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Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution

Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution. Michael Unsworth Humanities Librarian MSU Libraries unsworth@msu.edu. Outline of Talk. Genesis Why Should We Care Contents Why Digitize Publication History Bibliographic Treatment

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Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution

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  1. Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution Michael UnsworthHumanities Librarian MSU Librariesunsworth@msu.edu

  2. Outline of Talk • Genesis • Why Should We Care • Contents • Why Digitize • Publication History • Bibliographic Treatment • Digitizers • Analysis • Solutions/Coping Mechanisms • Conclusions

  3. GENESIS:Library Instruction Session

  4. WHY SHOULD WE CARE "The content of this forty volume history series, though uneven in quality, includesvaluable material. Every teacher of Michigan history will testify to itsusefulness. Even the less scholarly contributions constitute important evidence ofwhat a generation of pioneers regarded as significantin their history." Lewis G. Vander Velde, "The Michigan Historical Commission: 1913-1963," Michigan History Vol. 48, no. 2 (June 1964): 98.

  5. WHAT IT CONTAINS: • Letters • Speeches • Memorial Reports • Private and Professional Papers of Individuals • Personal Remembrances • Historical Essays • Documentary Material

  6. 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…”

  7. 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.”

  8. WHY DIGITIZE? • Scattered runs • Access restricted to libraries • Publishing inconsistencies • Poor quality paper • Loss of other materials • Promise of hi-tech indexing

  9. 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 .M47v.9 1886” Also checked out at MSUL: Vols. 1, 10-12; 15-18, 40 & Index for Vols 1-15

  10. 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.

  11. Michigan Historical Collections CAREFULL!!!

  12. 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)

  13. CAUTION!!! It neverhad the title of Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, but it’s beencommonly used to describe the entire collection.

  14. 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

  15. Bibliographic Treatment for 1st Ed.Latest Entry; OCLC #1757295

  16. DIGITIZERS

  17. SELECTIVE DIGITIZERS

  18. Library of Congress’ American Memory– 9 Unique Volumes

  19. Google Book Search– 27 Unique Volumes

  20. Internet Archive Texts Collection32 Unique Volumes

  21. University of Michigan Digital Library’s Making of America40 Unique Volumes

  22. ANALYSIS

  23. Analysis • 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.

  24. Analysis 2.Not all volumes digitized: • 1st. Ed.: 39 of 40 vol. were doneVol. 9 was not digitized by any project • 2nd. Ed.: just 13 of 21 vol. were done • The contents of all 40 vols. are accessible

  25. 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

  26. Analysis 4. No project treated it as a serial or collection: • No “one stop” listing • Can’t search authors or subjects across all volumes, as in:

  27. ANALYSIS: JSTOR

  28. Analysis 6. 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

  29. SOLUTIONS/COPING MECHANISMS

  30. 1. Get “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections” as an access point on bibliographic records (OCLC#8069520: WorldCat record)

  31. 2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto OPAC)

  32. 2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto MARC record)

  33. 3. Produce a comprehensive Web Guidehttp://libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC

  34. http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC

  35. 4. Selective Indexing

  36. Native Americans Guide

  37. Native Americans Guide

  38. Native Americans Guide

  39. 5. COMPREHENSIVE INDEXING PROJECTRequires $$$$

  40. CONCLUSIONS

  41. 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.

  42. 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.

  43. END

  44. DETAILED ANALYSISOF EACH PROJECT

  45. DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC)

  46. DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC) • 9 Vols digitized: all 2nd Ed. • Retrievability: • Title: Historical collections ONLY • Author: Michigan state historical society ONLY • Collection: LC

  47. Formats: Scanned HTML

  48. DIGITIZER: Google Book Search

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