linking data from museums, archives and libraries

1. Identities of
Dead People
— work in progress —
Sarah Allen
October 2014
@ultrasaurus

2. Overview
Vision
User Research: How We Understand History
Hypothesis
Initial Data Analysis
Next Steps
——
Similar Open Source projects
Other Related Work

3. Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) was born Friedrich Julius
Oskar Blümner in Prussia in 1867. As a child he received
some formal art training. He enrolled in the architecture
department of the Konigliche Technische Hochschule
(Royal Technical Academy), Berlin, and received his
architecture degree in 1892. A few months later he
moved to the United States and worked in Chicago as a
draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition.
read more
Photograph by Arnold Genthe
Gelatin silver c. 1929
Oscar Bluemner
54 Paintings & Drawings at American Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum
Writings: 15,820 pages at the Archives of American Art
Known
Associates
Arthur Dove
Edmund Archer
Stefan Hirsch
Linking Data
Across
Smithsonian
Archives,
Museums,
&
Libraries
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013

4. Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) was born Friedrich Julius
Oskar Blümner in Prussia in 1867. As a child he received
some formal art training. He enrolled in the architecture
department of the Konigliche Technische Hochschule
(Royal Technical Academy), Berlin, and received his
architecture degree in 1892. A few months later he
moved to the United States and worked in Chicago as a
draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition.
read more
Photograph by Arnold Genthe
Gelatin silver c. 1929
Oscar Bluemner
54 Paintings & Drawings at American Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum
Writings: 15,820 pages at the Archives of American Art
Known
Associates
Arthur Dove
Edmund Archer
Stefan Hirsch
Inferring
Relationships
from
Transcription
& Meta Data
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013

5. Doris Cochran
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 Publications
Known
Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a
wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and
Amphibians in the U.S. National
Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of
agamid lizard from the Malay
Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological
collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben :
Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives
Linking Data
Across
The World
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013

6. Intro to Archives & Museums
History is found in other people’s papers
!
Context enables identification (provenance)

7. Doris Cohran’s
South America Expedition

8. reveals a story of Doris Holmes Blake
Doris Cochran’s NSF papers & travelogue tell of
Doris Holmes Blake (Mrs. Sydney Blake)
“Doris is disgusted because some fool German
who cant describe them properly has taken all
the chrysomelid beetles from Rio & São Paulo &
Paraná to Berlin. All the same she wants to go to
these museums to see the regular collections”
https://transcription.si.edu/view/6618/EBLW4

9. In Oscar Bluemner’s papers…

10. We find Oscar Klein’s Stories
This Oscar Klein can be identified based on his relationship with Bluemner…

11. This book is possible only because Ewing
is a dogged researcher in countless
archives.
!
References to Smithson in his friends'
letters and diaries reveal not the dour
recluse historians had once thought him
to be but an exuberant if eccentric man
with a zeal for learning and for life
!
— Publishers Weekly

12. leaving paths
“an online, shared resource creates the
opportunity where the artifact you leave behind
is not just your static narrative with footnotes,
but something that creates a more natural
stepping stone for new research”
!
— Meghan Ferriter

13. Potential for Online Linking
• simplify & streamline research
• when researchers visit the physical objects and take
personal notes, research is often duplicated
• re-contextualize collections
• find “untold stories” — known information that
doesn't fit into the current narrative

14. Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship

15. Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship
• Bi-directional links would show up in places that are
footnoted, not just at the footnote of the paper

16. Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship
• Bi-directional links would show up in places that are
footnoted, not just at the footnote of the paper
• Could the ability to "follow" a historical person, create
connections between researchers?
with notification of new links

17. Hypothesis

18. Links between collections will be interesting.

19. What is Interesting?
Links between archival material and specimens across
collections through creators or collectors:
• interesting to the public
• potentially yield new research insights for historians

20. Initial Data Analysis

21. Looking at the Data
Botany “Parties” NMNH eMu collections data)
58,185 people and organizations
SIA Biographical records in EAC format
788 people
SIA Authority records in MARC format
5753 records
SIL Botanists from International Assoc. for Plant Taxonomy
(not yet explored)

