Minutes, January 9, 2009

Maryland History and Culture Collaborative (MHCC)
Oxon Hill Branch of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD
January 9, 2009

Attendees:

Aiden Faust (AF), UB
Alison Foley (AFO), St. Mary's Seminary and University
Ann Hudak (AH), UMCP
Anne Turkos (AT), UMCP
Beth Alvarez (BA), UMCP
Bill Cady (BC), EPFL/SLRC, Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage
Barbara O'Brien (BO), McDaniel College
Bill Sleeman (BS), UM Law
Colleen Formby (CF), PGCMLS, Maryland Room
David Angerhofer, (DA), Maryland Historical Society
Doug McElrath (DM), UMCP
Elizabeth Howe (EH), Washington County Free LibraryJill Craig (JC), Western MD Regional Library
John Gartrell (JG), Afro-American Newspapers
Joni Jones (JJ), Banneker-Douglass Museum
Jennie Levine (JLV), UMCP
Katherine Baer (KB), MD State Law Library
Kathy Cowan (KC), MICA
Kat Ryner (KR), St. Mary's College of Maryland
Lindsey Loeper (LL), UMBC
Mary Mannix (MM), Frederick County Public Library
Megan McShea (MMS), Archives of American Art
Martha Ruff (MR), Prince George's County Public Library
Michael Scott (MS) EPFL, MDCH
Robin Emrich (RE), Columbia Archives
Rob Schoeberlein (RS), MD State Archives
Rob Shindle (RSH), UB
Shelia Bailey (SB), UMES
Susan Graham (SG), UMBC

I. Brief Introductions

II. Tour of the http://www.pgcmls.info/SpColl/Sojourner/Sojourner.html Sojourner Truth Room

III. Wiki Update (Lindsey Loeper)

Front page: list of specializations

Repository Listings (Maryland Repository Registry)

Template available
Provides sample wording for people to choose from
Free text - allows for detailed description of holdings
Tagging feature - tag repository pages with subjects or formats

Allows for listing of subject guides from member institutions

History Day section

Digital Projects: List of standards, collaborations, types of packages

Other Resources: Repositories outside the state with collections of
Maryland materials

Special "for MHCC members" secton

Includes minutes from meetings (are they all current?) [LL - I think they are! I pulled them from the blog]
"In the Works" section - place for ideas that we were thinking about

NEXT STEPS: Everyone should fill out their Wiki entry by the next
Collaborative Meeting. Wiki group will remind people to do this.

Different people can focus on special parts

Tagging could be implemented later. Perhaps the Wiki committee could go
back and work on this later

Can you tag within entries. Lindsey asks people to ask about features.
For example, you can make polls with the Wiki.

DE: Separate blog necessary? Group decided no. Lindsey will figure out
how to set up the RSS feed and then we will no longer use the blog

Wiki Committee: Lindsey Loeper, Susan Graham, Michael Scott, Barbara
O'Brien, Rob Jenson, Rob Schindler

IV. Chesapeake Project (Katherine Baer)

The Chesapeake Project was implemented in early 2007 under the auspices of the Legal Information Preservation Alliance (LIPA), an independent organization of law libraries supported by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), by three LIPA-member libraries: the Georgetown Law Library and the State Law Libraries of Maryland and Virginia.

The 3 libraries share a CONTENTdm license but they work independently and have different missions; the Maryland Law Library focuses on MD State documents, Virginia has focused on the judiciary, and Georgetown has been selective but may begin to focus on DC documents.

They have used web harvesting in conjunction with original cataloging and the creation of OCLC records (needed OCLC #). Their collection plan is available on the website.

At the end of the year, they did some checking, and 18% of Maryland documents were no longer on the web by the end of the year

865 titles in Maryland section, 1812 items total (this includes serials).

Full-text search available through CONTENTdm. Mostly harvesting PDFs, some Word docs.

Link to list of 856 titles if you want to attach the WorldCat link in your own catalog (the link is included in the handout)

KR: How often do you harvest and add new records?
KB: Several times/week. Innovative (software). Uses Maryland Documents from the Legislature, to identify things. Uses Maryland Clipper also, to find items.

