digitization of the “michigan pioneer and historical collections”: great concept/fumbled...
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Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution. Michael Unsworth Humanities Librarian MSU Libraries [email protected]. Outline of Talk. Genesis Why Should We Care Contents Why Digitize Publication History Bibliographic Treatment - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution
Michael UnsworthHumanities Librarian
MSU Libraries [email protected]
Outline of Talk• Genesis
• Why Should We Care
• Contents
• Why Digitize
• Publication History
• Bibliographic Treatment
• Digitizers
• Analysis
• Solutions/Coping Mechanisms
• Conclusions
WHY SHOULD WE CARE"The content of this forty volume history
series, though uneven in quality, includes valuable material. Every teacher of Michigan history will testify to its usefulness. Even the less scholarly contributions constitute important evidence of what a generation of pioneers regarded as significant in their history."
Lewis G. Vander Velde, "The Michigan Historical Commission: 1913-
1963," Michigan History Vol. 48, no. 2 (June 1964): 98.
WHAT IT CONTAINS:
• Letters
• Speeches
• Memorial Reports
• Private and Professional Papers of Individuals
• Personal Remembrances
• Historical Essays
• Documentary Material
EXAMPLE:J.A. Giradin, “Slavery in Detroit,” Pioneer
Collections Vol. 1 (1877): 415“In ancient times the city of Detroit and
vicinity had slaves among its inhabitants. The old citizens generally purchased them from marauding bands of Indians, who had captured the negro slaves in their war depredations on plantations…
“Everyone lived in arcadian simplicity and contentment. The negro was satisfied with his position, and rendered valuable service to his master…”
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:F.M. Holloway, “Hillsdale County from
1829 to 1836 Inclusive,” Pioneer Collections Vol. 1 (1877): 180-181:
“…and Mr. Stevens went with it [the proposed name of Litchfield] to
Detroit, and by the free use of liquid, and other arrangements, prevailed on the Legislature to adopt that name.”
WHY DIGITIZE?
• Scattered runs
• Access restricted to libraries
• Publishing inconsistencies
• Poor quality paper
• Loss of other materials
• Promise of hi-tech indexing
WHY DIGITIZE? FROM THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES’ CIRCULATION DEPT.:
“This item [v.9 1886] is sufficiently overdue that it is not likely to be returned in a timely fashion. (The
borrower who has it has been billed for its replacement) You may request this material via interlibrary loan (ILL):
Pioneer collections : report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, together with reports of county, town, and district pioneer societies Lansing? Mich. : The Society], 1877-1888 MSU MAIN LIBRARY F561 .M47 v.9 1886”
Also checked out at MSUL: Vols. 1, 10-12; 15-18, 40 & Index for Vols 1-15
PUBLICATION HISTORY
• 1876-1886 (Vols. 1- 9): Pioneer Collections. Lansing : Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan & Pioneer and Historical Society of the State of Michigan (PHSSM) .
• 1886-1912 (Vols. 10-38): Historical Collections. Lansing : PHSSM & Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society.
• 1915-1929 (Vols. 39-40): Michigan Historical Collections. Lansing : Michigan Historical Commission.
Reprints/2nd ed. for Vols. 1-21 published 1900-13.
VARIANT TITLES
• Historical Collections And Researches [1ST ed.] Vol. 37 (1909,1910)
• Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan… [Reprint/ 2nd ed.] Vol. 06 (1907) - Vol. 08 (1907) .
• Collections: Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The State Of Michigan… [2nd ed.] Vol. 09 (1908)
CAUTION!!!It never had the title of Michigan
Pioneer and Historical Collections, but it’s been commonly used to describe the entire collection.
BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 1st EDITION
Successive Entry
• Pioneer collections (1877). Vol. 1- 9 (1876-1886) OCLC #8597825
• Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society : 1888). Vol. 10-38 (1886-1912) OCLC
#8069520 • Michigan Historical Collections.
Vol. 39-40 (1915-1929) OCLC #8597926
Analysis1. Bibliographic control is
complicated by the set’s numerous titles and issuing bodies. Regardless of what system of cataloging is used, the resulting record(s) are long, obtuse, and mind-numbing to even the most motivated user.
Analysis
2. Not all volumes digitized:• 1st. Ed.: 39 of 40 vol. were done
Vol. 9 was not digitized by any project
• 2nd. Ed.: just 13 of 21 vol. were done
• The contents of all 40 vols. are accessible
Analysis
3. Indexing/Access to Contents:
• Each volume has its own index
• Society-created cumulative indexes were digitized
• Many indexes created by outside groups have not been digitized
Analysis4. No project treated it as a serial or
collection:• No “one stop” listing• Can’t search authors or subjects across all
volumes, as in:
Analysis6. Digitization has:• Increased “distribution” of
individual volumes• Provided access to content with:
– Volume & cumulated indexes– Keyword searching only within
each volume
• Complicated comprehensive searching by volume by volume searching
1. Get “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections” as an access point on bibliographic records (OCLC#8069520: WorldCat record)
1. NONE of the mass digitization projects took an effort to study bibliographic records to insure that all access points were available for Internet searching.
2. “Genus Librarianus” is still needed, but needs time & resources to stay abreast of developments. Then can s/he react to techno projects and make sense of them by using knowledge of the print and online worlds.
DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC)
• 9 Vols digitized: all 2nd Ed.
• Retrievability:
–Title: Historical collections ONLY
– Author: Michigan state historical society ONLY
• Collection: LC
DIGITIZER: Google Book Search • 31 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 20 ; 2nd Ed.: 11• Retrieveability – all Author & title
permutations plus Michigan state historical society WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY & PERSISTENCE
• Text Searching: Yes• Print/Save: via PDF• Collections: Harvard U. & U of Virginia• Formats: PDF; Plain text; EPUB (download)
DIGITIZER: Internet Archive• 36 vols digitized: ; 1st
Ed.: 31; 2nd Ed.: 5• Multiple formats • Text Searching: Yes• Retrieveability: All
permutations• Print/Save: via PDF• Reader reviews• Collections: U. of
Toronto & Allen County (Indiana) Public Library
DIGITIZER: University of Michigan • 40 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 39 ; 2nd Ed.: 1• Formats: scanned & OCR• Retrieveability: Author: Michigan Historical
Commission & Michigan State Historical Society Title: Michigan historical collections.
• Text Searching: Yes• Print only: small image• Source Collection: University of Michigan
CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 2nd Ed./REPRINTS
Successive Entry• Pioneer Collections (1900). Vol. 1- 9
(1900-1908) OCLC #13501029 • Historical collections made by the
Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. 11-12 (1908) OCLC #13500880
• Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society : 1908) . Vol. 13-21 (1908-19??) OCLC #13500714
RETRIEVABILITYAmerican Memory:
• Site Title: Historical collections; Author: Michigan state historical society
• Actual Titles:
– Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan (2nd Editions)
– Collections: Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The State Of Michigan (2nd Editions)
– Pioneer Collections (2nd Editions) – Historical Collections (2nd Editions & Reprints)
• Actual Authors:– Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan – Michigan Pioneer And Historical Society