22. Initial Basic Matching
Botany + MARC
5753 records with 642 matches (checking last name and initials)
!
Botany + Freebase (name match)
4239

23. False Positives
Botany + Freebase = 4239 matches Ryo Tanaka is a Japanese professional ice hockey forward
currently playing for the Tohoku Free Blades in the Asia
League. Tanaka has played for the Tohoku Free Blades
since 2010. He previously played at university level for
Meiji University. He has also played in the senior Japan
national team since 2012.
!
Percy Reginald Stephensen was an Australian writer,
publisher and political activist, first for the Communists
and later for far-Right groups. He was born in
Maryborough, Queensland. He was nicknamed "Inky", and
attended the University of Queensland, where he joined
the Communist Party in 1921. from 1941-1942.
!
Simone Knapp is a hair stylist.
notable type: /film/film_crewmember notable for: /film/
film_crewmember on the web: imdb.com

24. Looking at the Data
New Hypothesis:
Collectors with higher specimen count are “notable”
Notable = likely to be found in another database
!
58,185 people and organizations in the collections database
36,283 who have one or more associated specimens.
2075 have 100 or more specimens
~600 have 500 or more

25. Looking at the Data
min # specimens = 1
max # specimens = 24979
average number of specimens = 46
standard deviation = 400
~40% of collectors
have just one
specimen represented
in the database.

26. Looking at the Data

27. EAC Data
786 Records
1623 Names
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c
• L. Cornman
• Cornman, M. Alice
• Cornman, Mrs. L. R.
• Cornman, M. A.
• Mrs. L. R. Cornman
!
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c
• Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911
• Palmer, E., 1831-1911

28. Full Name Match
2 Names

29. Last Name First
Not Found
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c
• Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911
• Palmer, E., 1831-1911
47 Names

30. Last Name First
Not Found
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c
• Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911
• Palmer, E., 1831-1911
47 Names

31. Matching last, first
160 matches!

32. Matching first initials
rid_111_pid_EACP110.c.xml
import name: Killip, Ellsworth Paine
new name: Killip, E. P.
209 matches!

33. Match both eMu names
------ 16 associations for multiple eMu records ----------
irn: 2046376, "William Edwin Safford", "W. E. Safford”, count: 383
irn: 2046378, "W. E. Safford","W. Safford”, count: 9
241 matches!

34. Next Steps

35. More Data

36. Mock Page with Real Data
Select an “interesting” botanist
• appears in all datasets
• less well known?
Doris Cochran
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 Publications
Known
Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a
wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and
Amphibians in the U.S. National
Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of
agamid lizard from the Malay
Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological
collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben :
Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives ?

37. Mock Page with Real Data
Select an “interesting” botanist
• appears in all datasets
• less well known?
!
• validate with
• public
• researchers?
Doris Cochran
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 Publications
Known
Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a
wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and
Amphibians in the U.S. National
Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of
agamid lizard from the Malay
Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological
collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben :
Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives ?

38. Vision
Assumptions:
• linking is an act of scholarship
• we will never identify all of the people represented in
our collections

39. Vision
Two key elements:
!
1. Initial set of People pages
validate: design & matching algorithm
2. Web UI for museum/archive staff & outside
researchers to define links over time
!

40. Related Work

41. Linking
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Cooper-Hewitt
Encyclopedia of Life
Biodiversity Heritage Library
DBpedia
FreeBase (Google)
Rijksmuseum
PowerHouse
Museum
Digital New Zealand
HistoryPin

42. External Name Authorities
Library of Congress
Getty
OCLC/VIAF

43. External Name Authorities
Library of Congress
Getty
OCLC/VIAF
People of the Founding Era
Unknown No Longer

44. Open Source Investigations
Karma
SNAC
Vivo
Linked Jazz

45. Karma
A Data Integration Tool
that learns

51. 2013

52. 2013

53. 2014

54. 2014

55. 2014

56. 2014

57. 2014

58. SNAC
social networks and archival context

63. Vivo
An interdisciplinary network
of living scientists

66. Linked Jazz
Tools for describing a social network
of Jazz musicians