Curation (Filling the Queue)
Working with Collections Managers
Collections managers include:
Modern Materials: Head of Reference and Reader Services (Ashley Augustyniak)
Archives: Chief Curator of Archives and Manuscripts (Patrick Shea)
Rare Books: Curator of Rare Books (Jim Voelkel)
Museum: Head of Collections Management and Registration (Molly Sampson)
Oral History: Director of the Center for Oral History (Dave Caruso)
Excluding the Director of Oral History, each collection manager should regularly select items for inclusion in the Digital Collections following this process:
The collection manager selects material for digitization.
If library materials are selected, the collection manager checks out the items to the digitization library account.
The collection manager enters the material’s identifying information and digitization instructions into the Digitization Queue. The Digital Collection’s Librarian will receive an alert via email when this occurs.
The Digital Collection’s librarian will review the material for inclusion in the DC, making sure it aligns with the DC’s collecting policy, then confirm with the collection’s manager that the request has been received and ask any relevant questions.
The collection manager will retrieve the item, and leave it
In the Rare Book Room (Archives and Rare Books)
In the Digital Collections Libarian’s office (Modern Materials)
In room 632 (Museum objects)
After digitization, the Digital Collections Librarian should return the objects to the respective holding rooms or return any modern library materials. Alert the collection manager that the item may be reshelved.
Selection
Collections managers do not always have time for selections, and sometimes the queue can get sparse. The Digital Collections Librarian should also feel empowered to make selections for the digital collections by following these steps:
Use ongoing or future projects, exhibitions, or institutional themes to locate related materials. Make sure selections fit within the DC collecting policy.
Run your selections by the collection’s managers and get their approval.
Enter the items into the digitization queue.
Conduct Annual Copyright Expiration Sweep
At the end of each calendar year, take stock of works entering the public domain. The collection should be assessed for:
Works published 95 years ago in the new year. (In 2024, works published in 1928 entered the Public Domain.)
Unpublished works created by authors who will have died 70 years ago in the new year (In 2024, works of creators who died in 1954 enter the public domain.)
Unpublished anonymous, pseudonymous, corporate works, or unpublished works for which the death date of the author is unknown, that will have been created 120 years ago in the new year. (2024, works created in 1904 enter the public domain.)
Maintain Ongoing Application Engagements
As of December 2023
Digital Public Library of America/ PA Digital
PA Digital is the Pennsylvania service hub for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). PA Digital has a "standing order" to harvest all of the metadata sets published to https://digital.sciencehistory.org/oai each quarter. The scheduled harvests are in December, March, June, and September. Digital Collections Librarian should be added to the contributors listserv to receive harvest notifications.
To see metadata as harvested by our OAI/PMH, navigate to any record in the Digital Collections and type “.xml” behind the URL.
PA Digital only harvests metadata, not the assets themselves. Submitted metadata must, however, include a link back to the record on your local site, which allows the DPLA portal to point back to each object in its local context.
Contact info@padigital.org with questions.
Wikimedia Commons Partnership
Through DPLA, our public domain Digital Collections assets are also automatically contributed to Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Media_contributed_by_Science_History_Institute
Contact info@padigital.org with questions.
Digital Scriptorium
A representative from the Digital Scriptorium Project will reach out to the Science History Institute on an annual basis. Newly cataloged manuscript metadata should be shared at this time. DS will require:
MARC-XML file for each manuscript in a zip file.
Reminder that the shelfmarks are located in the 099 field.
a CSV file with the 001 control field numbers and the corresponding online catalog links
Details and metadata for previously shared metadata can be found in P:/Othmer Library/Tech Services/Rare Books and Manuscripts/Digital Scriptorium Metadata
Depending on the size and nature of the dataset, they are averaging between 2-6 weeks turnaround from data contribution to the population in the search interface, which includes several other steps (extraction, enrichment, transformation, etc.).
Contact LP Coladangelo, lcoladan@kent.edu with questions or concerns.
Act As Product Owner and Guide App Development
Bridge Development Team with Institute Stakeholders
Stay abreast of Institute priorities to determine opportunities for app improvement. Communicate stakeholder desires to developers and translate technical considerations or limitations to stakeholders. Account for ample time for developer maintenance of the site.
For large projects, ask developers to create a wiki page to track their research stage. See, for example:
New Projects: Submit a ticket on GitHub
Weekly Tech Team Meeting: Using ZenHub
Google Analytics
P:\Othmer Library\Digital Collections - Internal Access\Analytics\Google Analytics
User Onboarding/Offboarding
Onboarding
Institute IT will configure accounts for new staff for any programs appropriate to the role. If the new staff member needs access to the digital collections, it is the responsibility of the Digital Collections Librarian to create their account.
Any user with "Admin" level permission can make a new user on Production and/or Staging. Follow these steps on both the Production and Staging server and explain the difference to the new staff member.
Log in to Digital Collections and enter the staff dashboard.
Select "Users" from the Admin menu on the left-hand side.
Select "Create New User" and complete fields for "Email" and "Name."
Select User Type:
Select “Create User”
Once the user has been created, click the "Send password reset" button next to their name. The user will receive an email with instructions for resetting their password, which effectively activates their account. Please note that accounts created in Production do not automatically sync to Staging and vice versa. To create a new user account on both sites, repeat the process described above.
Offboarding
When a staff member with Digital Collections' access leaves the Institute, it is the responsibility of the Digital Collections Librarian to remove their access to the app.
Any user with "Admin" level permission can lock user accounts on Production and/or Staging.
Log in to Digital Collections and enter the staff dashboard.
Select "Users" from the Admin menu on the left-hand side.
Click "Edit" next to the appropriate user account.
Check the box for "Locked out" and click "Update User."
Please note that locking an account in Production does not automatically lock the account in Staging and vice versa. To lock an account on both sites, repeat the process described above.