Question: Is any automation involved in this harvesting? Answer: No, although she uses "Watch that Page" service. Any time a page is changed, an email is sent to the user.

Question: How has the collaboration aspect worked? Meet quarterly. Reliant on three directors of the library to work together. All directors supportive of this project. Three groups split fee for ContentDM. Georgetown hired a person just for this project.

Hoping to create a national movement and get other law libraries involved.

DE: Are you looking to work with the State Archives or Division of Documents? Answer: They know about the project, but there are no active plans to work together.

KR: Would it be helpful to have people feed you information on documents? For example, at the county level? Answer: Yes - for example, they are working on municipal codes now
Digitizing old task force reports from the 1950s-1980s. Rule Committee minutes: in PTFS (Digital Collections of the Maryland State Law Library)

V. Digitization subgroup formation (Jennie Levine)

Proposal: To form a subgroup to explore and flesh out themes and ideas for statewide collaborative digital projects.

DE's poll found that many members are interested in collaborating on digital projects. Subgroup structure worked well for wiki; group agreed that forming a digitization subgroup is a good idea.

May use digital projects section on the wiki for ideas discussion.

Email Jennie if interested (levjen@umd.edu)

Need to determine a mission, topics (Civil War, War of 1812, literature?) - would a more focused topic be more manageable? What does digital collaboration look like? Would a portal to digital collections be helpful?

MMS: Suggests oral histories - they are typically under used due to the audio format
BA: Suggest folk lore materials
RS: The MD Arts Council transferred to the State Archives their collection of radio recordings, folklore, oral histories; they are on reel to reel with no available equipment to transfer.
JLV: UMCP's former audiovisual archivist set up an audio transfer lab but the current staff isn't familiar with using the equipment. Can we collect a listing of MHCC members that have the equipment to digitize specific formats (maps, audio, etc)?
RS: Has digitized cassette tapes.
BA: Folklore may be more engaging that the Civil War and include more organizations
KC: Charley Camp, MICA professor, specializes in folklore. This topic would also be a service to research community by making unavailable collections available.
SB: What would be our desired outcome? Information on the wiki? A traveling exhibit?
JLV: Current context would be online but we could expand to other outlets, maybe educational programming. Oral history has some limitations (use agreements, etc). This project would show collaboration within state organizations; funding sources are interested in collaborative projects and would be a good basis for a joint grant.
MMS: The Grammy Foundation has grants for sound collections (http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Foundation/Grants/)
BO: Also suggest IMLS for collaborations
BA: Could seek out start up grants to build a focus, to ground and expand a project. Coupling organizations with fewer resources, leveraged with those with more - this was a founding principle for the MHCC.
MS: Suggests pulling existing digital collections to a create a larger project, or pull single items from different organizations - versus starting from scratch.

JLV: We need a framework. 1)What do people want? 2) How do we best provide information? 3) What levels of interpretation and/or interaction do we want? Then we can develop a prototype of what we want as an end product.

AT: Suggests a digital images clearinghouse or central module that points to existing collections.

DE: NEH is funding the digitization of newspapers.

JLV: Newspapers could be a straightforward project. Many MD publications are available in Googlebooks and the Internet Archive; they are available but how do we draw them together or instruct researchers how to use and find them? How or should we represent that these books are available online in our own catalogs? KR and AT suggest using the Maryland History and Culture Bibliography infrastructure, linking from the Bibliography out to the digital copies of the publications. JLV notes that users of the Bibliography have expressed frustration that it is a static document and does not link to materials or catalog. This may be a starting point.

KC: Questions how organizations handle maintaining copyright over the bibliographies that they produce, so that someone else does not take that content and publish it for profit.

MMS: Suggests Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/)

JLV: This is also a problem with web harvesting - many websites do not specify copyrights or include use statements.

Break for lunch

Introduction to Muriel Ferguson, a member of Friends of Oxon Hill and BISA, Black women In Sisterhood for Action. In partnership with both the Friends and BISA, calendars are available for $10 and all proceeds go to the two groups. MHCC libraries may sell these calendars at the their own branches if requested. Ferguson also encouraged the group to explore the Oxon Hill library with particular emphasis on the stained glass artwork which had been acquired using grant funds for public artwork.

