National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) Awardee Interim Performance Report #1 Delaware Digital Newspaper Project (DDNP)

Transcription

1 ! National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) Awardee Interim Performance Report #1 Delaware Digital Newspaper Project (DDNP) Report Period: September 1, 2015 March 31, 2016 NEH Award Number: PJ NDNP State: Delaware (University of Delaware Library) Submitted By: Molly Olney-Zide Report Date: March 31, 2016 Interim Performance Report Narrative 1) Describe any changes that you have made or that you anticipate making in the project work plan or methodology from the award proposal submitted to the competition. No changes to the University of Delaware (UD) Library project work plan or methodology for the Delaware Digital Newspaper Project (DDNP) have been made at this point in the project and no specific changes are anticipated yet. 2) Please describe any selection or film acquisition/evaluation activities during the performance period. For the sample microfilm reel, the UD Library chose the Wilmington Daily Gazette (January 1, 1873 December 31, 1873). Two reasons why this particular reel was chosen was because it contains only one newspaper title, and the content (approximately 1,300 pages) fills a large percentage of the space available on the reel. It should provide a best-case example of future microfilm reels that are duplicated and digitized for the project. Before sending this sample reel for duplication and digitization, it was inspected and collated. In order to best evaluate the microfilm reels included in the DDNP, the project team purchased a new microfilm reader: ST Imaging s ST ViewsScan III microfilm scanner ( This scanner is housed in the Collection for Digital Collections department and is used only by library staff for the DDNP. It was purchased using library funds and was delivered in January ) Describe any specific award activities that have taken place between collaborating institutions in your state.! NDNP$Interim$Report$#1$ 1$

2 !! No official award activities have taken place between the UD Library and collaborating institutions within Delaware. Preliminary discussions have begun with the Delaware Public Archives ( about including their microfilmed newspaper holdings in a future award cycle, but nothing has been planned for the 2015/2017 award cycle. 4) Describe specifically your progress in conversion and/or vendor selection (attach documentation as desired). The UD Library chose The Crowley Company located in Frederick, MD for microfilm duplication services. The Library has successfully worked with Crowley in the past, and their close proximity to Newark, DE makes them a good choice for duplication services during this project. All of the microfilm digitization companies considered for the DDNP have been involved with other NDNP digitization projects and are familiar with all NDNP specifications and Digital Viewer Validation (DVV). In October 2016, the UD Library posted a request for proposal, and in early November 2016 received price proposals from Apex CoVantage (Herndon, VA) and HTC Global (Troy, MI). Because the DDNP is nearly half the size of other NDNP projects, price proposals may not have come from all companies due to the small size of the project. After reviewing both price proposals, HTC Global was chosen as the scanning and digitization vendor. The DDNP s sample microfilm reel was sent to Crowley on November 23, 2015 for duplication, and it was sent to HTC Global for scanning and digitization in late January The digitized pages housed on an external hard drive returned from HTC Global on March 8, The duplicate of our sample reel will be held by HTC Global until we notify them that they digitized files are correct. 5) Do you have any questions or comments regarding the use of the tools provided by LC (Digital Viewer Validation)? There are no questions regarding the DVV at this time, but questions may arise after the sample reel and digitized files arrive from HTC. 6) Provide an update on your planned schedule for delivery of digital assets to the NDNP repository. Include anticipated number of files to be delivered and planned means of delivery or transfer. (Keep in mind the delivery deadlines noted in the Cooperative Agreement Document, but also take into consideration your own resources and workflow plans. LC requests that you plan to deliver new data monthly, with one batch per hard drive. Batches that have been submitted and require rework should be shipped to LC as soon as fixes are complete (send more than one hard drive at a time, if needed.) Upon notification that the DDNP sample reel meets all NDNP specifications, the UD Library will begin sending out additional microfilm reels for scanning and digitization. The first batch of microfilm reels was sent to Crowley for duplication on March 22, The exact dates for delivery of digital assets will! NDNP$Interim$Report$#1$ 2$

