One Equal Heart Foundation is working with the Tseltal indigenous community in Chiapas, Mexico, to develop the first known Tseltal language library and archive, with the goal of preserving Tseltal language and culture. This Tseltal House of Wisdom is part of a larger community development initiative called Sistema Integrada de Información y Evaluación Tseltal (SIET), which includes a community radio station and fotohistorias-style evaluation project. We conducted capacity-building workshops in Chiapas emphasizing inventory, cataloging metadata, and digitization. We also provided recommendations on archival storage materials, and wrote a paper describing the intersection of Indigenous Systems of Knowledge and LIS theory.

Public funding has always been an important part of the definition of a public library. Public libraries have seen a decline in funding, relying on a mixture of external types of funding to keep services running. With state and local governments facing financial pressures, some public libraries have explored alternative ways to maximize funding, by forming independent library districts. This model gives districts flexibility in increasing property taxes or other taxes at the municipal level – the primary method of collecting funds. This project reviews any previous research or data to determine if this long-held assumption is correct.

StreamSurfer addresses the issue of online legal streams being difficult to find, and users not knowing which sources are legal or illegal. For example, if a user were to search for a movie or TV show on a popular search engine they’d get legal and illegal results as well as non-stream results. StreamSurfer solves this by creating a search engine specifically for online legal streams of movies and TV shows. Users can search for a show or movie, returning back links to online legal streams for that show or movie, as well as information about the movie or TV show.

9 out of 10 college students report trouble with procrastination, and 7 out of 10 procrastinate because they have difficulty getting started. Tempo provides an easy solution for tracking and getting started on tasks. Simply input your task names, sizes, and due dates and Tempo will automatically prioritize what you should focus on first. You will receive occasional notifications to encourage you to start thinking about your task. When you sit down to work, you will already have an idea of what you need to do and can quickly start working using the pomodoro timer provided by Tempo.

In an ideal classification system each item has a precise location, but most systems contain misfits that end up classified as other. Why do items end up classified in this way? In this research project, I consider the nature of items that defy neat categorization in different types of classification systems. Are these things fragmentary, or unusually complex? What are the consequences in browsing and search? The classification theory literature suggests that these systems are not value neutral. Even used within the contexts of their intended use, they often require compromises that may not be clear to the users of these systems. In addition to looking at formal classifications such as DDC, I examine the concept of other in data collection systems such as medical records, as well as the negotiation of sub-genres in music. While other often poses challenges, I also consider instances in which it may increase engagement.

For over twenty years the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) has managed and developed a set of encoding guidelines for the representation of humanities, social science, and linguistics -- to preserve and share -- texts in digital form. Using Extensible Markup Language (XML) as its backbone, TEI is the generally accepted encoding model for the digital humanities. Due to XML’s extensible nature, it can often be difficult to share these files, and problematic to make them interoperable. Our Application Programming Interface (API) for TEI-XML documents addresses these challenges. It requires no prior programming experience to use, can be installed using standard File Transfer Protocols (FTP), and is able to return multiple interoperable views of a TEI-XML file using a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) as its method of query.

Collection development policies guide the evolution of library collections while considering the needs of the populations served. The existing University of Washington Libraries’ subject policies for astronomy and physics were last updated in 1986 and never ratified. The procedures outlined therein are woefully out of date and, in particular, have nothing to say about electronic resources, which are cornerstones of modern academic work. In order to bring these policies into the 21st Century, our group examined existing collection policies at the University of Washington, interviewed the astronomy and physics collections’ users, and studied astronomy and physics policies from comparable institutions. The resulting documents, including a formal policy statement and a public-facing LibGuide, will direct collection acquisitions, maintenance, and evaluation in these fields for years to come while providing the flexibility to adapt to the fast-paced environment of research science.

The Beaverton Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an-all volunteer community ensemble in Beaverton, Oregon. In more than 30 years, the organization has amassed a collection of more than 220 separate works, with dozens of parts for each. The sheet music library lacked any digital cataloging or inventory system, making it difficult for the music director to select works and for the volunteer music librarian to keep track of the collection. I assessed and weeded the collection, researched cataloging systems and recommended a free online option (musiclibrarian.net), established metadata schema, developed unique identifiers for parts and works, and cataloged a sample selection of music. This new system provides better management and access of the collection at no cost to the orchestra, which will assist with future programming, allow easy addition of future works, and support the BSO’s mission of providing quality, affordable classical music and outreach to the community.

A growing number of institutions are creating digital collections of historical costumes, but the same cannot be said for theatrical costumes. This form of non-traditional academic scholarship continues to go unmarked in the world of repositories with the exception of small collections of production stills. While a joint effort, there are separate elements of theatre (scenery, costumes, etc.) that should be documented with context for study and recognition to their corresponding designer(s). Constructed garments themselves are often altered and reused for subsequent performances making these pieces quite ephemeral in nature. This collection marks the beginning of Boise State University’s digitized costume collection that brings recognition not only to the designer, but also to the institution’s contribution to the theatre arts. The repository provides a means of officially publishing these records, which include not only photographs of select finished garments, but also renderings created by the costume designer himself.

Seattle Art Museum’s Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library has a collection of print annual reports dating from 1932 to the present. To digitize the collection, we scanned each report, assigned metadata, and uploaded the documents to a Shared Shelf webpage. We then built an online exhibit to showcase the collection using the web platform Omeka. Finally, we worked with marketing and communications to promote the new digital collection. By digitizing the entire set of reports, we empower users to access these materials independent of library staff, and we free valuable physical space in the library. This collection is also unique because while other museums nationwide do make some reports available online, their collections only include the prior 10-15 years. We believe through the promotion of these reports and the stories they tell, we share an important part of Seattle history, and help further SAM’s mission to Connect Art to Life.