VI. Strategies for advocacy (Doug McElrath)

Proposal: To discuss ways that the Maryland History and Culture Collaborative can continue to play a role of advocacy for cultural institutions across the state.

DE: MHCC has a history of advocating on behalf of Maryland cultural institutions and collections, one example being the Baltimore City Archives letter of concern and Aiden Faust's recent presentation on the topic. The subgroup would work on an agenda, mission, possible projects for advocacy within and external from MHCC members.

KC: Build presence through exhibitions, events, speakers, and other programming

JLV: Members can use the email reflector to reach out to colleagues. Members can ask questions within the group, discuss strategies for working with administrators, etc. Will send out listing of subscribers on the list. Subscribers listing, including name, institution, and e-mail (restricted to logged in users only).

BC: Suggests posting an open letter from MHCC on the wiki expressing concern about the state of archiving in Maryland. This letter would be from the group, would list names of petitioners, and would be available for comment and revision.

JLV: Should also consider the mission statement currently posted on wiki - does this reflect our goals?

DE: According to the Fall 2008 poll, members like the informality of the group because it provides flexibility

KC: Will an informal structure hurt the group when applying for grants?

DE: The grants would need to be based in a home institution although prepared and supported by MHCC. Would like to create a section for advocacy on the wiki and restrict these pages to members only. Use the wiki and email reflector to continue to share problems and concerns. (Editor's note: I set up an advocacy sectionunderneath the For MHCC Members section. The main advocacy home page and all child pages created underneath it are restricted to logged in members only - another reason to log in!)

VII. Information Sharing

RS: The Baltimore City Archives have been transferred to the State Archives. There are plans for a new building in Baltimore City and then the records will be returned. All materials transferred are in the catalog, including 40-50 reels of church records. You can view the collection inventory online. Some pages on their website are password protected - log in name AACO and password AACO# should allow access to most digital collections. Maria Day has been hired as the assistant director.

MMS: Works with audiovisual materials in a manuscript repository. Projects include surveying the holdings, establishing a digital work station, writing grants, and establishing emerging standards for video and audio.

BO: Library budget has been cut by 10%, but will be able to hire first student worker.

SB: Is serving as the Interim Dean. They are dealing with furloughs; will be able to hire for two positions but will lose two director positions. Hosted African American Reading Day including a panel and the President's Reading Day (Big Read). This year they will be using "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama.

JC: Digitization of Western Maryland materials

EH: Creation of phase boxes for rare books. Outreach includes an exhibit for Archives Month, "Caring for Your Treasures" community workshop. EH is also working on a private African American collection in Hagerstown.

RE: Sales of new book are going well ("Oh, you must live in Columbia: The origins of place names in Columbia, Maryland"), they are hosting talks in conjunction with release. Has Archives Month open house. Had a well attended History Day presentation and now have 10 students performing research. Columbia Bike Bout combines history with the bike trails.

JG: Collaborated with Maryland Humanities Council on exhibit about Rosa Parks; all images are from the Afro-American and the exhibit is traveling if other institutions are interested (has been at Lexington Market, now at the Charles Center Metro station). A three year grant with Johns Hopkins just ended.

KC: The main building at MICA was dedicated in 1908 and the library put together an exhibit that led to other celebrations on campus. The publicity led to the discovery of a second, well preserved copy of the building's blue prints, which were digitized.

CF: Held an introduction to preservation, with major Friends support. In March they are holding a genealogy research session to help researchers understand which area institutions hold which types of materials (PGC Genealogical Society, PGC Historical Society). They are working on digitization projects including a collection of historic house photographs and scrapbooks documenting the Baltimore Fire. MS recommended contacting her to talk about MDCH support.

RSH: Distributed materials about a new exhibit, Mosiac, opening January 15th. The website documenting Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth is now online. A new law school building is being planned and the Langsdale Libary will then move into the former Law building because of extensive structural problems in the current library. Plans for hiring project archivist have been frozen.

AF: Is at University of Baltimore working on the Scottish American Collection as well as at the National Park Service working on the digitization of the National Register.

BA: Planning Maryland Day activities including staged performances of children's stories, featuring library staff as the actors. Maryland Day is held the last Saturday in April (4/25/2009).

