Ohio Memory Project

Ohio Memory Project : 

Ohio Memory Project Digital Library Presentation Lisa P. Rickey LIS 7850 – Wayne State University Jan. 30, 2010

Ohio Memory Project : 

Ohio Memory Project Available on the Ohio Historical Society’s web site, at: http://www.ohiomemory.org/ A digital scrapbook of state history and primary sources, gathered through submissions from institutions all over the state. “Collections in the scrapbook represent a diversity of formats, subjects, time periods, and geographic areas.” Meant to be “a celebration of state history.” Planned and created from 1995-2003, in preparation for Ohio’s Bicentennial celebrations in 2003. More than 13,487 digital images from 250+ institutions

Screen Shot : 

Screen Shot

Author / Creator : 

Author / Creator Planners & Facilitators of the Collaborative Project: Ohio Historical Society; Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB); State Library of Ohio; Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN); Ohio Library Council Funded By: $500,000 grant from OPLIN to OHS (2002) Ohio Bicentennial Commission & State Library’s Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant (2002-2003) Actual Content Provided By: More than 250 cultural institutions throughout the state Ownership of actual analog items is held by the contributing institutions, which includes Ohio Historical Society & others

Content: Selection Criteria : 

Content: Selection Criteria Historical significance Is it important in Ohio history? Scanning potential Is it suitable for digitization? Complementary value Mesh with other Ohio Memory items to present a balance Ownership and copyrights Does the contributing institution hold the property and copyrights to allow them to share it online? Is the item available for public research?

Technologies: Digital Library System : 

Technologies: Digital Library System What system is used? CONTENTdm Where is it hosted, and who is responsible for it? Ohio Historical Society

Technologies: Media Types & File Formats : 

Technologies: Media Types & File Formats Media Types Digitized photographs & manuscripts Digital photographs of 3-D objects Textual documents Videos File Formats TIF image files Manuscripts not transcribed Keyword searchable PDF documents

Description & Metadata : 

Description & Metadata Description Some are more detailed than others; probably contributed by the original insititutions Full Text? (Maybe) Some of the PDF items seem to be full text searchable Transcripts of video/audio sometimes available Searchable transcriptions not included for manuscripts Subject headings Appears to be controlled vocabulary but not always LCSH Clickable search not always working properly with these

Retrieval Performance : 

Retrieval Performance Excellent searching capabilities; fast (when it works) Problems with original site being “down” http://www.ohiomemory.org/ New site not completely re-built http://www.ohiohistory.org/portal/ohiomemory-p.html Problems with controlled vocabulary in subjects Should be able to click on an entire subject-heading phrase to return more items with the same subject heading In some cases, controlled vocab is not working correctly so you are only able to click on one word at a time.

Retrieval Performance : 

Retrieval Performance Screen shot of search results

Usability & Design : 

Usability & Design Browse by subject, place, or contributor Exhibits Creator

Slide 12: 

Browse by Subject

Slide 13: 

Click on place name from list Click on county from the map Browse by Place

Browse by Place : 

Browse by Place

Browse by Contributing Institution : 

Browse by Contributing Institution

Browse by Contributing Institution : 

Browse by Contributing Institution

Usability & Design : 

Usability & Design Restrict searching by format: Archaeological objects Photographs State agency pubs Historical objects Manuscripts Natural history speciments Newspapers Video

Usability & Design : 

Usability & Design Explore by collection title (drop-down menu)

Slide 19: 

Standard to CONTENTdm: Advanced Search Favorites Usability & Design: CONTENTdm

Support of Scholarship : 

Support of Scholarship Subject Category Essays “Short essays on twenty-two topics in Ohio’s rich history” Each includes a link to relevant items in the Ohio Memory collections Extremely helpful for K-12 teachers or other scholars and researchers looking for primary sources on a particular topic

Copyrights : 

Copyrights Most items are early enough that they are in public domain From the Selection Policy: The institution must hold property rights to the collection or item and make it available to the public for research. Items that violate copyright restrictions will not be included in Ohio Memory without the permission of the holder of the copyright. If your item is protected by copyright, you must include a signed release from the copyright holder. But just in case, statements such as: Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information

Conclusions : 

Conclusions Overall great site – when it works Extremely useful for historians interested in primary source research materials related to the history of the state of Ohio Extremely interesting to members of the general public who like to look at “cool old things” However, “when it works” is important key If site is unreliable, people may not use it. Principle #4 states: “A good collection is broadly available and avoids unnecessary impediments to use” (NISO, 2007, p. 4, 11-12).

Questions? Comments? : 

Questions? Comments? Thank you!