Supporting the curriculum with digital collections Thomas Farrell Digital Initiatives Librarian, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA AACE E-learn Conference Vancouver, BC October 27, 2009

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Traditionally Store and organize intellectual content Store and organize intellectual content Provide public access Provide public access More recently, provide User-friendly discovery and retrieval interfaces User-friendly discovery and retrieval interfaces Content access both onsite and from remote locations Content access both onsite and from remote locations Preservation of content by digitizing materials Preservation of content by digitizing materials Dissemination of items not locally housed Dissemination of items not locally housed Evolving library roles

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Digital libraries - a recent product of this evolution. Philosophical origins Vannaver Bush article As We May Think Practical enablers 1990s - rise of the Internet and the graphical World Wide Web 1990s - rise of the Internet and the graphical World Wide Web

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Some examples The Library of Congress's American Memory Project Calisphere  The American Memory Project from the Library of Congress  Calisphere from the University of California

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Library/Faculty partnerships History Material selection Material selection information literacy teaching information literacy teaching topic-focused research training modules topic-focused research training modules Santa Clara University Initiative Construct custom digital collections of primary source materials for course use. Construct custom digital collections of primary source materials for course use. Directly support the teaching mission of SCU Directly support the teaching mission of SCU

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Two examples from SCU The Holocaust Oral History Project The Holocaust Oral History Project

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Two examples from SCU The Mission Santa Clara Sacramental Records

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Old model Collaboration between the SCU English Department and the Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project ( BAHOHP ). Students used VHS interview tapes to abstract content. Students used VHS interview tapes to abstract content.Limitations Consumer-grade players used for playback was damaging to the tapes Consumer-grade players used for playback was damaging to the tapes As time went on, fewer students had access to videotape players As time went on, fewer students had access to videotape players The process of viewing analog tapes for abstracting purposes was cumbersome The process of viewing analog tapes for abstracting purposes was cumbersome SCU had no venue for presentation of student work SCU had no venue for presentation of student work

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project New model SCU University Library's Digital Initiatives department created a digital collection of the tapes Digital videos are presented with bibliographic and descriptive information Digital videos are presented with bibliographic and descriptive informationStudents Add their content abstracts to the records Add their content abstracts to the records Create audio-visual essays: a particular survivor, subject or theme Create audio-visual essays: a particular survivor, subject or theme Incorporate related photo, video, and audio reference material from other sources Incorporate related photo, video, and audio reference material from other sources

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Challenges and solutions Technical Challenges No support infrastructure for digitization No support infrastructure for digitizationSolutions New partnership between the Library and Media Services New partnership between the Library and Media Services H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression New hardware/software for streaming video New hardware/software for streaming video Lab module added for digital editing Lab module added for digital editing

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Challenges and solutions Technical challenges Insufficient metadata Insufficient metadata Basic subject metadata from BAHOHP Basic subject metadata from BAHOHPSolution Produce extensible template based on emerging standards, using Dublin Core in an XML format Produce extensible template based on emerging standards, using Dublin Core in an XML format

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Digital video emerging standards There are a variety of emerging standards for the descriptive, administrative, and technical fields of digital video metadata There are a variety of emerging standards for the descriptive, administrative, and technical fields of digital video metadata There are a variety of emerging standards for the descriptive, administrative, and technical fields of digital video metadata

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Collection metadata Metadata fields and the corresponding DC mappings Metadata fields and the corresponding DC mappings

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Challenges and solutions Intellectual Property No experience in contracts/licenses of this kind No experience in contracts/licenses of this kind Student unfamiliarity with IP concepts for gathered materials Student unfamiliarity with IP concepts for gathered materialsSolutions Negotiate a contract with a balance of University, student, BAHOHP interests Negotiate a contract with a balance of University, student, BAHOHP interests Librarian-taught module on proper attribution/use of outside material Librarian-taught module on proper attribution/use of outside material

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Holocaust Oral History Project Results of the project Outcomes Objectively, student assessment scores have increased Objectively, student assessment scores have increased Subjectively, student engagement has increased Subjectively, student engagement has increased The interview content is digitally preserved The interview content is digitally preserved

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Sacramental Records Collaboration among SCU Library SCU Library SCU History Department SCU History Department Huntington Library and Research Center in San Marino, California Huntington Library and Research Center in San Marino, California For use in SCU history class: population migration For use in SCU history class: population migration

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Records Components and process SCU has handwritten volumes of the records of sacramental ceremonies performed at the Mission between 1777 and 1850 SCU has handwritten volumes of the records of sacramental ceremonies performed at the Mission between 1777 and 1850 Huntington has a text-based relational database of Sacramental records Huntington has a text-based relational database of Sacramental records  SCU supplied the volumes to the Huntington  Huntington scanned to digital, supplied derived metadata

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Records Challenges and solutions Ease of use issues The Huntington’s ECPP is useful for genealogists, but very complex The Huntington’s ECPP is useful for genealogists, but very complexSolution Derive fields for a flat field text-searchable collection from the ECPP database for classroom use Derive fields for a flat field text-searchable collection from the ECPP database for classroom use

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Records Metadata fields The fields allow searching across a wide range of variables The fields allow searching across a wide range of variables

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Records Challenges and solutions Preservation - Source documents are fragile - Source documents are fragile - Scan to digital format - Scan to digital format Preservation Source documents are fragile Source documents are fragileSolution Scan to digital format Scan to digital format

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Mission Santa Clara Records Advantages of new model ECCP is session-based ECCP is session-based SCU collection has savable sub-collections SCU collection has savable sub-collections ECCP is transcript-based ECCP is transcript-based SCU collection is graphical, showing the original document SCU collection is graphical, showing the original document SCU collection API allows GIS, etc. SCU collection API allows GIS, etc.

10/4/2015Supporting the curriculum Thomas Farrell AACE E-Learn Importance of metadata DC is a baseline standard allows inclusion in WorldCat allows inclusion in WorldCat allows discovery by OA repositories, Google allows discovery by OA repositories, Google DC in XML form is software and platform independent, adaptable to emerging technologies