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I. Face Sheet

Date: July 29, 2010                                   Draft: Final version

A mock proposal for "www.BPLstudio.com", a digital library system in fulfillment of
requirements for a course in Digital Libraries (IST 676) at the Syracuse University School of
Information Studies.

Name of proposing institution/organization: Indexedelic, LLC www.indexedelic.com


Full contact details for primary contact:             Project partners (if applicable):

Name: Stephen J. Stose                                Boston Public Library (BPL)
Position: Principal                                   Thomas Blake
Email: sstose@gmail.com                               Digital Reproduction Studio
Address: 84 Hood Street                               700 Boylston St.
Northampton, UK NN1 3QU                               Boston MA 02116


II. Abstract

This proposal outlines the intellectual merit, need and future impact of BPLstudio.com, a digital
library repository developed for the preservation, management, use, and dissemination of over
50,000 Boston Public Library (BPL) images residing across four departments and including over
30 distinct collections relevant to historians, graphic artists, photographers, students, teachers,
and hobbyists. These high-resolution images owe their provenance to flood insurance monies
earmarked for equipment, but BPL funding issues have both constrained the proper staffing of
its use and of the preservation of the otherwise deteriorating physical originals. Digitization
successfully proceeded, yet without digital management software in place. Such a solution
would ensure the longevity of these digital surrogates, reduce contact with the physical
collection, provide access to the nation’s second largest library’s otherwise unknown treasures,
and create the branding and visibility on par with comparable institutions with open digital
collection portals in place for public use. DSpace is proposed as an open-source solution that
will allow for the cost-effective creation and management of an accessible web portal for users
of all ages to browse and search within and across the digital collections. The proposal specifies
the development of a user-friendly resource of catalogued images that includes harvestable
metadata, a controlled vocabulary for graphic images, and a taxonomy of the various collections.
Its creation will conform to the latest industry standards, and will be developed according to a
timeline of deliverables that include a plan for the digital library’s evaluation, dissemination, and
post-prototype maintenance and sustainability.
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                          Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                         Assignment 5
                                                                                                          2

III. Description

     A) Introduction and brief description

The Boston Public Library (BPL) is the first publicly supported library in the United States and
the first public library to lend out materials to patrons. The library holds approximately 34
million items (including 1.7 million rare books) and has one of the busiest circulation systems in
the nation. Nevertheless, funding and staffing for preservation and digital innovation is dismal
compared to its peers (the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library)1, and local
branches are closing2. Many people are stressing digital preservation efforts to resolve the
inevitable loss of physical materials over time, especially given that these funding issues are
endemic to public institutions across the United States in general.

The Open Content Alliance is busy digitizing rare volumes within the BPL3 and an extensive
flood left insurance monies to purchase a state of the art digitization studio. Despite such
innovation in digitization and photography equipment, the BPL studio operates with one mere
full-time staff member, and thus the knowledge and skill rotating part-time interns and
volunteers do acquire is not internally propagated as required by a successful digitization
program. Nor do they always bring in the expertise necessary to uphold correct standards in
quality and services deployed. Nevertheless, the director, Thomas Blake, remains committed and
persistent in continuing efforts in mass digitization.

Such efforts have led to images now boasted on the privately funded Norman B. Leventhal Map
Center4, a top-rate digital library. The other digitized collections are currently displayed in a
complete, coherent and well-documented manner on Flickr5, a makeshift solution neither
sustainable, extensible, inter-operable, nor independent (i.e., the solution depends on Yahoo's
services and interface). There are a few sharing agreements with institutions such as the
International Children’s Digital Library (see the Jordan Collection6), and a few innovative web
designers have also developed stand-alone collections by using open-source content
management software (see the Fore-Edge Book Painting collection7 and the Leslie Jones
photography collection8, the latter spearheaded by the current author).



1 MacQuarrie, Brian (2006-10-06). "Library lacks means to repair old tomes". The Boston Globe.
  http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/06/library_lacks_means_to_repair_old_tomes?mode=PF.
    Retrieved 2010-06-04.
2 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe.
  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa
  ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
3 http://www.archive.org/details/bostonpubliclibrary/. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
4 http://maps.bpl.org/
5 http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/collections/72157624088175578/
6 http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/AdvancedSearchCategory?selIds=503. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
7 http://foreedge.bpl.org/
8 www.lesliejonesphotography.com
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                           Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                          Assignment 5
                                                                                                           3

Despite these fragmented approaches, no large-scale institutional repository of images federated
into a series of collections accessible via a front-end digital library portal exists, unlike its peers
at the New York Library9 and the Library of Congress10. This is a serious omission given the
comparable value and size of the collection at the Boston Public, not to mention the interest it
would otherwise generate if published and localizable online instead of being restricted to
appointment-only physical viewing sessions by a public that barely knows of the items it holds.
For this reason, we propose to develop a pilot digital library (DL) for digital image storage,
preservation, search, management and use.

In what follows is a proposal for 1-year project funding towards the development of an
institutional repository of images, called "www.BPLstudio.com," that serves long-term
preservation goals, as well as allows for the management, search and retrieval of these images
across and within each of the separate collection spaces. In this proposal we outline a statement
of need for BPLstudio, the intellectual merit this DL will have and its future impact to both BPL
as an institution and the public it serves. We will also describe the goals and objectives of the
DL, the key staff needed to implement it, the timeline for its implementation, an evaluation plan,
how we will disseminate the product, and our plans for its future sustainability.

     B) Statement of need

Despite massive ongoing digitization, the BPL lacks the infrastructure for digital object
preservation and dissemination. In August 1998 disaster struck and the basement of the BPL was
inundated with flood waters11 from a burst water main, leaving many of the library's sound
archives and 16-mm film collection soaked, as well as damaging thousands of other materials
only some of which were rehabilitated by freeze drying. The upshot was insurance monies
earmarked for physical infrastructure, which formed the basis for a fully furnished digitization
studio, with state-of-the-art Sinar cameras and lighting, scanners and flatbeds, Macintosh
workstations, and photography and editing software.

