Digitization in Support of Services @ Smithsonian Libraries. Martin R. Kalfatovic. Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board Orientation. Washington, DC. 3 March 2014.

2. William Henry Holmes, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology, ca. 1905

3. Smithsonian Libraries, Natural History Main Library, ca. 2013

5. COLLECTIONS SERVICES
PRESERVATION DIGITIZATION

7. The cultivation of
natural science cannot
be efficiently carried
on without reference
to an extensive library
Charles Darwin, et al
(1847)‫‏‬
The Wherefore of BHL

8. Mass digitization of Smithsonian Libraries collections aligns with
the overall Smithsonian digitization strategy and remains a
center of excellence for rapid digitization at the Smithsonian

10. Members‫‏…‏‬BHL‫‏‬Singapore‫‏‬is‫41#‏‬
14 Members
• American Museum of Natural History
• BHL Singapore
• California Academy of Sciences
Library
• Cornell University Library
• Harvard University Botany Libraries
• Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology
• Library of Congress
• Marine Biological Laboratory and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Library
• Missouri Botanical Garden Library
• Natural History Museum, London
• The New York Botanical Garden
• Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
• Smithsonian Institution Libraries
• United States Geological Survey
Libraries
• Washington University of St. Louis

11. Affiliates
Affiliates
Academy of Natural Sciences
Philadelphia at Drexel
University
The Field Museum Library
Newest Affiliate:

12. Technology Library Science
Biodiversity Heritage Library

13. Specimen collections
Databases
Publications
Observations
‘Gray’‫‏‬literature
Index cards
Field notebooks
Taxonomic Impediment

15. Problems of Mass Digitization of Library Materials

16. 42,498,407 pages
130,484 volumes
71,945 titles
4 February 201
Content Growth
2007-2014

17. Mass digitization of Smithsonian Libraries collections aligns with
the overall Smithsonian digitization strategy and remains a
center of excellence for rapid digitization at the SI
Problems of Library Metadata

19. User Statistics: 2007 - 2013
Visitors: 3,628,088
Page Views: 17,604,395
New vs. Returning: 50.06% vs. 49.04%
2007
2013
146,798 visitors | November 2012

20. 233 countriesUsers in 233 Countries

21. TheMachineIsUs/ingUs
<Response
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-
instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Status>ok</Status>
<Result>
<Item>
<ItemID>16800</ItemID>
<Volume/>
<Contributor>MBLWHOI Library</Contributor>
<Sponsor>MBLWHOI Library</Sponsor>
<Language>English</Language>
<LicenseUrl/>
<Rights/>
<DueDiligence/>
<CopyrightStatus/>
<CopyrightRegion/>
</Item>

24. Awards
 2013 ComputerWorld Award
 2013 Council of Botanical and
Horticulture Libraries
 2011 Thackray Medal by the Society for
the History of Natural History
 2010 ALCTS award for outstanding
collaboration

25. I am thrilled with what I have been able to find
re: archaic mammary embryology some of
which I had been hoping to find at the National
Library of Medicine, and to get it through your
program was a huge advantage. Last night I
believe I requested and received 11 PDFs, all
of which are essential to a review paper* I am
completing.
Olav T. Oftedal PhD
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
*‫“‏‬Evo-Devo‫‏‬of‫‏‬the‫‏‬Mammary‫‏‬Gland”‫‏‬by‫‏‬Oftedal,‫‏‬et‫‏‬al.
Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia (May 2013)

26. Looking Forward
In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn
Epilogue to Index Animalium, March 1922

27. Web Services | Digital Library

28. Not just Biodiversity … The Cultural Heritage Library:
Over 5,000 items
The Catholic Sioux Herald (very fragile and unique)
Dibner Heralds of Science
Upcott scrapbook of Aeronautica & Aeronautical sheet music
Rare materials from the Cooper-Hewitt NDM Library
AnthroNotes
Smithsonian Budget Books & Congressional Hearings

29. SMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES CULTURAL HERITAGE LIBRARY

30. Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2012 2013 2014
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2012 2013 2014
Digitization is still increasing, too
37,283
total items digitized
130,375
total items digitized

32. SMITHSONIAN RESEARCH ONLINE (SRO)

33. Smithsonian Transcription Center - BETA

34. The current item being transcribed
is‫‏‬William‫‏‬Upcott’s‫‏‬scrapbook‫‏‬of‫‏‬
early aeronautica, which
documents some of the earliest
ballooning experiments and aerial
voyages, with items dating back to
1783 and the birth of ballooning.
The scrapbook is 324 pages and
is currently 43 % transcribed (138
pages completed) with 35
contributing volunteers working on
it.
The scrapbook is a good example
of an item representing world
culture, and is held in the NASM
Ramsey rare book collection.

38. The worth and
importance of the
Institution is not to
be estimated by
what it accumulates
within the walls of its
building, but by what
it sends forth to the
world.
Joseph Henry, 1853

39. Followership is GROWING!
7709
17754
5508
10784
TWITTER FACEBOOKFY2013
FY2012
⇧65%
growth
⇧40%
growth
AS OF TODAY…
20,411 followers on TWITTER
8,208 likes on FACEBOOK
12% GROWTH
FY2013

40. PAGEVIEWS, Oct 1 2012 to Present
198235
146764
FY2013FY2012
⇧35%
increase
Google featured Maria Sibylla
Merian as their Doodle.
Second result was the Libraries!
Pageview Growth on
blog.library.si.edu
More people are coming to our blog
AS OF TODAY…
12% GROWTH

41. Expanding into New Platforms
Created official
guidelines this
month
Officially
launched the
start of FY2013

42. Gaining 30,000+ New
Followers on Tumblr
A microblog with a social component &
big visual emphasis, i.e. GIFS!

43. While Gaining 30,000 New Followers
360
16983
20123
31756
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
First feature on
Radar: Gif
Featured
Blog

44. 18K
5.5K
2.9K
1.5K
4.8K
Radar = Exposure
5.2K
• Companies can $25,000 to be featured
• Tumblr curated & widely viewed
• We’ve been featured 8 times!

46. Thank you!