PUBLICATION OF ARCHIVAL, LIBRARY AND MUSEUM MATERIALS

A Three-Year Plan for Development and Coordination

VISION

The Digitization Services Planning Committee (DSPC) was created as a task force of the Technical Services Planning Committee and became the planning committee of the State-funded Florida Heritage Project. The DSPC also shared an interest in two additional externally funded projects: Linking Florida’s Natural Heritage and Reclaiming the Everglades, with Committee members sitting on the governing panels of these projects. With two years of the Florida Heritage Project behind it, the Committee continues to monitor these three projects, but envisions itself in a coordinating role in the development of new projects, funded largely by external sources.

This three-year plan calls for continued and coordinated digital collections development. It returns to the founding precepts of the Millennium Project plan that preceded the development and growth of the more narrowly defined Florida Heritage Project. This plan is divided into tactical, collections, and technical goals. Tactical goals follow the model established by the University of Florida’s Digital Library Center for Digital Planning Projects documentation. Collection goals will be clarified when the DSPC meets with the Curators of Special Collections Task Force (currently being appointed.) Collection goals are restricted to projects specifically conceived of as PALMM initiatives.

TACTICAL GOALS

Project Development and Granting

In the short term, the DSPC and the Institutions of the State University System (SUS) need to move beyond self-funding digitization projects. Funds allocated by the SUS for digitization projects should be used as cost-share in granting. Every institution, individually or partnered, should seek grant funding to showcase materials of particular research merit and proven use within the State of Florida. In collaboration with other Planning Committees and with the guidance of the SUS Library Directors, the DSPC should educate its members in grant preparation in support of digital projects.

However, a grant orientation has two disadvantages. First, it encourages an approach to digitization that is more opportunistic than programmatic. Projects are skewed towards attracting funding rather than supporting the instructional and research goals of the institution. Second, it postpones the prioritization and integration of digitization services in the normal operating budget of the institution. Therefore the longer-term goal should be to leverage the experience gained and infrastructure developed through grant-funded initiatives in developing a rational, sustainable program of local digitization internally funded according to the priorities of the SUS and the individual institutions within it.

Partnerships among SUS institutions should be encouraged. Digital resources created by one institution undoubtedly will become a resource for the other SUS institutions. Partnerships beyond the SUS should also be encouraged insofar as they drive projects toward content critical and qualitative mass and improve access to funding. Partnerships should include agreements with the State’s private institutions of higher learning if not also those out of state. They should include agreements with teaching faculty, using the State’s uniform higher education course numbering system, and K-12 teachers, using the Sunshine State Standards. Partnerships should reach out toward governmental, non-profit, and corporate agencies not only as a source of funds but also as a source of technology.

Both locally and grant funded projects need clear and measurable project outcomes, findings and products. Project evaluations must provide reliable information on which to judge the impact of the project. Because of the difficulty in judging the worth of digital projects, evaluative methodologies including "outcome-based evaluation" proposed by the Institute for Museum and Library Services should be assessed in the future and incorporated, as appropriate, into project design.

Except as each institution is required to meet local cost recovery targets, the DSPC should encourage the contribution to PALMM of locally created digital resources, wherever they are created or reside within the SUS. The DSPC must seek guidance from the SUS Library Directors to deal with issues related to measuring Special Collections and the imprimatur of a particular institution. Institutions, and their Special Collections departments in particular, derive recognition from their holdings. These collections must be shared through digitization, as a means of opening access, without diluting the value an institution’s association with particular collections.

Description

Within Special Collections, digitization of primary sources from archival collections will present challenges with regard to arrangement and description. In published works, the order of pages and, subsequently, page-image files follows an implicit "binding order". Page-images need little more description than file names corresponding to source document page numbers. In archival collections, order is applied rather than implicit, and applied in multiple layers: collection, collection part, box, folder, and folder contents at the very least. Already within the Florida Heritage Collection, items from the Eartha White Papers illustrate the need not only to digitize collection’s contents but to digitize the collection’s finding guide, even when only selected items have been chosen for digitization. Encoded Archival Description (EAD [http://lcweb.loc.gov/ead/]) is the generally accepted method of digitizing finding guides for archival collections. Working with the DSPC, a Task Force of Special Collections Curators should not only profile collections for digitization but should also explore the viability of EAD’s implementation.

COLLECTION GOALS The DSPC calls for the assistance of collection managers and curators of special collections to define development issues in relation to building digital collections. Issues to be addressed might include distance learning, shared collections building, Florida Library Research Consortium (FLRC) programs, and opened access to Special Collections, as well as research value. The collections and projects listed here represent collections and projects active and in development. Most are collections of resources related to Florida. Others, however, are grant products or the products of grant preparations, targeting resources important to and contributed by at least one of the SUS institutions. The list of projected projects is incomplete, representing a sample of interests shared by more than one SUS institution.
 