However, with branches closing and public funding far less than any comparable institution with
collections of this stature and prestige, the library and studio are left with few options. Firstly,
the physical collection itself is deteriorating. "If money isn't raised soon and consistently in
coming years, the library can expect significant losses of its rare and historic treasures beginning
within five years," said the chair of the Associates of the Boston Public Library, Vivian Spiro12.
The usual staff of seven conservators is now at two. Secondly, since the digital studio's
inception, there has only ever been one full-time staff member to utilize it. Thomas Blake,


9 http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
10 http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html
11 http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/1998/august1998/flooddamageextensive.cfm.
    Retrieved 2010-06-04.
12 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe.
   http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa
   ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                      Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                     Assignment 5
                                                                                                     4

however, has taken full advantage of library and photography interns, but this is on a part-time,
rotating and often volunteer basis. That is, the digital studio takes a perhaps understandable
second seat to physical preservation issues, which means often the high-calibre equipment goes
unused and knowledge and skills are not internally propagated.

The current proposal seeks to ameliorate these losses indirectly. Given Tom Blake's massive
commitment to continued digitization, and the cooperation of the preservationists in selecting
materials to digitize, over 50,000 high quality images are now available, each assigned with
descriptive, technical and administrative metadata. Thus, even if physical preservation tactics
take precedence over current Boston public digital financing, the efforts the studio have
nevertheless made towards preserving the digital surrogates of these same objects should no
longer go unnoticed.

Two further items complement our statement of need: 1) the intellectual merit of the proposed
DL, and 2) the impact such a DL might have on the public, and on regenerating funding and
support for future BPL initiatives:

           1. Intellectual merit

Firstly, most if not all of the digitized objects we aim to disseminate within BPLstudio belong to
the public domain. That is, little of the collection falls under copyright protection, and thus its
open use cannot be exploited if unexposed to user communities with the rights and established
interests in its free online publication. Also, the value of this content is comparable to programs
with digital library infrastructure long in place (e.g., New York Public Library and the Library of
Congress). The collection holds immediate value to photographers, graphic artists, historians,
filmmakers, hobbyists, and teachers and students across all levels of the educational system. This
interest is especially true if focused on the Greater Boston region, as many of the collections are
specific to Boston, its history, its visitors and its present and past institutions across the 19th and
20th centuries. The site will thematically cater to these interests, and provide a portal to search,
browse, and explore these documented images and the collection spaces within which they
cohere and will be contextualized, and thereby serve to visually transport the user to the times it
visually and graphically represents.

The various digital objects can be categorized into a coherent taxonomy of collections, as can be
seen on the BPL Flickr account. The full breakdown of these collections and the number of
images in each can be found outlined in Appendix A. The items listed in there have already been
digitized and span across four (4) different BPL departments: Music, Print, Rare Books and
Manuscripts, and BPL neighborhood branches. Indeed, due to the fact that no digital
library/repository is in place, nor is BPL prepared in its current state to fund one, it is remarkable
that these images (low resolution versions of the TIFF digital objects) are indeed presently
viewable within Flickr13.


13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/collections/
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                            Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                           Assignment 5
                                                                                                          5


While fortunate these images are available as such to the public, it is unfortunate that the
opportunity-cost of having already uploaded these images into Flickr results in an unsustainable
digital collection of low-resolution versions separated from both the preservation of the digital
originals, and separated from the BPL catalog referencing the original physical instantiation of
the digital surrogates. Neither are there many (if any) viable solutions to migration, which
basically implies the current digital Flickr collection is not extensible. Basic search features are
available, but few other tools or options exist to properly exploit the educational and research
value these collections offer.

The items and collections are fully documented and contextualized. The repository we propose
will serve to preserve the digital objects themselves, a strategy that should long outlast whatever
physical preservation tactics one employs. Additionally, web access to these images within a
digital ecosystem that exploits the item- and collection-level metadata in an educational way will
open the collection worldwide to audiences that never otherwise would view it.

           2. Impact

The immediate impact BPL studio will have is to expose the public to a collection of images
both unknown and otherwise very difficult to view in physical form. Viewing these items
requires making an appointment with an already limited staff. The DL will obviously not
preclude personal visits, but it will allow these visits to become more productive and efficient.
Thus, not only will the exposure bring more potential visitors to the library, those who visit will-
-having already seen the digital surrogates--be better informed about the items they wish to
continue pursuing in physical form. This has the added value for physical preservation also, as
digital rummaging will undermine the unnecessary damage physical rummaging has.

Additionally, many of these items are large and unwieldy to view. For example, the collection
includes large posters easier to see and zoom in on digitally; it includes folded posters/maps
whose creases incur damage at every unfolding; fragile glass plate negatives that smudge and
easily break; and painted book edges on fragile books. Given that items have been digitized in
high resolution, users are afforded the luxury of digital zooming, printing, enlarging, and
downloading. A user-friendly interface will permit faceted searching, browsing and display in a
workspace in which users may collate, compare and contrast digital objects otherwise residing in
distinct physical locations, thereby impacting research, artistic and educational novelty and
innovation.

     C) Target audience

According to 2008 American Library Association statistics14, Boston Public Library holds the
second largest number of holdings, at 23,595,895 volumes, after the Library of Congress. It also


14 http://www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet22.cfm#
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                           Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                          Assignment 5
                                                                                                           6

boasts some of the highest circulation rates, implying the people of the greater Boston region
really depend on this library and its 26 branches. Well, as of February 2010, the library
announced it would be closing 10 of its 26 branches, and is limiting the opening hours at the
others15. With such high circulation statistics and branches closing, we argue that by increasing
the exposure and prestige of the BPL by opening up its otherwise hidden collection to the
Internet and hence the connected world, the library will be giving itself a public relations
makeover that will stimulate city, state and nationwide interest in the first public library in the
United States, and in a city considered our nation's cradle. It is likely that a populace already
active in library services will display a curiosity towards what is hidden in the library's off-limit
vaults.

By following Dublin Core metadata standards, the data embedded in BPLstudio can eventually
be harvested and integrated as part of web services (SOAP and REST protocols) that bring the
images to anybody with an Internet connection and search capabilities. Once the audience has
arrived, the interface of BPLstudio will be tailored to best practices in current user-oriented
design standards.