AT: Collaborative projects with the UMCP Band for their 100th anniversary including an exhibit in Hornbake Library and a new historical text and song book, which will be out in the Spring.

AH: An online version of the Nancy Drew exhibit is now available. The Well Dressed Book exhibit is still on display in Hornbake.

BS: UMB Law Library Archivist, Special Collections Library. Recently released 2 collections of papers by Lena Lee and Constance Baker Motley. They have received the papers of former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke. A Thurgood Marshall exhibit is going on display; informed MHCC that Thurgood Marshall papers are not at UMLaw, still in posession of Marshall family.

KR: Brought free copies of the Slackwater Journal; includes oral histories from Southern Maryland, focusing on rural life. Recent issues have been based on women, African American communities, fishing, and tobacco and the Fall 2009 edition is about the 1960s. The Archives have the oral history tapes and transcripts and they are in the process of digitizing both. Metadata records for the transcripts are available online.

JLV: Suggests that if you are aware or are offered a collection but decline to accept it, please post information to list and we may as a group be able to discuss other options. The Dean of libraries at UMCP has resigned and a search is in progress, still accepting applications. Participated in a 14 member pilot project with the Internet Archives to digitize publications (mass digitization) that are out of copyright. Members pay PALINET, send materials for digitization to Internet Archive - the items must have a MARC record. IA provides high res JPEG2000 (original and cropped) and an OCR PDF. Primarily accepting book materials but will also do microfilm. Please ask JLV or KR for opinion if interested. UMCP sent course catalogs on microfilm, 13-1500 volumes.

KR: For IA project St. Mary's sent historical books in public domain. Preperatory work revealed that many historical Maryland texts are already available online (IA, GoogleBooks).

JLV: UMCP is dealing with furloughs and hiring freeze. The Office of Digital Collections has had a severe staff cut and now JLV is the only full time non-tech position. David Kennedy is leaving. They are using Fedora, an open source program which requires programming support that may not be available under current staffing.

SG: Hired a student to work full time during the winter session scanning glass plates negatives from a Baltimore advertising company featuring Baltimore street scenes. Will be launching PastPerfect online in the next few months, creating one search interface for approx 20 databases (currently have 20 seperate interfaces). A new exhibit is opening on Jan 28 in the Library Gallery, Photographs of James L. Amos; the exhibit will be up until March 23.

LL: Focusing on processing of Baltimore Sun Archives, including financial and labor records. Also working to build University Archives holdings in digital collections.

JJ: Banneker-Douglass Museum is affiliated with the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. They will be celebrating their 25th anniversary and JJ is working on a documentary, "talkumentary" by April. She has interviewed former City Executive Joe Alton. BD Museum is hiring two student interns for April-June work.

AF: She has been working on the Catholic Review photo collection, pre-1982, and the Sister Corita Kent Collection.

BC: Creating metadata for Capital Improvements in Baltimore City; includes photographs and reports, features Henry Barnes, traffic czar.

MS: Working on a collection of Maryland Colonial currency, and the Erin Sulpher Collection which features WPA artists. She is developing more relationship building, please contact her if you would like to collaborate! mscott@prattlibrary.org

DE: Is conducting private research on 19th Century printing history in Baltimore. With the assitance of graduate students he has created a database of book arts professionals. He will be collaborating with MITH (Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities) to build a dynamic map.

MR: They are hosting an MLK Day event featuring Congresswoman Donna Edwards (MD's first African American Congresswoman) and Ebony Strings (from Juilliard). They will be having an African American Read-In on Fab 7th, Coretta Scott King Award books. The card catalog in the Sojourner Truth Room includes a biography and literature index from anthologies; they need volunteers to enter this information into a database. They are getting a new catalog system- Polaris. There is a hiring freeze, and there is a new director for the library system.

DA: The Library should be sparred this fiscal year. They are focusing on their backlog. Expected to consolidate the photographs databases this March. Special Collections will be moving back to the pre-2003 space instead of having their "reading room" in the Library. They are working on a digitization project using external funding - the Hildenburg Project contains German-American newspapers and will eventually serve as a clearinghouse for other German-American materials. They also digitized the Betsy Bonaparte papers.