mplp: a new tool for special collections access

Dennis MeissnerMinnesota Historical Society

ThesisThesisOur preeminent access and public service mission is compromised by our chronic inability to function at a meaningful scale

Special Collections holdings, as well as archives

A legacy of missed opportunities:Audience engagement and impactDigitizationDiscovery and delivery in webspace, at webscale

MPLP approaches , broadly construed, have potential

MPLP findingsMPLP findingsProcessing benchmarks and practices are inappropriate to deal with problems posed by large contemporary collections

Ideal vs. the necessary

Fixation on item-level tasks

Preservation anxieties trump user needs

We achieve only a fraction of our productive potential

Our processing actions contradict our managerial self image

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process driven

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process drivenResource insensitive

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process drivenResource insensitiveArtisan quality

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process drivenResource insensitiveArtisan qualityHigh unit cost

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process drivenResource insensitiveArtisan qualityHigh unit costLengthy turnaround

Old processing modelOld processing model

Process drivenResource insensitiveArtisan qualityHigh unit costLengthy turnaroundStable resources

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience driven

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience drivenResource sensitive

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience drivenResource sensitiveProduction quality

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience drivenResource sensitiveProduction qualityLow unit cost

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience drivenResource sensitiveProduction qualityLow unit costRapid turnaround

New processing modelNew processing model

Audience drivenResource sensitiveProduction qualityLow unit costRapid turnaroundUncertain resources

What MPLP really isWhat MPLP really isStern advice about resource management

Prioritizing goalsAchieving high-level program objectivesMaximizing cost-effectivenessPractical approaches, not millenial onesA profound change in approach and perspective

Making use the preeminent objective

Throwing away the cookie cuttersOpenness to archival innovationInstitutional practice limited only by resources

Extensible to non-archival collections and formats

What can MPLP mean for Special What can MPLP mean for Special Collections?Collections?

Flexible approach to leveraging our collective ability to provide access to research collections

Extensible to deal with novel problem spaces

Brevity in resource description is positive benefit in networked environments

Economical approaches are driving innovations in practice: Description; archival approaches; digitization

Elements of extensibilityElements of extensibility

Taking archival approaches to non-archival materials

Seeing “items” as collections

Adapting EAD finding aids

Using finding aids as discovery and delivery platforms

Early ImplementersEarly Implementers

University of Alaska—Fairbanks

Anne Foster ffalf@uaf.edu

Series level processing of extensive photographs

Lets use drive more intensive processing

Involves donor in processing continuum

Solicits $$ donations from donors for more processing

Early ImplementersEarly ImplementersUniversity of Wisconsin—Oshkosh

Joshua Ranger ranger@uwosh.edu

Series level processing of digitized collections

High-speed bi-tonal scanning of photocopied collection materials

The perfect is the enemy of the good

Move metadata level from item to folder level

Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Historical Society

Walter Mondale Papers

NEH “We the People” Project

High productivity + high-value products

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00697.xml

Mondale Papers finding aidMondale Papers finding aid

Mondale Papers finding aidMondale Papers finding aid

Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Historical SocietyWalter Mondale Papers

NEH “We the People” ProjectHigh productivity + high-value products

Rethinking items as collectionsPhotographs (albums and loose images, as well)Sheet musicBound publicationsMapsOral historiesAudio and moving image materialsDigitizing collections at scale

Photograph collectionsPhotograph collections

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/sv000057.xml

Sheet music collectionsSheet music collections

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/sv000057.xml

Telephone directoriesTelephone directories

Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Historical SocietyWalter Mondale Papers

NEH “We the People” ProjectHigh productivity + high-value products

Rethinking items as collectionsPhotographs (albums and loose images, as well)Sheet musicBound publicationsMapsOral historiesAudio and moving image materialsDigitizing collections at scale

WhyWhy should we digitize? should we digitize?

Expose collection materials to users, 24-7-365

Not for preservation (we already have the originals)

Create bigger audience impacts

Harness the power of Zipf’s Law

Implement user choices: Scan on Demand

How How should we digitize?should we digitize?PDFs: low-cost digital carriersPDFs: low-cost digital carriers

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00744.xml

The (im)Perfect PDFThe (im)Perfect PDFPerfection—the leading cause of program death

Scan with flatbed, camera, or photocopier

As fast as possible (whatever works)

JPEG quality (300 ppi max)

Bundle images into a single PDF

OCR, if it can be done cheaply

The (im)Perfect PDFThe (im)Perfect PDFThrow away the JPEGs! (no preservation value)

Create strong filenames

No added descriptive metadata (inherit from context)

Archival finding aids carry metadata, discovery, and access burden

RLG’s Scan on Demand white paper: http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2011/2011-05.pdf

PDFs: low-cost digital carriersPDFs: low-cost digital carriers

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00744.xml

PDFs: low-cost digital carriersPDFs: low-cost digital carriers

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00744.xml

“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now.”

--African proverb quoted by economist Dambisa Moyo

dennis.meissner@mnhs.org