ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Digital Diamond sparkles at Temple

The word diamond abounds at Temple University—a constant reminder of founder Russell Conwell’s stirring speech to prospective donors, retelling the tale of acres of undiscovered diamonds that a prosperous Persian farmer overlooked on his own land.

Temple Libraries recently launched Digital Diamond, an archive containing thousands of digitized images, including historical photographs of Philadelphia and the region, international war posters (one of which appears on this issue’s cover), sheet music, architectural slides and photographs, and other archival materials.

It is being developed with financial support totaling more than $800,000, comprised of a gift from a generous donor and two congressionally directed grants administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. True to Conwell’s vision of bringing hidden treasures to light, Digital Diamond provides electronic access to selected collections previously available only to on-site users. The archive is accessible at http:// diamond.temple.edu.

Digital Diamond is an implementation of the Archival Reference Database component of Temple’s online library system by Innovative Interfaces and runs parallel to the online catalog. All search features found in the online catalog are available, including keyword and advanced searching, subject searching, and scoped searches.

Unlike a typical library catalog, with archival holdings represented by a single summary statement describing an entire collection, Digital Diamond features a complete MARC record for each image. Scholars who have identified useful LC subject headings while searching for materials in the online catalog can use the same headings to search in Digital Diamond for related images of interest.

MARC cataloging

The decision to do MARC cataloging for each image presented challenging issues. Templates were devised so staff scanning photographs and other materials could create brief cataloging records, later to be revised by librarian catalogers, once the images are linked in the database. Despite efforts to streamline workflow and keep pace with scanned images waiting to be linked, a backlog of scanned images developed and continues to be a challenge. A database was created to record and track the numbers of images and bibliographic records and to help alert staff members about growing bottlenecks that can be eased by adjusting work assignments.

Watermarks

Maintaining our copyright on the vast collection of photographs from the George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection is imperative. While providing access to the images, we also maintain the right to sell photographic reprints upon request. Our digital imaging specialist developed a watermark that appears on each copyrighted image, and each bibliographic record provides instructions on how to request a reprint. Watermarks, as well as other considerations, including cataloging issues and workflow tracking, are all detailed in Collection Management (July 2002), which also includes a bibliography on digital initiatives.

Electronic course reserves

Another component of the Digital Diamond project included using scanned images in our implementation of Innovative Interfaces’ Course Reserves Module. The first images to be offered were horticultural slides regularly used for classes in landscape architecture and horticulture. Following that, other reserve materials, such as past exams and assigned articles, were gradually added to the e-reserve offerings. These items are available only to Temple users because of copyright restrictions. A complete discussion of early findings in this course reserves project, including copyright issues and further considerations, was published in The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances (volume 14, number 2, 2001).

Next steps

Progress during every part of the first grant, completed in March 2002, was slower than originally anticipated. The pace gradually increased as staff members became familiar with scanning procedures and cataloging issues and the workflow became more standardized.

Building on the experience gained from the completed projects, the libraries are now using a second çongressionally directed grant to increase the depth and breadth of the existing collections and to add more unique collections owned by the libraries to Digital Diamond. In addition, outcomes assessment instruments for various grant projects will be developed in collaboration with some professors who will use selected images in their lectures and assignments. Another major component of the second grant is the development of online exhibitions to create new opportunities for outreach to the university, the scholarly community, school groups, and the public.

Using lessons learned during the first grant about how easy it is to underestimate the time investment in such a project, more robust staffing is now in place for the current endeavor. Rather than relying solely on existing staff who already have full workloads, a separate full-time staff has been recruited and hired, including a project manager with a library degree and museum experience, a project assistant/curator, a scanning supervisor, and a bibliographic assistant. Part-time student assistants also work on the project.

Digital Diamond is still very much a work in progress, with more to be learned as we continue to add new materials and collections at an increasingly streamlined pace, develop outcomes assessment instruments, and use exhibition software to creatively display our image collections and tell their stories.—Carol Lang, Temple University Libraries, carol@temple.edu