While boasting a collection very worthy of research in graphic design, photography, and history,
it is important that it be equally accessible to younger students, hobbyists and older generations
alike. That is, such a legacy of images can invoke a contextualized story of past circumstances
and history in the minds of the young, as well as reawakened in older minds alike. In this way,
the library rejuvenates itself in its role as public educator and provider of community knowledge,
while simultaneously attracting a wider global audience regarding its holdings and importance.
Given that each item and collection is well documented, this metadata will be available with
sections that easily unfold when research demands are required by users with more focused
intentions. That is, simple information discovery through recreational browsing will not deter
from the research value of this resource.

     D) Project goals and objectives

In preparation for this open repository of Boston Public Library (BPL) digitized images, we
would here like to outline in more explicit form the objectives presented as a set of deliverables
that will ensure this project's success. The repository has as its goal the bringing to light of
materials otherwise unseen and inaccessible to researchers, hobbyists, filmmakers,
photographers, students, and the general public. It will simultaneously serve the goal of digital
preservation of digital originals, while providing various user levels of accessing, managing and
sharing the Web friendly versions both within and across each collection, and the associated
collection- and item-level metadata.

Given that the BPL is a publicly-funded institution with limited capacity to match the funds for

15 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe.
   http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa
   ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                          Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                         Assignment 5
                                                                                                          7

this proposal, and in order that the maintenance of the system is adopted as part and parcel of the
yearly workflow when this funding ends, it is important that these goals be achieved through a
set of efficient objectives that are cost effective and have a proven record of past success. The
planned objectives that follow will help fulfill this goal.

We will not be reinventing the wheel here, except insofar as ensuring that BPLstudio interface
has its own "look and feel" branding relevant to the context of the various collections. The open
source software repository DSpace16 has a proven track record of success in providing digital
asset management (DAM) solutions to now over 900 institutions across the globe. Many of these
are cultural heritage institutions with image collections, such as the Smithsonian Institution17, the
American Museum of Natural History18, and New York University's Afghanistan Digital
Library19.

This DAM will operate as the back-end architecture of BPLstudio. Installation is "out of the
box" and estimated to take less than a day for those familiar with basic web application
installations on Linux servers (e.g., the LAMP stack). A range of tutorials and documentation
have been released20 to help less technical users (i.e., non-engineers) operate DSpace.
Configuration occurs at the interface level, such that preferences, permissions, database fields,
taxonomy settings and metadata values can be set or changed at the click of the mouse with no
coding required, not unlike most ordinary Content Management Systems today (e.g., WordPress,
Drupal, Joomla). Programming skills are only required if deeper changes to the default settings
are desired, something our proposal does not require, at least on the back-end.

However, our team's scripting expertise will allow front-end customization, with the use of the
Manakin interface layer21. Manakin's interface toolkit allows for CSS and Javascript tweaks to
override the default setting, as well as XSL templates for more structural changes to the XML-
based metadata within DSpace22. Institutions already successfully use Manakin for DSpace,
most notably the creators of Manakin, Texas A&M University Libraries Digital Collections23.
The point is to customize and brand the look, feel and tools (e.g., social media tools, tag clouds,
specialized searches, shopping carts) of the site, as otherwise the DSpace architecture, being
boilerplate for easy back-end installation, can be rather bland in features and design.

This first prototype will allow non-registered public viewing (later versions will allow cached
search histories, user-profiles, and multimedia preferences) and registration for administrators.

16 www.dspace.org
17 http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/
18 http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/
19 http://afghanistandl.nyu.edu/
20 See the DSpace online course at: http://www.dspace.org/new-user/new-user-training.html or
   http://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/handle/2160/615
21 For a tutorial, see http://oldwiki.dspace.org/index.php/Manakin_theme_tutorial
22 Scott Phillips, Cody Green, Alexey Maslov, Adam Mikeal, John Leggett. "A New Face for DSpace", D-Lib
   Magazine, Volume 13, Number 11/12, December 2007.
23 http://digital.library.tamu.edu/; see also http://dspace.nitle.org/ for other examples
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                    Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                   Assignment 5
                                                                                                   8

Metadata fields will be standard Dublin Core to allow eventual integration with OAI-PMH
harvesting (not initiated yet in this prototype), as well as a flat system of cloud-tagging that
utilizes the controlled Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) subject
vocabulary. Thus, there will be three points of browsing and search: 1) TGM vocabulary, 2) the
Dublin Core metadata values, and 3) the taxonomy of collection spaces outlined above.
Additionally, for persistent item-identification, this initiative will register each item in a
location-independent (machine and platform) way with global handle servers using the Handle
System24 infrastructure, an initiative supported within the DSpace framework.

The interface itself will be very visually oriented (not textually), with random images and
featured collections appearing in the sidebar. A "gallery" of collections will utilize visual images
(image items from each collection itself) as clickable points of entry to each collection space, yet
users will always have the option to search and browse both within and between the collections,
giving a sense of federation to the site. Advanced search features will allow metadata drop
downs for filtering, and faceted refinement/broadening options will always be available in a
sidebar, along with recommended content using internal synonyms and recommended external
content from other digital libraries (e.g., using the OER Recommender tool25). To allow simple
browsing with no information overload, image thumbnails within a grid-like interface will
provide only basic information about each image, with the possibility of unfolding the complete
record beneath the item with Javascript-like buttons. Also, users will always be completely
aware of their location within this space, aware of whether they are viewing items within only or
across collections, and be able to retrace their movements through the use of breadcrumbs.

