Smithsonian Libraries

Digitization Dispatch: Call for Entries!

Hello again from the ground floor at the National Museum of Natural History! I thought I'd take this opportunity to refresh the collective memory about the digital History, Art, and Culture collection we have been working to build. 

Ideally, we'd have a digital copy of every book on every shelf in the Libraries, always available to researchers anywhere with a wifi signal. We'd have digital copies that mirror physical collections in both conventional and unconventional ways--from any number of simultaneous collections and uses. But until then, here we are, still in the early stages of (more) complete digital access. So, we have to make some decisions about selections that are informed by criteria particular to the requirements of the ways we do digitization. 

First, what makes a book a good scanning candidate, or how do we select?

• It's in our collection. We need to have access to the book in order to scan it.
• It was published before 1923. That means the publication date needs to be 1922 or prior. More on copyright can be found here. 

And that's it for first level clearance. Anything we have that was published prior to 1923 has potential. Second level clearance factors are a little more subjective and have to do with the book's physicality. Logistically, we are talking about creating image files of pages with a digital camera. Our scanning partner, the Internet Archive, literally takes a picture of every page. So, that means wide margins help. A high contrast of the legible letters on the page helps. Binding that easily opens fairly wide helps. Pages that are sturdy enough to handle being turned at a fairly rapid pace helps. There's some wiggle room with each of these criteria, so if you have a title in mind that's no longer in copyright, speak up! We'll have a look to determine scannibilty and ultimate access from the internet. And that's about it. That's the gist of the criteria for selecting titles for digitization. Please feel free to suggest titles in the comments! 

                                                                                                       Photo courtesy of Flickr user matt707

Thanks! 

 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Smithsonian Research Online

During the week of January 16-19th, I visited the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) to discuss several matters relating to the Smithsonian Research Online (SRO) program and to offer technical support and training to STRI library staff. I was accompanied from Washington by Digital Services Head, Martin Kalfatovic, who was to attend a three-day Encyclopedia-of-Life meeting at Barro-Colorado Island during the same week.

Together we met with Oris Sanjur (STRI Associate Director for Science Administration), Vielka Chang-Yau (STRI head librarian), Angel Aguirre (librarian), Klaus Winter (STRI scientist) and Eldredge Bermingham (STRI Director). Everyone was in agreement that STRI-authored publication data ought to be collected in one place and that the SIL is doing a good job of coordinating this program across all Institution units. The Director and Associate Director will discuss the specific needs of their unit and report back to SIL, who will propose a workflow to accomplish this.

Meanwhile, I held a brief introduction to the bibliographic tools, EndNote and Zotero for STRI library staff and volunteers. While we had a training room available to us, unfortunately there was not a copy of these programs available to all participants. But they were still able to see the possibilities of using these tools in day-to-day library services.

Alvin and Vielka review the SRO website and list of Smithsonian-authored publications using the newly-installed LCD screen in the STRI library. Photo courtesy of martin_kalfatovic via Flickr.

Finally, I met with Fernando Bouché (Head, Office of Information Technology) and STRI programmer, Carlos Caballero, to discuss the management of publication data, its re-use on the STRI web page and inclusion in the SI Collections search system (EDAN).

STRI scientists publish over 300 scholarly papers every year. Approximately 70% of them are captured automatically by the SRO via websites and associated tools. This circumvents the need for manual data entry. The inclusion of the complete corpus of work being done there is an essential part of representing the research being conducted at the Institution and the cooperation between the SI Libraries and STRI will bring the project to fruition.

 

 

 

Seeking Job Applications for a Development Position!

Do you like fundraising and libraries?  If so, we have the job for you!

The Smithsonian Libraries is seeking a Development Associate! This position will assist the Director of Development by managing the Libraries’ annual giving program and help with the preparation, planning and execution of donor-centered events associated with development and fundraising. We are looking for someone with two to four years of successful experience in annual gift fundraising (preferably in a library, university, or museum setting), and with exceptional writing and communication skills.

The Smithsonian Libraries is a dynamic enterprise that serves the information needs of Smithsonian staff and researchers and the general public worldwide. The Libraries builds and maintains nationally prominent collections in the fields of Smithsonian interest and hosts a website that reaches annually over 3.4 million individual visitors. The collections of over 1.7 million volumes, including 50,000 rare books and manuscripts, are particularly strong in natural history and biodiversity; history of science and technology; American, Asian, African, and contemporary art; design and decorative arts; aviation history and aerospace technology; and conservation. Electronic collections comprise over 4,000 online journals and databases. Libraries staff provide direct, personal service to Smithsonian scientists, researchers, and visitors through a network of 20 branch libraries located in museums and research facilities.

The Libraries offers an outreach program of exhibitions, lectures, publications, and other programs for the public. We seek to secure funding for the acquisition of new materials in all formats, including print and electronic. Other fundraising priorities include establishing a Director’s Fund to finance strategic initiatives that further the mission of the Smithsonian Libraries; raising money for digitization of materials for the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the American History and Culture collections, and world art & design collections, and establishing an endowed fellowship program for recognized scholars and researchers to use the Libraries’ special collections.

Interested candidates should submit their resumes and a cover letter to odstaffing@si.edu by February 6, 2012. Please indicate the organization for which you are applying in the subject line of your e-mail.

To learn more about the Smithsonian Libraries, please visit http://www.sil.si.edu.

Good luck!

 

Laura J. Snyder to Deliver 2011 Dibner Library Lecture

The Smithsonian Libraries will hold the 2011 Dibner Library Lecture on Tuesday, December 6 at 5 p.m. in the Smithsonian Castle Commons. The lecture is free and open to the public.

This year's guest lecturer is author Laura J. Snyder, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. John’s University in New York City. At the Smithsonian Libraries event, Snyder will speak on “The Philosophical Breakfast Club and the Invention of the Scientist.”

 

Snyder is a Life Member of Clare Hall College, Cambridge, and served as President of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science in 2009 and 2010. Her most recent book, “The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends who Transformed Science and Changed the World” (Broadway Books, 2011), was a Scientific American Notable Book, an Official Selection of the TED Book Club, and winner of the 2011 Royal Institution of Australia Poll for Favorite Science Book. She is also the author “Reforming Philosophy: A Victorian Debate on Science and Society” (University of Chicago Press, 2006). 

 

Begun in 1992, the Dibner Library Lectures feature a distinguished scholar who has made significant contributions to his or her field of study. Previous lecturers include British historian Richard Holmes and Harvard University professor Joyce E. Chaplin. Since 2000, the Dibner Library Lecture has become available in published form. The lectures are also posted online at http://www.sil.si.edu/libraries/Dibner/programs.cfm. The lecture series and its publication are made possible by the generous support of The Dibner Fund.

The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, one of the Smithsonian Libraries’ 20 locations, opened in October 1976. The library's core collection of 10,000 rare books and 1,600 manuscript groups came to the Smithsonian from the Burndy Library, founded by Bern Dibner in Norwalk, Conn., at the time of America’s bicentennial celebrations. The collection includes premier scientific texts spanning the 13th to the early 20th centuries and has grown to form one of the cornerstones of the Smithsonian Libraries' collections. For 35 years, this library has provided vital primary sources to scholars, curators and members of the scientific community.

 (Photo courtesy of Ms. Snyder)