FLORIDA HERITAGE COLLECTION


 
LINKING FLORIDA'S NATURAL HERITAGE COLLECTION
  1. Resolve backlogged materials (i.e., titles awaiting FTP to the DL).
  2. Note: The largest backlog resides with the University of Florida. It is comprised of titles from the University of Florida, and results from staffing difficulties in fiscal year 1998/1999.
    Target date: 2001 July 01.
  3. Continue to build and expand the range of content.
  4. Task list:
  5. Develop a GIS interface so location of specimens can be plotted on a map, and develop an interface to the ITIS taxonomical database to aid in translation between common and scientific names. These two developments may require a proposal for continuation project funding to the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

RECLAIMING THE EVERGLADES

  1. Complete metadata creation and loading for digitized content.
  2. Target date:
  3. Complete building of website and all requisite links.
  4. Target date:
  5. Implement full text searching for materials with accompanying text.
  6. Target date:

 
LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN
  1. Resolve backlogged materials (i.e., titles awaiting FTP to the DL).
  2. Note: The backlog is comprised of a small collection of titles prepared for demonstration in support of the University of Florida's recently funded grant application to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
    Target date: 2001 July 01.
  3. Invite contributions to the collection from other SUS institutions.
  4. Current status: contributions already accepted from FAU.
  5. Complete Project web interface.
  6. Current status: interface is in draft.
    Target draft release date: 2001 February 01
  7. Build collections per requirements of the NEH grant proposal
  8. Target completion date: 2002 April 30.
    Target volume: 575 volumes from the University of Florida alone.
  9. Make additional NEH grant applications.
  10. Note: After the University of Florida, the next largest collections of literature for children are held by the Florida State University and the University of South Florida.
    Target proposal submission date: within the three years of this plan.
  • Share copies of the University of Florida proposal. (Copies have been mailed to the Florida Atlantic University, Florida State University, and University of South Florida.)
  • University of Florida: Phase II (renewal) by June 2002
  • Other SUS: within three years, observing the June 01 NEH submission deadline.

FLORIDA ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN

  1. Following implementation of new MXF, resolve backlogged materials (i.e., titles awaiting FTP to the DL).
  2. Target date: contingent upon MXF, @ 2001 June 28
  3. Establish a project web interface.
  4. Target date: by 2001 January 28
  5. Renew invitation for contributions to all SUS institutions.
  6. Target date: by 2001 February 13
  7. Define a project team and build project plan beyond the three core serial titles already scanned.
  8. Target date: by 2001 June 28
  9. Draft a grant proposal for implementation of plans and continuation of the demonstration project.
  10. NEH submission date: by 2002 June 01 at latest

THEOLOGY
  1. Resolve backlogged materials (i.e., titles awaiting FTP to the DL).
  2. Note: The backlog is comprised of a small collection of titles prepared for demonstration in support of grant application not yet completed
    Target date: 2001 July 01.
  3. Establish a project web interface.
  4. Target date: by 2001 January 28
  5. Renew invitation for contributions to all SUS institutions.
  6. Target date: by 2001 February 13
  7. Establish a study team to determine if active collection building should proceed beyond the retrospective collection and voluntary contributions, and write a plan if it is determined to proceed.
  8. Target date: by 2001 June 28
    Secondary timetable will be established if determination to proceed is made.

FRENCH REVOLUTION FRANÇAISE
  1. Resolve backlogged materials (i.e., titles awaiting FTP to the DL).
  2. Note: The backlog is comprised of a small collection of titles prepared for demonstration in support of grant application not yet completed.
    Target date: 2001 July 01
  3. Establish a project web interface.
  4. Target date: by 2001 January 28
  5. Renew invitation for contributions to all SUS institutions.
  6. Target date: by 2001 February 13
  7. Establish a study team to determine if active collection building should proceed beyond the retrospective collection and voluntary contributions, and write a plan if it is determined to proceed.
  8. Target date: by 2001 June 28
    Secondary timetable will be established if determination to proceed is made.

