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linking data from museums, archives and libraries
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Identities of Dead People
— work in progress —Sarah Allen October 2014 @ultrasaurus
OverviewVision User Research: How We Understand History Hypothesis Initial Data Analysis Next Steps —— Similar Open Source projects Other Related Work
Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) was born Friedrich Julius
Oskar Blümner in Prussia in 1867. As a child he received
some formal art training. He enrolled in the architecture
department of the Konigliche Technische Hochschule
(Royal Technical Academy), Berlin, and received his
architecture degree in 1892. A few months later he
moved to the United States and worked in Chicago as a
draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition.
read more
Photograph by Arnold GentheGelatin silver c. 1929
Oscar Bluemner
54 Paintings & Drawings at American Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum
Writings: 15,820 pages at the Archives of American Art
Known Associates
Arthur Dove
Edmund Archer
Stefan Hirsch
Linking Data Across
Smithsonian Archives,
Museums, &
Libraries
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013
Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) was born Friedrich Julius
Oskar Blümner in Prussia in 1867. As a child he received
some formal art training. He enrolled in the architecture
department of the Konigliche Technische Hochschule
(Royal Technical Academy), Berlin, and received his
architecture degree in 1892. A few months later he
moved to the United States and worked in Chicago as a
draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition.
read more
Photograph by Arnold GentheGelatin silver c. 1929
Oscar Bluemner
54 Paintings & Drawings at American Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum
Writings: 15,820 pages at the Archives of American Art
Known Associates
Arthur Dove
Edmund Archer
Stefan Hirsch
Inferring Relationships
from Transcription & Meta Data
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
Doris Cochran
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 PublicationsKnown Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and Amphibians in the U.S. National Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of agamid lizard from the Malay Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben : Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives
Linking Data Across
The World
© Smithsionian Institution, 2013
Intro to Archives & Museums
History is found in other people’s papers !
Context enables identification (provenance)
Doris Cohran’s South America Expedition
reveals a story of Doris Holmes Blake
Doris Cochran’s NSF papers & travelogue tell of Doris Holmes Blake (Mrs. Sydney Blake) “Doris is disgusted because some fool German who cant describe them properly has taken all the chrysomelid beetles from Rio & São Paulo & Paraná to Berlin. All the same she wants to go to these museums to see the regular collections” https://transcription.si.edu/view/6618/EBLW4
In Oscar Bluemner’s papers…
We find Oscar Klein’s Stories
This Oscar Klein can be identified based on his relationship with Bluemner…
This book is possible only because Ewing is a dogged researcher in countless archives. !
References to Smithson in his friends' letters and diaries reveal not the dour recluse historians had once thought him to be but an exuberant if eccentric man with a zeal for learning and for life
!
— Publishers Weekly
leaving paths
“an online, shared resource creates the opportunity where the artifact you leave behind is not just your static narrative with footnotes, but something that creates a more natural stepping stone for new research” !
— Meghan Ferriter
Potential for Online Linking
• simplify & streamline research • when researchers visit the physical objects and take
personal notes, research is often duplicated • re-contextualize collections • find “untold stories” — known information that
doesn't fit into the current narrative
Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship
Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship • Bi-directional links would show up in places that are
footnoted, not just at the footnote of the paper
Implications
• Linking is an act of scholarship • Bi-directional links would show up in places that are
footnoted, not just at the footnote of the paper • Could the ability to "follow" a historical person, create
connections between researchers? with notification of new links
Hypothesis
Links between collections will be interesting.
What is Interesting?
Links between archival material and specimens across collections through creators or collectors:
• interesting to the public • potentially yield new research insights for historians
Initial Data Analysis
Looking at the DataBotany “Parties” NMNH eMu collections data) 58,185 people and organizations SIA Biographical records in EAC format 788 people SIA Authority records in MARC format 5753 records SIL Botanists from International Assoc. for Plant Taxonomy (not yet explored)
Initial Basic Matching
Botany + MARC 5753 records with 642 matches (checking last name and initials) !
Botany + Freebase (name match) 4239
False PositivesBotany + Freebase = 4239 matches Ryo Tanaka is a Japanese professional ice hockey forward
currently playing for the Tohoku Free Blades in the Asia League. Tanaka has played for the Tohoku Free Blades since 2010. He previously played at university level for Meiji University. He has also played in the senior Japan
national team since 2012. !