3 ! remain dependent on the quality/timeliness of HTC Global. The planned schedule for the 2015/2017 award cycle is as follows: Microfilm reels (roughly 120 total) sent to Crowley for priority duplication in two batches Duplicate reels sent to HTC Global for digitization on a continual basis Up to one batch per month sent to the NDNP repository Up to 7,000 pages per batch Batches loaded on 2 TB hard drive and shipped to the Library of Congress 7) State briefly the status of any other digitized newspaper activities in your or collaborating partners institutions (non-ndnp-funded). Prior to acceptance into the NDNP, the UD Library participated in efforts to digitize the Newark Post, a local newspaper that began in Although 12 years of this newspaper will overlap with the DDNP, original digitization efforts did not meet the current NDNP specifications and cannot be included in the new project without additional work. The UD Library is interested in eventually incorporating the Newark Post into the DDNP, but updating the existing digital files and meeting all other specifications is currently being considered for a future award cycle. 8) Please provide copies of or URLs for any public presentations or publications on topics related to your participation in NDNP (or describe future plans for such). The Delaware Digital Newspaper Project (DDNP) has been publicly acknowledged and promoted through multiple venues since the beginning of the project in September 2015: On November 17, 2015, the NDNP grant was announced in the University of Delaware s daily online newspaper, UDaily ( in an article titled Digitizing newspapers: UD Library receives National Digital Newspaper Program grant from NEH : In October 2015, a public blog titled Delaware Digital Newspaper Project ( was created and is directly linked from the UD Library s website. This includes information about NDNP, Chronicling America, the project team, the project advisory board, and project newspaper title list. New content is posted on average 2-3 times per month since October and highlights project updates/milestones and interesting finds from other participating states newspapers. Molly Olney-Zide, project manager, maintains this blog. In October 2015, a DDNP Twitter account was created ( Molly Olney-Zide maintains this Twitter account. On February 8, 2016, Molly Olney-Zide was invited to give a presentation to the Reference Services Group of the Delaware Public Libraries entitled Chronicling America: Searching Historical American Newspapers (slides attached). The presentation outlined the NDNP, the! NDNP$Interim$Report$#1$ 3$

4 !! DDNP, and guided attendees through the different levels of searching offered through Chronicling America to help with reference services (handout attached). Upcoming plans: During summer 2016, Molly Olney-Zide will provide in-service training and project updates to the UD Library staff. These presentations will not be provided publicly this summer, but we will consider expanding training to the public in the future depending on need and interest. 9) Describe any follow-up issues or questions you would like convey to the NDNP program committee. There are no follow-up issues or questions at this time. Please submit to NEH via e-gms with a copy to ndnptech@loc.gov, by March 31, 2016.! NDNP$Interim$Report$#1$ 4$

5 Chronicling America: Searching Historical American Newspapers Chronicling*America'(ChronAm)'website:' Quick&Facts 45'='Total'state/province'representation'(includes'DC,'Piedmont,'Puerto'Rico) 1,968'='Total'titles'available'(as'of'2/1/2016) 10,334,379'='Total'digitized'pages'(as'of'2/1/2016) Searching&ChronAm Simple'Search Use'for'an'initial'search'to'retrieve'the'most'inclusive'results' Allows'for'choice'of'state'and'date' Example:'Search'for' tin'pan'alley ' 282'results'from'all'states' New*York*Tribune,'April'16,'1922'(p.'64)'YY' If'it'isn t'a'song'of'the'south,'take'it'away 'by' Arthur'Chapman:' 1/seqY64/''' Advanced'Search Use'for'a'more'detailed'search'to'narrow'results' Allows'for'choice'of'state,'newspaper,'year,'specific'date,'language,'etc.'(all'optional)' Check'box'for' only'front'page'or'specific'page 'if'you'want'to'limit'location'of'results' Use'quotation'marks'to'guarantee'a'phrase'search'(i.e.' tin'pan'alley)' All'Digitized'Newspapers'1836Y1922 Use'if'you'want'to'search'within'a'specific'newspaper'title' View'titles'for'a'specific'state'or'show'full'list'of'all'digitized'papers' Full'list'shows'state,'title,'date,'#'of'issues'available,'etc.' US'Newspaper'Directory'1690Ypresent Use'for'newspapers'not'yet'digitized'' Search'for'specific'title'retrieves'public'catalog'record' Basic'newspaper'information' Preceding/Succeeding'titles'YY'indicates'newspaper'title'changes' Libraries'that'own'it' MARC'record' 2/1/2016,'MOZ

