This fall we changed the default tool that students and faculty use to research library holdings. We have tools that work well for a broad search and tools that are tailored for more specialized research. So, how is this change working out? We’ve got numbers and we’ve got opinion. First, let’s look at the numbers. … Continue reading Having it “All” – About Library Search Results
On the surface, writing a 500-word profile about a SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) field secretary or a Mississippi-beautician-turned-grassroots-organizer doesn’t seem like a formidable task. Five hundred words hardly takes ten minutes to type. But the One Person, One Vote project is aiming for more than short biographies; it’s trying to capture why each individual was … Continue reading Profiling Movement Activists in 7 Steps
On October 27-29 librarians, archivists, developers, project managers, and others met for the Digital Library Federation (DLF) Forum in Atlanta, GA. The program was packed to the gills with outstanding projects and presenters, and several of us from Duke University Libraries were fortunate enough to attend. Below is a round up of notes summarizing interesting sessions, … Continue reading Dispatches from the Digital Library Federation Forum
My recent posts have touched on endangered analog audio formats (open reel tape and compact cassette) and the challenges involved in digitizing and preserving them. For this installment, we’ll enter the dawn of the digital and Internet age and take a look at the first widely available consumer digital audio format: the DAT (Digital Audio … Continue reading What’s DAT Sound?
Back in February 2014, we wrapped up the CCC project, a collaborative three year IMLS-funded digitization initiative with our partners in the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN). The full title of the project is a mouthful, but it captures its essence: “Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights … Continue reading Large-Scale Digitization and Lessons from the CCC Project
I started working on the metadata of Sidney D. Gamble photographs in January 2008 on a spreadsheet with no matching images. The nitrate negatives from the collection had just been digitized and resided in a different location. I was, however still amazed by the richness of the content as I tried very hard to figure … Continue reading New Collection Addition: Sidney D. Gamble’s Hand-Colored Lantern Slides
