vermont digital newspaper project: from reel to real
DESCRIPTION
Vermont digital newspaper project: From reel to real Presenter: Tom McMurdo, University of Vermont In June 2010, the University of Vermont (UVM) Libraries was awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project (VTDNP) as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) developed by NEH and the Library of Congress. The Project has selected, digitized, and made available nearly 130,000 pages of Vermont newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. The digitized newspapers are freely available to the public via the Library of Congress' Chronicling America database. The UVM Libraries work collaboratively with partners at the Vermont Department of Libraries in Montpelier, and the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury, who form the core of the Project planning and management group activities. Presenters will give an overview of VTDNP from planning stages and implementation, to creation of metadata and the transformation of microfilmed newspapers into online searchable content.TRANSCRIPT
The VTDNP: From Microfilm to Keyword-
Searchable Online Newspapers
Tom McMurdo, VTDNP Project Librarian
Microfilm is the basis of any NDNP project.
Why use negatives to make scans of newspapers?
Finding the negatives
Most master negatives of newspapers are “pre-standards.”
Microfilm Evaluation:
Acetate or polyester?Vinegar syndromeScanning quality
Scanning: In-house or vendor?
2 very different approaches: control versus overhead
Most National Digital Newspaper Program state projects outsource scanning.
Scanning RFP
There are several excellent companies working on NDNP state projects.
What are the criteria for evaluating this RFP?
Scanning vendors working in the NDNP
VTDNP Workflows
Title selectionMicrofilm: positives and negatives
Metadata creationScanning, OCR, and XML files
Quality reviewDelivery to LC
Searchable pages online
Title selection
Selections chosen through a rigorous process
Stakeholders
Justifiable process
Microfilm
Positive vs. negative film
Metadata creation:
Frame-by-frame inventory
Scanning, OCR, and XML files
Quality review of scans and files
Files to Library of Congress
Success!
Online searchable Vermont newspapers
Questions?