability to preserve a digital object for the future and to view it, regardless of format. Also, Rosetta is standards-based and therefore :

"Based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model and conforming to trusted digital repository (TDR) requirements, the system provides institutions with the infrastructure and technology needed to preserve and facilitate access to the digital collections under their guardianship."

Take a look at the case study for the National Library of New Zealand as well as the impressive collections site.

#alamw13: @serialsolutions Discover Summon!

I met some very nice people at the Serials Solutions booth at ALA and learned a lot more about the Summon webscale discovery tool. Mostly used by academic research libraries, this SAAS is continuously innovating.

It is flexible and highly customizable. I was particularly impressed by the back-end administrative console allowing the library administrator to populate information for features like best bets and database recommendations.

The unified search experience offers an interwoven contextual experience - kind of like that mythical Google search every web user desires, but actually tailored to each library.

A great example is the Duke University catalog. Type in a search like 'roman architecture' and the results will return with up-to-the-minute availability and location information. Narrow the search in the sidebar or using advanced search.

What is special about Summon is the ability to direct search based on your particular user needs as well as seamless and frequent new releases offering improvements on improvements. The tool promotes information literacy too.

#alamw13: @OCLC What's New in CONTENTdm?

I stopped by the OCLC booth at ALA and was thrilled to meet the CEO of OCLC, Mr. Jay Jordan. He is a very nice man.

After our chat, I listened to one of the presenters talk about CONTENTdm and asked him some particulars about changes in the last couple years since I have used it. Some fabulous things have been done to allow for customized headers for each collection, social interaction, and general improvements in both the administrative and user experience.

The biggest change is that there are HTML parts and pieces that allow savvy web folks to get as fancy as they'd like with customizing.

"CONTENTdm accommodates institutions that want to make more advanced customizations. Advanced customizations can be made using the CONTENTdm API (application programming interface) and custom scripts to alter and extend website functionality, such as adding Google Analytics or shopping carts."

As usual, the Denver Public Library is at the forefront of innovation with pushing the custom CONTENTdm envelope. Check out the header and then click on any of the images in the railroad collection to see the social features for sharing, tagging, commenting, rating and saving to favorites.

I can't wait for an opportunity to try CONTENTdm again! Did I mention video and audio are now more seamlessly enabled too?

#alamw13: @BiblioCommons

This is the first in my series about the American Library Association Mid Winter Conference in Seattle. I gathered some valuable information from many exhibitors and will be sharing the newest and neatest innovations throughout the next week or two. Enjoy!

____________________________________________

When I was in library school, I started to really notice the variety of user experiences provided by library websites, notably online catalogs. At the time, it seemed the ones I liked the most were employing software by BiblioCommons.

I was thrilled when my local library system, The Seattle Public Library switched to BiblioCommons, and equally thrilled to have a chance to speak to the enthusiastic representatives at the ALA conference.

Seems like two relatively recent innovations are Summer Sites and BiblioCMS. The BiblioCommons Summer Sites platform manages every aspect of kid, teen and adult summer reading clubs. I used this product this past summer through SPL and was amazed at not only the ease of tracking my summer reading, but the thrill of earning badges, penning reviews and rating materials. The product is social, practical and, from a user perspective, immensely gratifying.

BiblioCMS allows integration of the entire library website with the BiblioCommons catalog experience - essentially extending the reach. Through a tagging taxonomy developed for each library, this system can pull relevant content from blogs and pull related events into a sidebar creating dynamic content. This opens up myriad possibilities for cross promotion and curation.

Some libraries employing BiblioCMS currently are the Santa Clara County Library District and the Yarra Plenty Regional Library in Australia.

Finally, since I am a bit of a design aficionado, I must mention that I love the BiblioCommons branding overall and the site simplicity has always been a draw for me. Exciting stuff!

 

 

5 Things Thursday: DAM Influencers, RDA, Design Librarian

Here are five more things for avid library and information fans:

1. What lessons did you learn in library school? Here are some lessons learned halfway through which may help some of the students in progress. I could not agree more with getting organized (I had a color-coded Google calendar for assignments) and self discipline.
2. Who were the top DAM influencers of 2013? My ex-professor John Horodyski made the list as did David Riecks, Henrik de Gyor and Edward Smith.
3. Cataloging Futures contains a lot of information on RDA. Start with this easy to follow SlideShare and work your way to the present to see what is going on currently.
4. Oh, Designer Librarian, where have you been all my life? This blog has a lot of promise - with screencasting tips, how to teach with Twitter and more for those who design and implement user education materials.
5. What do library users want in the digital age? According to Pew Internet: "Patrons embrace new technologies – and would welcome more. But many still want printed books to hold their central place."

BONUS: Top 40 posts from 2012 by Henrik de Gyor on Another DAM Blog.

5 Things Thursday: Social Library, Librarian Wardrobe, Dewey-It-Yourself

Here are five artisan selections from the library and information science world:

1. There is a call for papers on the enticing subject of librarian wardrobe and stereotypes. After watching Party Girl again last night and Desk Set over the holidays, I am aflutter with ideas.
2. Have you read any of the Swiss Army Librarian blog by Brian Herzog? Love reference questions of the week.
3. From Meredith Farkas, 5 Weeks to a Social Library covers everything from Drupal to wikis to blogs, oh my! I can attest to the fact that Meredith covers all social media bases. She is the reason I blog.
4. Starting with the fateful line that no matter how good an MLIS program is, there isn't enough time to learn everything, Hack Lib School provides a Dewey-It-Yourself guide to supplemental learning.
5. Want to be a keynote speaker? I do. Andromeda Yelton offers some tips here.

5 Things Thursday: DAM Value Chain, InfoCamp, Social Media Tools

Here are five more things to think about in the week ahead. Since "curated" was voted one of the most overused words of 2012, I will be hand picking these information bits for you like rare wildflowers instead of curating content.

1. What is the digital asset management value chain and how can this predict the future of DAM? Are you on a DAM island and are your DAM vendors floating around aimlessly with their API's?
2. Check out this yummy list of social media tools. How many do you already use?
3. Pull up a comfy chair and dig into this comprehensive report on library discovery and the catalog. Includes concepts such as integration, the single search box, sourcing and scaling collections.
4. Awesome new feature on Hack Library School "So What Do You Do" on interning at a news library. Wish they would interview me about what I do...
5. Do you love unconferences and Portlandia? Well, Portland is hosting their very own President's Day weekend InfoCamp. I wish I could go!

5 Things Thursday: Do We Still Need Libraries?

What a way to kick off the new year! Here are five things:

1. Have you seen this debate in the New York Times on the future of libraries? Great viewpoints from industry leaders including the influential Buffy Hamilton.
2. What about this awesome Keywording Glossary from Jody Apap? The goal is to standardize language used in keywording in the stock photo industry. Let me know if you need help with that...
3. What is the life cycle of DAM assets? From looking too dated (bell bottoms and Kodachrome film) to not requested in a substantial amount of time, keeping assets fresh in your DAM is important.
4. Did you wonder what would happen with all those Kodak patents? Apple and Google have an interest...
5. Wondering about copyright, patents and trademarks in 2013? Forbes has some answers.

Remember to set all your metadata presets to 2013! Happy new year!

Happy New Year!

From NYPL Digital Collections...