Dickinson Family Library, Herman Melville Library projects

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Last updated: Aug 08, 2023 by Vernica DowneyVersion comment
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Digitizing the Dickinson Family Library (DFL) and Herman Melville's library are ongoing projects. As these projects are administered by the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts – spreadsheets for tracking and managing the project are in the Modern folder in the shared drive, but the Metadata assistant is not responsible for maintaining these. The Metadata Assistant is responsible only for metadata and linking.

Procedures creating metadata for the digital objects and linking in ArchivesSpace and HOLLIS are in most ways identical to those for OTC orders. 

Key differences are summarized below:

  • Object ID: For DFL, use the HOLLIS number for the unique object ID. For Melville, use the call number.
  • Order names: No order number are used.
  • Object label: Include "Dickinson Family Library copy" or "Herman Melville copy" before call number.
  • OCR: Yes
  • Save spreadsheets here H:\Imaging_and_Houghton\projects\Dickinson Family Library and here H:\Imaging_and_Houghton\projects\Melville Marginalia. 

For DFL/Melville going to Lab:

  • The Metadata Assistant creates the spreadsheets after deposit. Unlike OTC orders, DFL and Melville books will be sent directly to the lab. They do not need to be delivered to the Metadata Assistant. When digitization has been completed, Imaging staff copy JPEGs to a folder and notify Metadata Assistant that they are ready for review, here: H:\Imaging_and_Houghton\projects\Dickinson Family Library\QC_Imaging_Service or here: H:\Imaging_and_Houghton\projects\Melville Marginalia\QC_Imaging_Service. Metadata Assistant reviews JPEGs to make sure all is in order and nothing skipped (Important for Melville books only: make sure they remembered to image the spine) – and then creates spreadsheet.
  • Spreadsheets are derived from Template 1. Example:
  • After spreadsheets are created, notify Imaging staff that they are ready for deposit. Delete JPEGS from the QC folders after review so they don't waste space on the shared drive.
  • After Deposit: Edit PDS object in the DRS2 to create page-level metadata (i.e. "front cover," page numbers, etc.). Refer to documents created by the Assistant Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts for copy-specific annotations (saved here H:\HOUGHTON\Modern\EDR Project\Markings in EDR books).

For DFL/Melville going to Studio:

  • Workflow same as for OTC orders. Use Template 2. Page-level metadata required.
  • Refer to documents created by the Assistant Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts for copy-specific annotations, bookplates, etc. (saved here H:\HOUGHTON\Modern\EDR Project\Markings in EDR books).
  • Example:

DFL/Melville links: