D g tal the Jewish General Hospital Arch ves Linda Lei, Archives Consultant for the GLIS 642 Preservation Management at the School of Information Studies, McGill University February 17, 2010

2 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Before the digitization Sybil Cadloff Librarian, Volunteer Archivist c – c Nature of the JGH Archives 1929 to beginning of the 21 st century Holdings 30 feet of textual materials (A/R, minutes, correspondence, news clippings, legal documents, etc.) Approx. 5 feet of photographs; 3 boxes from PA&C 2.5 inches of negatives 5 VHS tapes and 20 research tapes for the history book of JGH 2 boxes of 35mm slides, donated by PA&C 2 boxes of hospital brick pledges, donated by Foundation Original finding tools 1 box of catalog cards 2-page section list compiled in the 1980s.

3 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Launch of Digitization (1/2) Preliminary works, 2006 Inventory hierarchy Project proposal Back in the business, 2007 Submission of formal business plan Planning and database selection, 2008 Prioritization: images first Digitization begins Database installation Resubmission of business plan Major undertakings, th anniversary – traveling exhibit Database-driven website in progress

4 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Launch of Digitization (2/2) - Timeline 2008 Apr. Jul. Oct Apr. Jul. Oct Event 1 Scan of photos and brick cards Event 2 Database installation ; Intropage design Event 3 Cataloging starts; Watermarking Event 4 Database Customiza- tion; French cataloging Event 5 Exhibit: photo selection Event 7 Exhibit: Graphic design; Liaisons Event 6 Exhibit: Text preparation; Display system design Event 9 Finding aids for smaller collections Event 10 French translation Event 11 Website design ongoing Event 8 JGH Legacy Lectures

5 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (1/3) – Scanning (1/2) Equipment Flatbed scanner HP ScanJet 5590 with TMA for scanning 35mm negatives and slides Pros: easy to use, economic, searchable PDF output format Cons: slow when higher resolution is selected, limited working area Objects: photo prints, 35mm negatives, slides, and brick cards Scanning specifications: Resolution (Dots per inch (dpi)) : 300 dpi Default color depth (also called Bit Depth): 24 bit, millions of colors Default image size: original size. N.B. 6 X 4 inch for 35mm negatives and slides Common output formats: Images.tiff for archival storage.jpeg for web-deliverable images Full-size images: portrait-oriented: 650 px on short side with a proportionally scaled long side; landscape-oriented: 1000 px on long side with a proportionally scaled short side Midsize images (for individual record display) Thumbnails (for record group display) Documents: searchable PDF for documents (Tribute book), more research is needed

6 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (1/3) – Scanning (2/2) Watermarking: Adobe Fireworks Storage media: Hospitals server, DVD-R, DVD-RW and external hard drive CD-R for delivery Collaboration with other departments: A/V (photographing, VHS tape digital conversion, Photoshop retouch, etc. ) and Medical Records Useful resources: Kalfatovic, Martin R., Creating a winning online exhibition : a guide for libraries, archives, and museums / Martin R. Kalfatovic. Chicago : American Library Association, Stielow, Frederick J., Building digital archives, descriptions, and displays : a how-to- do-it manual for archivists and librarians / Frederick Stielow. New York ; London : Neal- Schuman Publishers, c2003.

7 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (2/3) – Database (1/4) Database: Archives Online (AO) Add-on application to the existing Inmagic CS/Textworks for archival accessions and descriptions City of Richmond Archives, 1995, further enhanced and developed by Andornot Customization with more French fields Demo of searching in AO Special features: Inventory (images), Inventory (hierarchy)Inventory (hierarchy) Thesauri for cataloging: In use: Getty AAT and MeSH by NLMGetty AAT Others: LCSH and British Columbia Thesaurus Useful resources: Review of archives management software by Council of Nova Scotia Archives Review of archives management software by Council of Nova Scotia Archives Archivists Toolkit by AABC

8 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (2/3) – Database (2/4)

9 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (2/3) – Database (3/4)

10 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (2/3) – Database (4/4)

11 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Digitization (3/3) – Website & Online search interface (in progress) Demo the JGH ArchivesJGH Archives Intropage Keyword search Search by collection Finding aids: hierarchical display of finding aids for 3 collections with series descriptions Finding aids Electronic reference book: Your Tribute Everlasting Electronic reference book To integrate: intropage, online version of the traveling exhibit, links to other archives Photograph reproduction e-Delivery: FTP solution Online shopping cart: TBD

12 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Lessons Learned Funding Time management Delays caused by unforeseen circumstances Budget Revision, revision and revision, until after the deadline of submission. Staff recruitment

13 D g tal the JGH Arch ves After launching the JGH Archives website Continuing with larger collections Arrangement and preservation Digitization of textual materials and artefacts Themed displays More outreach

14 D g tal the JGH Arch ves Contact: Linda (Da) Lei, MLIS Archives Consultant Jewish General Hospital Health Sciences Library Local: 3277 Pavilion A, room Côte-des-Neiges Montréal, Québec H3T 1E2