     E) Key staff

Two (2) FTE staff (at 40 hours a week) will be employed to install, configure, test, populate and
evaluate the digital library prototype. Both employees will have knowledge and experience in
the use of content management and digital asset management systems. One employee will have a
background in basic computer programming and middle-ware and front-end scripting, as well as
have experience in communicating with system engineers to ensure safe and correct installation
of the digital architecture with the BPL, to ensure its smooth functioning, and to ensure the
server space is properly configured for storage and preservation of the digital originals. This
same employee will be primarily responsible for designing the font-end's look and feel, branding
the site, scripting the functions and in directing the work of the second employee. The second
employee will have an information science/management and/or library education, and be
prepared to develop metadata schemas, taxonomies, subject vocabularies, and digital image
versioning and collation systems. This second employee should also be prepared to spend long
hours uploading images and entering metadata, according to the proper workflow established by
the two employees together. The infrastructure will be developed such that one (1) employee
will suffice for future maintenance and sustainability after the development of this prototype,


24 http://www.handle.net/
25 http://www.oerrecommender.org/
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                     Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                    Assignment 5
                                                                                                    9

unless future development on the prototype is deemed necessary and advisable.

     F) Timeline

A month-by-month timeline will outline six (6) phases of deliverables at each level of
architecture development. These are outlined as follows. The full month-by-month grid of the
milestone deliverables can be found in Appendix B.

     1. DSpace installation, configuration, and server architecture testing, scalability
     2. Metadata schema development/integration, database fields, taxonomy development,
        faceted/adv search, indexing
     3. Workflow development for simple uploading of image & metadata, administrator
        interface/workflow design; populate across taxonomies
     4. Add on functionalities added/tested (e.g., sidebar tag clouds, recommended content,
        metadata foldouts, breadcrumbs)
     5. Front-end interface design and development, browsing/search & taxonomy layout/design
     6. Performance, QA testing, sustainability plan, usability questionnaires & testing

     G) Evaluation plan

The evaluation plan will be both formative and summative. Formative evaluation will follow the
timeline in Appendix B. in regards to each deliverable (1 - 6). The general evaluation will
include reports for each deliverable, the strategy behind each report being to ensure that each
deliverable stands up to high-level industry-wide standards, using methods of which will include
software QA testing, user-administered questionnaires (for usability and design), metadata
standard comparisons to ensure future inter-operability and portability, and link-testing to ensure
persistence over time. Summative evaluation will be a library-wide evaluation, including testing
by all future parties (e.g., systems, technical services and digitization labs) that will utilize the
DL as part and parcel of their workflow, but also more user-administered questionnaires (using
random sampling of library patrons) for usability, design, and other standard evaluation criteria.

     H) Dissemination

Dissemination will include poster-size and 1/4 page leaflet advertisements strategically placed
within each BPL branch announcing the portal's opening, as well as special invitations to browse
the collection on clickable icons within each of the computer terminal catalog stations in each
branch. The BPL website will also announce the opening of BPLstudio on its main page, and a
visible link to the portal will become a continual part of the BPL web space, just as is the catalog
and other special features of the library. Given that BPL also participates as part of social
networking sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), special web announcements will seek to virally
propagate knowledge of its opening.
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                                    Aug 2, 2010
                                                                                   Assignment 5
                                                                                                  10

     I) Sustainability

After development, one (1) FTE employee will be charged with daily administration,
management and system maintenance. This will include maintaining a means of proper
dissemination via public announcements (see part H. above), ensuring the ongoing digitization
endeavors (e.g., metadata schemas, file formats, subject vocabularies) for future collections are
properly managed for eventual DSpace integration, and ensuring these collections are uploaded
and properly integrated to maintain back-end scalability and conformation with front-end design
elements. This position will include the training and formation of any future need of part- or full-
time employees on the utilization of DSpace should the library and studio undertake any new
project spaces for incorporation into the DSpace repository (either BPLstudio or any other
DSpace "community" formation). The position will also include basic training of other staff
members (e.g., technical services; digitization staff) insofar as their workflow (e.g., BPL catalog
integration; digitization; staff image uploading) will eventually involve logging into the DSpace
repository, in order to streamline more library-wide services. Also, yearly reviews will evaluate
the system on all levels (see 1-6 in Appendix B.) to allow for discussions of future use and need.
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                               Aug 2, 2010
                                                                              Assignment 5
                                                                                             11

Appendix A. The digitized collections ready to be incorporated into the proposed DL, and the
number of images (xx) belonging to each sub-category

     •     Three (3) sets of posters
           ◦ Boston brewery posters (21)
           ◦ Travel posters (351)
           ◦ War posters (81)
     •     Three (3) sets of original artwork
           ◦ Alphonse Legros (22)
           ◦ George Wesley Bellows (69)
           ◦ Ships through the ages (14)
     •     Two (2) sets of lithographs
           ◦ Louis Prang & Company (1,055)
           ◦ Sheet music lithograph covers (219)
     •     Two (2) sets of costume designs
           ◦ Ariadne auf naxos (56)
           ◦ Jana (36)
     •     Two (2) sets of book arts
           ◦ Fore-Edge paintings (214)
           ◦ Sarah Wyman Witmen bindings (352)
     •     Three (3) sets of ephemera
           ◦ Boston matchcovers (436)
           ◦ McGreevey memorabilia (13)
           ◦ Produce crate labels (102)
     •     Three (3) sets of manuscripts
           ◦ Anti-slavery manuscripts
           ◦ Emily Dickenson manuscripts
           ◦ John Adam's Boston Massacre
     •     One (1) set of postcards
           ◦ Tichnor Brothers Inc. postcards (seven sub-sets: 4,521)
     •     One (1) set of scrapbooks
           ◦ Tupper scrapbook collection (10 sub-sets: 476)
     •     Ten (10) sets of photographs
           ◦ Boston pictorial archive (114)
           ◦ Cased photographs (54)
           ◦ Eadweard Muybridge's animal locomotion (783)
           ◦ Charlestown lantern slides (618)
           ◦ Leon Abdalian collection (781)
           ◦ Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevey photographs (183)
           ◦ Frank A. Rinehart photographs (American west) (113)
           ◦ Boston stereograph collection (623)
           ◦ Trustees' McKim (BPL building) construction photographs (404)
           ◦ Leslie Jones photography collection (30,000+)
Stephen J. Stose
Digital Libraries 676
                                                                  Aug 2, 2010
                                                                 Assignment 5
                                                                                12

Appendix B. Timeline
Deliverables                Month    O N D J F   M A M J J   A   S
                            (2010-   c o e a e   a p a u u   u   e
                            2011)    t v c n b   r r y n l   g   p