CENSUS FLORIDA
  1. nnn
  2. Target date:

 
THEATRE COLLECTIONS OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF FLORIDA
  1. nnn
  2. Target date:

 
FLORIDA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL NEWS REPORTS OF FLORIDA
  1. Define a planning committee of specialists in journalism librarianship, journalism, etc. together with technology specialists in high-resolution digital imaging and newspaper indexing; most likely an extension of the U.S. Newspaper Project (USNP) advisory committee and implementation teams.
  2. Draft plan completion date: 2002 January 28.
  3. Identify core collections of Florida newspapers and early national news reports of Florida, most likely an extension of the USNP list, the Goza and Mickler indices, and the inventory compiled by the Florida Historical Society (FHS).
  4. Draft inventory of collections: 2002 December 28.
    Note: The FHS inventory is slated for digitization as part of the Florida Heritage Collection with fiscal year 2000-2001 funds.
  5. Image a subset of the core collections as a demonstration library for use in granting.
  6. Imaging completion date: 2003 February 28.
    Image volume: 1 small run/1 title; minimum 100 indexed articles in full-text, subject to search by XPAT
    Note: Florida Dispatch satisfies the need for 1 small run.
  7. Draft a grant proposal for implementation of plans and continuation of the demonstration project.
  8. LSTA and NEH grant submission deadlines: 2003 March 01.

 
FLORIDA MAPS, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, AND REMOTE IMAGERY
  1. Define a planning committee of specialists in maps librarianship, government documents, and Florida geography, together with technology specialists in high-resolution digital imaging and geographic information systems.
  2. Draft plan completion date: 2003 January 28.
  3. Identify core collections of maps, aerial photographs and remote images.
  4. Draft inventory of collections: 2003 December 28.
  5. Image a subset of the core collections as a demonstration library for use in granting.
  6. Imaging completion date: 2004 February 28.
    Image volume: 20 large maps, aerial photographs of 1 locale (likely the Florida Everglades.
  7. Develop a plan for integration of traditional GIS information (i.e., supporting queries against GIS and core library, archive and map collections) to bring together multi-source maps on demand of given regions, locales, etc.
  8. Draft plan completion date: 2004 March 28.
  9. Draft a grant proposal for implementation of plans and continuation of the demonstration project.
  10. NEH grant submission deadline: 2004 June 01.

The following collections are little more than prospects for development based upon limited discussions conducted around the state during the "Digital Library Services Presentation" [dog & pony show], presented by Priscilla Caplan, FCLA’s Digital Library Services, and Erich Kesse, UF’s Digital Library Center/current chair, DSPC.
 

VOICES OF FLORIDA: ORAL HISTORY PROJECT


CUBAN DEMOCRACY COLLECTION

JUDAICA COLLECTION

Currently, the following collections are little more than planning objectives. These objectives have been lifted from teams roster of Digital Planning Projects coordinated at the University of Florida by the Digital Library Center. The University of Florida has declared that all of its digital projects, except where defined as the core of a cost-recovery project, will be offered to PALMM. Examples of projects it has or will soon have in planning include:

Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan
Conceived as contributing to the Florida Architecture and Landscape Design, Florida Heritage, and Literature for Children collections. The collection documents Rawlings’ homesteads, life in rural North-Eastern Florida, and her writings.

Roving Florida Naturalists
Conceived as contributing to the Florida Heritage and Linking Florida’s Natural Heritage collections. The collection includes plant specimens imaged from the State of Florida Herbarium as well as monographs and maps of Florida from library collections. It documents the natural state of Florida, its "pastoral" life and native populations.

Great Floridians
Conceived as a distinct collection, adjunct to the Florida Heritage Collection, this project is funded by a gift from Governor C. Farris Bryant to digitize political papers and holdings of other "Great Floridians". "Great Floridians" is a official designation granted by the State of Florida under the direction of the Division of Historical Resources, cf, http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/bhp/floridians/. The collection will join similar collections of other, albeit not PALMM, digitized resources including those mounted by the State Library and Archives (cf, Florida Memory at http://www.floridamemory.com/) and the Florida State University (cf, POLARIS at http://pepper.cpb.fsu.edu/library/p-about.htm).

Latin Americana
Conceived as a distinct collection supporting the Center for Latin American Studies.

Africana
Conceived as a distinct collection supporting the Center for African Studies.

 
TECHNICAL GOALS Technical goals pertain to individual institutions as well as to central support from FCLA. Depending on the institution, local goals may include establishing an effective relationship with vendors of conversion services, developing and/or expanding in-house scanning capability, implementing specialized retrieval or display systems, and developing internal expertise to perform and/or evaluate any of these functions. This report focuses on goals for central FCLA support for PALMM activities.

2000/2001

Goal 1: Provide full suite of basic text and image handling capabilities.