6 Searching&Limitations Because'Delaware'joined'the'National'Digital'Newspaper'Program'in'2015,'Delaware'newspapers' will'not'be'fully'digitized'and'available'on'chronam'until'the'end'of'2016.' OCR'text'is'not'verified'and'cannot'always'be'perfect.'Poor'scanning'quality'(i.e.'faded'or'too'close' to'gutter)'may'affect'some'searches.'key'phrases'and'names'often'appear'multiple'times'in'an' article,'which'should'include'them'within'searches.' Newspapers'don t'lend'themselves'to'be'read'on'a'computer'screen.'opening'in'pdf'view'makes' viewing'easier.' You'can'download'single'pages,'but'you'cannot'download'a'full'issue'of'a'paper.' Search'preferences'and'search'terms'do'not'always'save'from'one'search'to'another.' Links About'Chronicling*America National'Digital'Newspaper'Program'(NDNP) U.S.'Newspaper'Program'(USNP) OCR'(Optical'Character'Recognition) Delaware'Digital'Newspaper'Project'(DDNP)'Blog The Delaware Digital Newspaper Project (DDNP) has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence. 2/1/2016,'MOZ

7 Chronicling*America:!! Searching*Historical*American* Newspapers* February(8,(2016( Molly*Olney8Zide* Discovery*Services*Librarian* University*of*Delaware*

8 Na0onal(Digital(Newspaper(Program( (NDNP)* CollaboraFon*between*Library*of*Congress*(LC)*and* NaFonal*Endowment*for*the*HumaniFes*(NEH)* Began*in*2005*with*6*insFtuFons*(now*40)* Grants*awarded*to*digiFze*100,000*pages*of*microfilm* covering* * DigiFzed*newspapers*make*up*the*over*ten*million*pages* of*chronicling!america!

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10 Delaware(Digital(Newspaper(Project( (DDNP)( Delaware*awarded*grant*for* *cycle* Only*currently*have*55,000*pages** CollaboraFon*with*Library*IT,*Digital*CollecFons,*and* Metadata*Services* Delaware*papers*will*not*be*available*unFl*late*2016* * The*DDNP*has*been*made*possible*in*part*by*the** NaFonal*Endowment*for*the*HumaniFes:*CelebraFng*50*Years*of*Excellence.* *

11 DDNP(Blog( h\p://library.udel.edu/ddnp/*

12 Chronicling*America*Facts* hcp://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/(( Also*known*as:*ChronAm* 45*=*total*state/province*representaFon* 1,968*=*total*Ftles*available* 10,334,379*=*total*pages*available* **

13 Chronicling*America*Homepage(

14 Searching(Op0ons( Simple(Search( Most*inclusive*search* Advanced(Search( Narrow*down*many*results* All(Digi0zed(Newspapers(1836O1922( Search*within*a*specific*newspaper*Ftle* US(Newspaper(Directory(1690Opresent( Part*of*the*original*US*Newspaper*Project* Search*all*newspapers*(digiFzed*or*not)*

15 Other*Resources* Delaware(Newspapers(Research(Guide(* Rebecca*Knight,*University*of*Delaware*Reference*Librarian* * ** h\p://guides.lib.udel.edu/delawarenewspapers*