1. DSpace installation,                E
configuration, and server              v
architecture testing,                  a
scalability                            l
2. Metadata schema                           E
development/integration,                     v
database fields,                             a
taxonomy development,                        l
faceted/adv search,
indexing
3. Workflow                                          E
development for simple                               v
uploading of image &                                 a
metadata, administrator                              l
interface/workflow
design; populate across
taxonomies
4. Add on functionalities                                E
added/tested (e.g.,                                      v
sidebar tag clouds,                                      a
recommended content,                                     l
metadata foldouts,
breadcrumbs)
5. Front-end interface                                       E
design and development,                                      v
browsing/search &                                            a
taxonomy layout and                                          l
design
6. Performance, QA                                               S
testing, sustainability                                          u
plan, usability                                                  m
questionnaires & testing                                         E
                                                                 v
                                                                 a
                                                                 l

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Stose bplstudio

  • 1. I. Face Sheet Date: July 29, 2010 Draft: Final version A mock proposal for "www.BPLstudio.com", a digital library system in fulfillment of requirements for a course in Digital Libraries (IST 676) at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies. Name of proposing institution/organization: Indexedelic, LLC www.indexedelic.com Full contact details for primary contact: Project partners (if applicable): Name: Stephen J. Stose Boston Public Library (BPL) Position: Principal Thomas Blake Email: sstose@gmail.com Digital Reproduction Studio Address: 84 Hood Street 700 Boylston St. Northampton, UK NN1 3QU Boston MA 02116 II. Abstract This proposal outlines the intellectual merit, need and future impact of BPLstudio.com, a digital library repository developed for the preservation, management, use, and dissemination of over 50,000 Boston Public Library (BPL) images residing across four departments and including over 30 distinct collections relevant to historians, graphic artists, photographers, students, teachers, and hobbyists. These high-resolution images owe their provenance to flood insurance monies earmarked for equipment, but BPL funding issues have both constrained the proper staffing of its use and of the preservation of the otherwise deteriorating physical originals. Digitization successfully proceeded, yet without digital management software in place. Such a solution would ensure the longevity of these digital surrogates, reduce contact with the physical collection, provide access to the nation’s second largest library’s otherwise unknown treasures, and create the branding and visibility on par with comparable institutions with open digital collection portals in place for public use. DSpace is proposed as an open-source solution that will allow for the cost-effective creation and management of an accessible web portal for users of all ages to browse and search within and across the digital collections. The proposal specifies the development of a user-friendly resource of catalogued images that includes harvestable metadata, a controlled vocabulary for graphic images, and a taxonomy of the various collections. Its creation will conform to the latest industry standards, and will be developed according to a timeline of deliverables that include a plan for the digital library’s evaluation, dissemination, and post-prototype maintenance and sustainability.
  • 2. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 2 III. Description A) Introduction and brief description The Boston Public Library (BPL) is the first publicly supported library in the United States and the first public library to lend out materials to patrons. The library holds approximately 34 million items (including 1.7 million rare books) and has one of the busiest circulation systems in the nation. Nevertheless, funding and staffing for preservation and digital innovation is dismal compared to its peers (the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library)1, and local branches are closing2. Many people are stressing digital preservation efforts to resolve the inevitable loss of physical materials over time, especially given that these funding issues are endemic to public institutions across the United States in general. The Open Content Alliance is busy digitizing rare volumes within the BPL3 and an extensive flood left insurance monies to purchase a state of the art digitization studio. Despite such innovation in digitization and photography equipment, the BPL studio operates with one mere full-time staff member, and thus the knowledge and skill rotating part-time interns and volunteers do acquire is not internally propagated as required by a successful digitization program. Nor do they always bring in the expertise necessary to uphold correct standards in quality and services deployed. Nevertheless, the director, Thomas Blake, remains committed and persistent in continuing efforts in mass digitization. Such efforts have led to images now boasted on the privately funded Norman B. Leventhal Map Center4, a top-rate digital library. The other digitized collections are currently displayed in a complete, coherent and well-documented manner on Flickr5, a makeshift solution neither sustainable, extensible, inter-operable, nor independent (i.e., the solution depends on Yahoo's services and interface). There are a few sharing agreements with institutions such as the International Children’s Digital Library (see the Jordan Collection6), and a few innovative web designers have also developed stand-alone collections by using open-source content management software (see the Fore-Edge Book Painting collection7 and the Leslie Jones photography collection8, the latter spearheaded by the current author). 1 MacQuarrie, Brian (2006-10-06). "Library lacks means to repair old tomes". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/06/library_lacks_means_to_repair_old_tomes?mode=PF. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 2 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 3 http://www.archive.org/details/bostonpubliclibrary/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 4 http://maps.bpl.org/ 5 http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/collections/72157624088175578/ 6 http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/AdvancedSearchCategory?selIds=503. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 7 http://foreedge.bpl.org/ 8 www.lesliejonesphotography.com