FCLA currently runs locally developed "digital library" software to display and navigate compound documents such as books and serials in image formats. Commercial software for full text search (XPAT) has been licensed. Development is required to implement XPAT, to implement open source "DLXS Text Class" for display of XPAT search results, and to integrate this with existing digital library software. Software must also be selected or developed and implemented to handle collections of simple (non-compound) images.

1.1   Implement and integrate XPAT full text search for "text behind" images.
1.2   Implement and integrate DLXS Text Class SGML display for "text in front".
1.3   Select, implement and integrate software for image collections (e.g. DLXS Image Class, Content, Luna Insight)

Goal 2: Replace "dataset.toc" with MXF (Metadata Exchange Format) for metadata contribution.

When digital files for compound documents are sent to FCLA for loading and/or serving, they must be accompanied by metadata describing the structure of the document and the files that comprise it. Currently the data structure used is called "dataset.toc" and is based upon the format used by Elsevier to transmit electronic journal articles for local loading. A local, XML-based Metadata Exchange Format (MXF) has been defined to replace the somewhat limited dataset.toc. The MXF carries more information and supports a richer hierarchical description, but as a consequence is more complex. PC client software to aid in data entry is being written, and all existing programs to load and serve digital documents must be rewritten to accommodate the new format.

2.1   Write PC client software to support creation of MXF data.
2.2   Modify loader and server software to handle data submission via MXF.
2.3   Distribute client software and train sites contributing digital documents to FCLA in its use.
2.4   Target discontinuation of dataset.toc use by 7/1/01.

Goal 3: Improve infrastructure services.

Infrastructure services apply not only to PALMM initiatives but also to other digital library activities (see "Other activities" below). One priority for FY2000/2001 is to design and implement meaningful statistics on use of PALMM collections. Currently use statistics are inferred from analyzing logs written by the Apache web server so only the most rudimentary information is available, such as the URL of the requested item, and the network address of the requester. Statistics are being redesigned so that the image server software writes a log record when an image or a table or contents is accessed. The log record can include information unknown to Apache, such as which institution contributed the requested item or the "parent" collection of the item. Log records will be processed and summarized as the basis of collection-level statistics.

3.1   Implement naming services using a local PURL server.
3.2   Automate receipt and processing of MXF data.
3.3   Develop meaningful collection-level statistics.

2001/2002

Goal 4: Improve support for text, image and multimedia.

Work in the current year is geared towards improving basic text- and image-handling capabilities. We anticipate that the focus will shift in FY2001/2002 to other formats, particularly audio and synchronized text and audio.

4.1   Find or write programs to automate TEI markup of text converted from images.
4.2   Consider replacement of locally written image server with OpenSource or commercially available software.
4.3   Implement support for oral history (mixed text and audio) and other multimedia collections; monitor development of the SMIL standard for markup and synchronization of audio, video and text.

Goal 5: Augment support for metadata creation and maintenance.

There has been little demand so far for non-MARC metadata formats. However, we anticipate that interest in other metadata will increase, and that at a minimum support for Dublin Core and Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids will be requested. At the same time, the migration to the new library management system will require replacing WebLUIS with the new LMS or some other MARC-management system as the access mechanism for digital collections.

5.1   Implement OCLC's SiteSearch RecordBuilder capability for Dublin Core and MARC-like data.
5.2   Develop a plan for serving QF and QC data during and after the migration to a new LMS.
5.3   Select and implement software to support Encoded Archival Descriptions (EAD), including programs to automate markup of textual finding aids.

Other activities

While most of these apply to PALMM, some planned digital library services are broader than PALMM services in that they are intended to provide support to all digital materials, both "born digital" and retrospectively digitized. Priorities for the period covered by this report include infrastructure services such as naming, the development of digital archiving facilities for the SUS libraries, and providing electronic publishing services for non-commercial academic and research journals.

Goal 6: Provide robust naming services.

6.1   Implement local PURL server and policies for distributed PURL creation and maintenance.
6.2   Enhance (or replace) PURL software to provide additional features including enforcement of naming conventions, individual user authorization, and multiple resolution capability.
6.3   Install resolution services in a high-availability, rapid-response configuration.

Goal 7: Provide central archiving services.

7.1   Draft a multi-year plan acceptable to the Directors.
7.2   Develop a database system to record locations and characteristics of physical images.
7.3   Develop a multi-tiered storage management system.
7.4   Develop a repertoire of utilities for conversion to canonical formats and for forward migration of formats.

Goal 8: Provide electronic publishing services.

8.1   Migrate currently supported e-journals to the PALMM platform.
8.2   Develop SGML/XML text search and display capability for journal articles.
8.3   Bring system into full conformance with Bio-One standards.