iSchool Capstone

Award Winner

2015

A Fistful of Floppies: Digital Preservation in Action

The University of Washington Library system currently holds a small collection of electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) accompanying materials from the late 1980’s to 2011 on floppy disks and CD-Rs. These materials will soon reach or have already exceeded the limit of their expected lifespans. This project looked at the digital preservation possibilities for this collection of materials using digital forensics as a model. Working with Preservation Services staff, a workflow using industry standard best practices and open source software was developed and implemented. Each item in the collection was forensically imaged, analyzed, documented and packaged for eventual preservation in the Universities’ online repository. A full inventory of remaining thesis materials on physical media in the library collection was also created and a digital preservation computer station with the BitCurator forensic environment was installed in Preservation Services for future projects.

America and the Race to the Moon

Using images, moving pictures, documents, and narrative stories, our team has created an engaging digital exhibition in Omeka, an online digital collections management system, for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). This project explores the history of the Space Race between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from the launch of Sputnik I in 1957 through the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969. Team members addressed copyright issues, gained permissions as needed, and developed metadata according to Dublin Core standards. Since the DPLA is an aggregation of digital objects from partnering institutions all over the country, our project aimed to curate digital objects exemplifying a theme of national importance. In doing so, we hope to engage an audience of scholars, students, and all those who may wish to learn more about this evocative period in time.

Artifacts of Loss: Memorial Artists’ Books

The Book Arts Collection at the UW Libraries Special Collections includes modern artists’ books as well as works on bookbinding, typography, and other historical printing topics. As a non-circulating library, Special Collections must rely on tools such as exhibits to show users the depth and range of their materials. "Artifacts of Loss" is a unique exhibit installed to highlight a selection of meaningful and evocative artists’ books. In addition to the exhibit itself, tangible results of the project include an exhibit catalog, and a comprehensive list of considered works, which will be used by the collection’s curator and catalogers to improve thematic subject headings. The exhibit allows greater visibility of the Book Arts Collection to prospective users. Beyond that, it addresses a universal, yet deeply personal, aspect of life. The feedback we have received has illustrated the incredible impact this exhibit has had on viewers.

Building a Legacy: Digitization and Outreach at the NBBJ Archives

As an architecture firm, NBBJ has had Swedish Hospital Medical Center as a long term client since 1936. This has resulted in almost 80 years of architectural records, which have design, legal, technical, intellectual, cultural, and historic value for both the architectural firm and the hospital. NBBJ recently moved their architectural records to a secure off-site location which has opened up space but increases the waiting period for architects who need to access the drawings for current projects. For this project we selected, digitized, and publicized within the firm a selection of architectural drawings related to projects with Swedish Hospital Medical Center. We then created a video to promote the digitized records and documentation for future digitization projects. This project strengthens the working relationship between the hospital and the architecture firm and ensures that the drawings will continue to serve as a means for inspiration for many years to come.

Creating a Parish Library

St. Luke Parish is a Catholic church and school located in Shoreline, Washington. This project focused on organizing the St. Luke Parish library to increase accessibility for parishioners. The parish owned a large number of books, which are now labeled and arranged on the shelves by subject for ease of use and access. I evaluated the checking in/out system and established a system for getting books from the donation stage into the collection, if appropriate. The creation of this library will be a benefit to the parish by providing increased access to helpful books, especially related to issues dealing with the church. The vision is that parishioners will utilize this library often.

Creating an Archive Plan: The Edwin Monk, Sr. Collection

Edwin Monk, Sr. was a prolific naval architect in the Seattle area whose collection of over 6,000 ship plans, along with several artifacts, reference books, and photographs, was donated to the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (PSMHS). Since the donation, PSMHS has received numerous reference questions and requests for copies of the plans. Although the collection is housed onsite, access and retrieval of information has been challenging. The collection needs to be cataloged in the organization’s database and rehoused according to best archival practices. Our project goal was to provide PSMHS with a processing guide for future volunteers and interns, a project timeline and an estimated budget. PSMHS will use these documents to develop a grant proposal for obtaining funding and resources needed to process the entire collection. Rehousing and cataloging the collection will help assure long-term preservation and enhance the accessibility of the collection.

From Farmers' Bulletins to NASA Space Plans: Using Crowdsourcing and Gamification Elements to Enhance the HathiTrust U.S. Federal Government Documents Registry

In 2011, the digital library HathiTrust and partnering institutions approved a resolution to increase both access and coverage to U.S. federal government documents published since 1789. Experts estimate there are up to 2.2 million volumes—roughly equivalent to 500 million pages—of U.S. federal government documents. During the past two years, HathiTrust has worked to develop a comprehensive U.S. federal government documents registry. They have accumulated metadata records from a wide range of institutions. Yet the collected records are inconsistent and include an unknown number of duplicates. HathiTrust managers have identified duplicate records using a computer algorithm, but it is not perfect. We collaborated with HathiTrust to provide a method for analyzing the remaining unverifiable records. Our approach incorporates elements of crowdsourcing and gamification. The purpose of our project is twofold: to enhance the quality of the registry and engage a wide range of users.

Game Graph: A Video Game Metadata Graph Database

Game Graph is a video game metadata graph database and web application that provides an easy and extensible way to create, store, and retrieve metadata about video games. Building upon the work done at the Seattle Interactive Media Museum (SIMM) and the Game Metadata Research (GAMER) Group, this application envisions every possible point of information within a property graph database framework. By utilizing the graph database model, users are able to easily explore the relationships of video games. The goal of this project is to provide a useful tool for cataloging video game metadata, while assisting research into video games as information objects. As a component to a larger system, Game Graph provides the structural foundation for digitally cataloging video game collections.

Good Citizens: American Childhoods from the Gilded Age to the Post-War Era

Online exhibitions for the Digital Public Library of America showcase some of DPLA's vast resources and make them more accessible to viewers. DPLA particularly wants to draw more young people to its collections and to be of use to teachers and students. In our exhibition, we chose a topic of interest to everyone: childhood. Our exhibition comprises 40 images, metadata, and text about children's home lives, school, playtime, and work. We focus on the transformation of childhood in America from the 1880s to the 1940s resulting from the migration from country to cities, the rise of the middle class, and the enforced assimilation of multiple cultures into one national identity — the production of "good citizens." Our digital exhibition shows how class, race, gender, and national origin shaped the invention of childhood, and that in the early 20th century, there was no single American childhood, but many childhoods encompassing myriad experiences.

Graphic Novels and Comics Collection for Kitsap Regional Library

Though Kitsap Regional Library had comic format collections for Children and Young Adults, comics outside of those collections were spread across Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Biography. These items were difficult for patrons to browse and discover. The shelving caused them to be weeded without having added as much value as they might to the collection. After preliminary catalog searches to identify items that might be added to the new collection, Stacy Wyatt and Lisa Longmire searched each branch to find comic format items. These items were then labeled and added to the collection in the catalog, as well as being relocated to new collection shelving in each branch. This collection is now easily identifiable whether patrons are visiting in person or online. The collection will be able to be specifically monitored to help it grow in a way that will be useful and enjoyable for patrons of Kitsap Regional Library.