  • 3. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 3 Despite these fragmented approaches, no large-scale institutional repository of images federated into a series of collections accessible via a front-end digital library portal exists, unlike its peers at the New York Library9 and the Library of Congress10. This is a serious omission given the comparable value and size of the collection at the Boston Public, not to mention the interest it would otherwise generate if published and localizable online instead of being restricted to appointment-only physical viewing sessions by a public that barely knows of the items it holds. For this reason, we propose to develop a pilot digital library (DL) for digital image storage, preservation, search, management and use. In what follows is a proposal for 1-year project funding towards the development of an institutional repository of images, called "www.BPLstudio.com," that serves long-term preservation goals, as well as allows for the management, search and retrieval of these images across and within each of the separate collection spaces. In this proposal we outline a statement of need for BPLstudio, the intellectual merit this DL will have and its future impact to both BPL as an institution and the public it serves. We will also describe the goals and objectives of the DL, the key staff needed to implement it, the timeline for its implementation, an evaluation plan, how we will disseminate the product, and our plans for its future sustainability. B) Statement of need Despite massive ongoing digitization, the BPL lacks the infrastructure for digital object preservation and dissemination. In August 1998 disaster struck and the basement of the BPL was inundated with flood waters11 from a burst water main, leaving many of the library's sound archives and 16-mm film collection soaked, as well as damaging thousands of other materials only some of which were rehabilitated by freeze drying. The upshot was insurance monies earmarked for physical infrastructure, which formed the basis for a fully furnished digitization studio, with state-of-the-art Sinar cameras and lighting, scanners and flatbeds, Macintosh workstations, and photography and editing software. However, with branches closing and public funding far less than any comparable institution with collections of this stature and prestige, the library and studio are left with few options. Firstly, the physical collection itself is deteriorating. "If money isn't raised soon and consistently in coming years, the library can expect significant losses of its rare and historic treasures beginning within five years," said the chair of the Associates of the Boston Public Library, Vivian Spiro12. The usual staff of seven conservators is now at two. Secondly, since the digital studio's inception, there has only ever been one full-time staff member to utilize it. Thomas Blake, 9 http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm 10 http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html 11 http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/1998/august1998/flooddamageextensive.cfm. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 12 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  • 4. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 4 however, has taken full advantage of library and photography interns, but this is on a part-time, rotating and often volunteer basis. That is, the digital studio takes a perhaps understandable second seat to physical preservation issues, which means often the high-calibre equipment goes unused and knowledge and skills are not internally propagated. The current proposal seeks to ameliorate these losses indirectly. Given Tom Blake's massive commitment to continued digitization, and the cooperation of the preservationists in selecting materials to digitize, over 50,000 high quality images are now available, each assigned with descriptive, technical and administrative metadata. Thus, even if physical preservation tactics take precedence over current Boston public digital financing, the efforts the studio have nevertheless made towards preserving the digital surrogates of these same objects should no longer go unnoticed. Two further items complement our statement of need: 1) the intellectual merit of the proposed DL, and 2) the impact such a DL might have on the public, and on regenerating funding and support for future BPL initiatives: 1. Intellectual merit Firstly, most if not all of the digitized objects we aim to disseminate within BPLstudio belong to the public domain. That is, little of the collection falls under copyright protection, and thus its open use cannot be exploited if unexposed to user communities with the rights and established interests in its free online publication. Also, the value of this content is comparable to programs with digital library infrastructure long in place (e.g., New York Public Library and the Library of Congress). The collection holds immediate value to photographers, graphic artists, historians, filmmakers, hobbyists, and teachers and students across all levels of the educational system. This interest is especially true if focused on the Greater Boston region, as many of the collections are specific to Boston, its history, its visitors and its present and past institutions across the 19th and 20th centuries. The site will thematically cater to these interests, and provide a portal to search, browse, and explore these documented images and the collection spaces within which they cohere and will be contextualized, and thereby serve to visually transport the user to the times it visually and graphically represents. The various digital objects can be categorized into a coherent taxonomy of collections, as can be seen on the BPL Flickr account. The full breakdown of these collections and the number of images in each can be found outlined in Appendix A. The items listed in there have already been digitized and span across four (4) different BPL departments: Music, Print, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and BPL neighborhood branches. Indeed, due to the fact that no digital library/repository is in place, nor is BPL prepared in its current state to fund one, it is remarkable that these images (low resolution versions of the TIFF digital objects) are indeed presently viewable within Flickr13. 13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/collections/
  • 5. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 5 While fortunate these images are available as such to the public, it is unfortunate that the opportunity-cost of having already uploaded these images into Flickr results in an unsustainable digital collection of low-resolution versions separated from both the preservation of the digital originals, and separated from the BPL catalog referencing the original physical instantiation of the digital surrogates. Neither are there many (if any) viable solutions to migration, which basically implies the current digital Flickr collection is not extensible. Basic search features are available, but few other tools or options exist to properly exploit the educational and research value these collections offer. The items and collections are fully documented and contextualized. The repository we propose will serve to preserve the digital objects themselves, a strategy that should long outlast whatever physical preservation tactics one employs. Additionally, web access to these images within a digital ecosystem that exploits the item- and collection-level metadata in an educational way will open the collection worldwide to audiences that never otherwise would view it. 2. Impact The immediate impact BPL studio will have is to expose the public to a collection of images both unknown and otherwise very difficult to view in physical form. Viewing these items requires making an appointment with an already limited staff. The DL will obviously not preclude personal visits, but it will allow these visits to become more productive and efficient. Thus, not only will the exposure bring more potential visitors to the library, those who visit will- -having already seen the digital surrogates--be better informed about the items they wish to continue pursuing in physical form. This has the added value for physical preservation also, as digital rummaging will undermine the unnecessary damage physical rummaging has. Additionally, many of these items are large and unwieldy to view. For example, the collection includes large posters easier to see and zoom in on digitally; it includes folded posters/maps whose creases incur damage at every unfolding; fragile glass plate negatives that smudge and easily break; and painted book edges on fragile books. Given that items have been digitized in high resolution, users are afforded the luxury of digital zooming, printing, enlarging, and downloading. A user-friendly interface will permit faceted searching, browsing and display in a workspace in which users may collate, compare and contrast digital objects otherwise residing in distinct physical locations, thereby impacting research, artistic and educational novelty and innovation. C) Target audience According to 2008 American Library Association statistics14, Boston Public Library holds the second largest number of holdings, at 23,595,895 volumes, after the Library of Congress. It also 14 http://www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet22.cfm#
  • 6. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 6 boasts some of the highest circulation rates, implying the people of the greater Boston region really depend on this library and its 26 branches. Well, as of February 2010, the library announced it would be closing 10 of its 26 branches, and is limiting the opening hours at the others15. With such high circulation statistics and branches closing, we argue that by increasing the exposure and prestige of the BPL by opening up its otherwise hidden collection to the Internet and hence the connected world, the library will be giving itself a public relations makeover that will stimulate city, state and nationwide interest in the first public library in the United States, and in a city considered our nation's cradle. It is likely that a populace already active in library services will display a curiosity towards what is hidden in the library's off-limit vaults. By following Dublin Core metadata standards, the data embedded in BPLstudio can eventually be harvested and integrated as part of web services (SOAP and REST protocols) that bring the images to anybody with an Internet connection and search capabilities. Once the audience has arrived, the interface of BPLstudio will be tailored to best practices in current user-oriented design standards. While boasting a collection very worthy of research in graphic design, photography, and history, it is important that it be equally accessible to younger students, hobbyists and older generations alike. That is, such a legacy of images can invoke a contextualized story of past circumstances and history in the minds of the young, as well as reawakened in older minds alike. In this way, the library rejuvenates itself in its role as public educator and provider of community knowledge, while simultaneously attracting a wider global audience regarding its holdings and importance. Given that each item and collection is well documented, this metadata will be available with sections that easily unfold when research demands are required by users with more focused intentions. That is, simple information discovery through recreational browsing will not deter from the research value of this resource. D) Project goals and objectives In preparation for this open repository of Boston Public Library (BPL) digitized images, we would here like to outline in more explicit form the objectives presented as a set of deliverables that will ensure this project's success. The repository has as its goal the bringing to light of materials otherwise unseen and inaccessible to researchers, hobbyists, filmmakers, photographers, students, and the general public. It will simultaneously serve the goal of digital preservation of digital originals, while providing various user levels of accessing, managing and sharing the Web friendly versions both within and across each collection, and the associated collection- and item-level metadata. Given that the BPL is a publicly-funded institution with limited capacity to match the funds for 15 Ryan, Andrew (2010-02-18). “Library may cut 10 of its branches”. The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/18/library_may_cut_10_of_its_branches/?pa ge=full. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  • 7. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 7 this proposal, and in order that the maintenance of the system is adopted as part and parcel of the yearly workflow when this funding ends, it is important that these goals be achieved through a set of efficient objectives that are cost effective and have a proven record of past success. The planned objectives that follow will help fulfill this goal. We will not be reinventing the wheel here, except insofar as ensuring that BPLstudio interface has its own "look and feel" branding relevant to the context of the various collections. The open source software repository DSpace16 has a proven track record of success in providing digital asset management (DAM) solutions to now over 900 institutions across the globe. Many of these are cultural heritage institutions with image collections, such as the Smithsonian Institution17, the American Museum of Natural History18, and New York University's Afghanistan Digital Library19. This DAM will operate as the back-end architecture of BPLstudio. Installation is "out of the box" and estimated to take less than a day for those familiar with basic web application installations on Linux servers (e.g., the LAMP stack). A range of tutorials and documentation have been released20 to help less technical users (i.e., non-engineers) operate DSpace. Configuration occurs at the interface level, such that preferences, permissions, database fields, taxonomy settings and metadata values can be set or changed at the click of the mouse with no coding required, not unlike most ordinary Content Management Systems today (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Joomla). Programming skills are only required if deeper changes to the default settings are desired, something our proposal does not require, at least on the back-end. However, our team's scripting expertise will allow front-end customization, with the use of the Manakin interface layer21. Manakin's interface toolkit allows for CSS and Javascript tweaks to override the default setting, as well as XSL templates for more structural changes to the XML- based metadata within DSpace22. Institutions already successfully use Manakin for DSpace, most notably the creators of Manakin, Texas A&M University Libraries Digital Collections23. The point is to customize and brand the look, feel and tools (e.g., social media tools, tag clouds, specialized searches, shopping carts) of the site, as otherwise the DSpace architecture, being boilerplate for easy back-end installation, can be rather bland in features and design. This first prototype will allow non-registered public viewing (later versions will allow cached search histories, user-profiles, and multimedia preferences) and registration for administrators. 16 www.dspace.org 17 http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/ 18 http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/ 19 http://afghanistandl.nyu.edu/ 20 See the DSpace online course at: http://www.dspace.org/new-user/new-user-training.html or http://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/handle/2160/615 21 For a tutorial, see http://oldwiki.dspace.org/index.php/Manakin_theme_tutorial 22 Scott Phillips, Cody Green, Alexey Maslov, Adam Mikeal, John Leggett. "A New Face for DSpace", D-Lib Magazine, Volume 13, Number 11/12, December 2007. 23 http://digital.library.tamu.edu/; see also http://dspace.nitle.org/ for other examples
  • 8. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 8 Metadata fields will be standard Dublin Core to allow eventual integration with OAI-PMH harvesting (not initiated yet in this prototype), as well as a flat system of cloud-tagging that utilizes the controlled Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) subject vocabulary. Thus, there will be three points of browsing and search: 1) TGM vocabulary, 2) the Dublin Core metadata values, and 3) the taxonomy of collection spaces outlined above. Additionally, for persistent item-identification, this initiative will register each item in a location-independent (machine and platform) way with global handle servers using the Handle System24 infrastructure, an initiative supported within the DSpace framework. The interface itself will be very visually oriented (not textually), with random images and featured collections appearing in the sidebar. A "gallery" of collections will utilize visual images (image items from each collection itself) as clickable points of entry to each collection space, yet users will always have the option to search and browse both within and between the collections, giving a sense of federation to the site. Advanced search features will allow metadata drop downs for filtering, and faceted refinement/broadening options will always be available in a sidebar, along with recommended content using internal synonyms and recommended external content from other digital libraries (e.g., using the OER Recommender tool25). To allow simple browsing with no information overload, image thumbnails within a grid-like interface will provide only basic information about each image, with the possibility of unfolding the complete record beneath the item with Javascript-like buttons. Also, users will always be completely aware of their location within this space, aware of whether they are viewing items within only or across collections, and be able to retrace their movements through the use of breadcrumbs. E) Key staff Two (2) FTE staff (at 40 hours a week) will be employed to install, configure, test, populate and evaluate the digital library prototype. Both employees will have knowledge and experience in the use of content management and digital asset management systems. One employee will have a background in basic computer programming and middle-ware and front-end scripting, as well as have experience in communicating with system engineers to ensure safe and correct installation of the digital architecture with the BPL, to ensure its smooth functioning, and to ensure the server space is properly configured for storage and preservation of the digital originals. This same employee will be primarily responsible for designing the font-end's look and feel, branding the site, scripting the functions and in directing the work of the second employee. The second employee will have an information science/management and/or library education, and be prepared to develop metadata schemas, taxonomies, subject vocabularies, and digital image versioning and collation systems. This second employee should also be prepared to spend long hours uploading images and entering metadata, according to the proper workflow established by the two employees together. The infrastructure will be developed such that one (1) employee will suffice for future maintenance and sustainability after the development of this prototype, 24 http://www.handle.net/ 25 http://www.oerrecommender.org/
  • 9. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 9 unless future development on the prototype is deemed necessary and advisable. F) Timeline A month-by-month timeline will outline six (6) phases of deliverables at each level of architecture development. These are outlined as follows. The full month-by-month grid of the milestone deliverables can be found in Appendix B. 1. DSpace installation, configuration, and server architecture testing, scalability 2. Metadata schema development/integration, database fields, taxonomy development, faceted/adv search, indexing 3. Workflow development for simple uploading of image & metadata, administrator interface/workflow design; populate across taxonomies 4. Add on functionalities added/tested (e.g., sidebar tag clouds, recommended content, metadata foldouts, breadcrumbs) 5. Front-end interface design and development, browsing/search & taxonomy layout/design 6. Performance, QA testing, sustainability plan, usability questionnaires & testing G) Evaluation plan The evaluation plan will be both formative and summative. Formative evaluation will follow the timeline in Appendix B. in regards to each deliverable (1 - 6). The general evaluation will include reports for each deliverable, the strategy behind each report being to ensure that each deliverable stands up to high-level industry-wide standards, using methods of which will include software QA testing, user-administered questionnaires (for usability and design), metadata standard comparisons to ensure future inter-operability and portability, and link-testing to ensure persistence over time. Summative evaluation will be a library-wide evaluation, including testing by all future parties (e.g., systems, technical services and digitization labs) that will utilize the DL as part and parcel of their workflow, but also more user-administered questionnaires (using random sampling of library patrons) for usability, design, and other standard evaluation criteria. H) Dissemination Dissemination will include poster-size and 1/4 page leaflet advertisements strategically placed within each BPL branch announcing the portal's opening, as well as special invitations to browse the collection on clickable icons within each of the computer terminal catalog stations in each branch. The BPL website will also announce the opening of BPLstudio on its main page, and a visible link to the portal will become a continual part of the BPL web space, just as is the catalog and other special features of the library. Given that BPL also participates as part of social networking sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), special web announcements will seek to virally propagate knowledge of its opening.
  • 10. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 10 I) Sustainability After development, one (1) FTE employee will be charged with daily administration, management and system maintenance. This will include maintaining a means of proper dissemination via public announcements (see part H. above), ensuring the ongoing digitization endeavors (e.g., metadata schemas, file formats, subject vocabularies) for future collections are properly managed for eventual DSpace integration, and ensuring these collections are uploaded and properly integrated to maintain back-end scalability and conformation with front-end design elements. This position will include the training and formation of any future need of part- or full- time employees on the utilization of DSpace should the library and studio undertake any new project spaces for incorporation into the DSpace repository (either BPLstudio or any other DSpace "community" formation). The position will also include basic training of other staff members (e.g., technical services; digitization staff) insofar as their workflow (e.g., BPL catalog integration; digitization; staff image uploading) will eventually involve logging into the DSpace repository, in order to streamline more library-wide services. Also, yearly reviews will evaluate the system on all levels (see 1-6 in Appendix B.) to allow for discussions of future use and need.
  • 11. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 11 Appendix A. The digitized collections ready to be incorporated into the proposed DL, and the number of images (xx) belonging to each sub-category • Three (3) sets of posters ◦ Boston brewery posters (21) ◦ Travel posters (351) ◦ War posters (81) • Three (3) sets of original artwork ◦ Alphonse Legros (22) ◦ George Wesley Bellows (69) ◦ Ships through the ages (14) • Two (2) sets of lithographs ◦ Louis Prang & Company (1,055) ◦ Sheet music lithograph covers (219) • Two (2) sets of costume designs ◦ Ariadne auf naxos (56) ◦ Jana (36) • Two (2) sets of book arts ◦ Fore-Edge paintings (214) ◦ Sarah Wyman Witmen bindings (352) • Three (3) sets of ephemera ◦ Boston matchcovers (436) ◦ McGreevey memorabilia (13) ◦ Produce crate labels (102) • Three (3) sets of manuscripts ◦ Anti-slavery manuscripts ◦ Emily Dickenson manuscripts ◦ John Adam's Boston Massacre • One (1) set of postcards ◦ Tichnor Brothers Inc. postcards (seven sub-sets: 4,521) • One (1) set of scrapbooks ◦ Tupper scrapbook collection (10 sub-sets: 476) • Ten (10) sets of photographs ◦ Boston pictorial archive (114) ◦ Cased photographs (54) ◦ Eadweard Muybridge's animal locomotion (783) ◦ Charlestown lantern slides (618) ◦ Leon Abdalian collection (781) ◦ Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevey photographs (183) ◦ Frank A. Rinehart photographs (American west) (113) ◦ Boston stereograph collection (623) ◦ Trustees' McKim (BPL building) construction photographs (404) ◦ Leslie Jones photography collection (30,000+)
  • 12. Stephen J. Stose Digital Libraries 676 Aug 2, 2010 Assignment 5 12 Appendix B. Timeline Deliverables Month O N D J F M A M J J A S (2010- c o e a e a p a u u u e 2011) t v c n b r r y n l g p 1. DSpace installation, E configuration, and server v architecture testing, a scalability l 2. Metadata schema E development/integration, v database fields, a taxonomy development, l faceted/adv search, indexing 3. Workflow E development for simple v uploading of image & a metadata, administrator l interface/workflow design; populate across taxonomies 4. Add on functionalities E added/tested (e.g., v sidebar tag clouds, a recommended content, l metadata foldouts, breadcrumbs) 5. Front-end interface E design and development, v browsing/search & a taxonomy layout and l design 6. Performance, QA S testing, sustainability u plan, usability m questionnaires & testing E v a l