Percy Reginald Stephensen was an Australian writer, publisher and political activist, first for the Communists
and later for far-Right groups. He was born in Maryborough, Queensland. He was nicknamed "Inky", and attended the University of Queensland, where he joined
the Communist Party in 1921. from 1941-1942. !
Simone Knapp is a hair stylist. notable type: /film/film_crewmember notable for: /film/
film_crewmember on the web: imdb.com
Looking at the DataNew Hypothesis: Collectors with higher specimen count are “notable” Notable = likely to be found in another database !
58,185 people and organizations in the collections database 36,283 who have one or more associated specimens. 2075 have 100 or more specimens ~600 have 500 or more
Looking at the Datamin # specimens = 1
max # specimens = 24979 average number of specimens = 46
standard deviation = 400
~40% of collectors have just one
specimen represented in the database.
Looking at the Data
EAC Data786 Records 1623 Names !
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c • L. Cornman • Cornman, M. Alice • Cornman, Mrs. L. R. • Cornman, M. A. • Mrs. L. R. Cornman
!
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c • Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911 • Palmer, E., 1831-1911
Full Name Match
2 Names
Last Name First
47 Names
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c • Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911 • Palmer, E., 1831-1911
Not Found
Last Name First
47 Names
!
rid_275_pid_EACP272.c • Palmer, Edward, 1831-1911 • Palmer, E., 1831-1911
Not Found
Matching last, first
160 matches!
Matching first initials
209 matches!
rid_111_pid_EACP110.c.xml import name: Killip, Ellsworth Paine
new name: Killip, E. P.
Match both eMu names
241 matches!
------ 16 associations for multiple eMu records ---------- irn: 2046376, "William Edwin Safford", "W. E. Safford”, count: 383
irn: 2046378, "W. E. Safford","W. Safford”, count: 9
Next Steps
More Data
Mock Page with Real DataSelect an “interesting” botanist • appears in all datasets • less well known?
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
Doris Cochran
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 PublicationsKnown Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and Amphibians in the U.S. National Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of agamid lizard from the Malay Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben : Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives
?
Mock Page with Real DataSelect an “interesting” botanist • appears in all datasets • less well known?
!
• validate with • public • researchers?
Doris Mable Cochran (1898-1968) herpetologist in the
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States
National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History) working with collections, September 1954. There
are turtle shells and a glass case with a frog in it on the
table she is sitting at. Cochran was appointed an aide to
Leonhard Stejneger in 1919, Assistant Curator in 1927,
Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1956.
read more
Doris Cochran
109 Specimens in Vertibrate Zoology - NMNH 179 PublicationsKnown Associates
Doris Blake
more
Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I.
Poisonous reptiles of the world: a wartime handbook
Type Specimens of Reptiles and Amphibians in the U.S. National Museum
Frogs of Southeastern Brazil
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Description of a new species of agamid lizard from the Malay Peninsula
Notes on the herpetological collections made
Frogs of Colombia
Les amphibiens vivants du monde
Il libro degli anfibi / Doris M. Cochran
De wereld der dieren : Amfibieën
Knaurs Tier Reich in farben : Amphibien
The herpetology of Hispaniola
Charles Gilmore
Laurence Klauber
Mentions
Laurence Klauber:
Nov 17, 1967
Balboa Park Online
May 23, 1968
Washington Post
Doris Blake Papers:
Feb 6, 1960
SI Archives
NSF Grant
Jun 10, 1969
National Archives
?
Vision
Assumptions: • linking is an act of scholarship • we will never identify all of the people represented in
our collections
Vision
Two key elements: !
1. Initial set of People pagesvalidate: design & matching algorithm
2. Web UI for museum/archive staff & outside researchers to define links over time
!
Related Work
Linking
Smithsonian American Art Museum Cooper-Hewitt Encyclopedia of Life Biodiversity Heritage Library
DBpedia FreeBase (Google) Rijksmuseum PowerHouse Museum Digital New Zealand HistoryPin
External Name Authorities
Library of Congress
Getty
OCLC/VIAF
External Name Authorities
Library of Congress
Getty
OCLC/VIAF
People of the Founding Era
Unknown No Longer
Open Source Investigations
Karma SNAC Vivo Linked Jazz
KarmaA Data Integration Tool
that learns
2013
2013
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
SNACsocial networks and archival context
VivoAn interdisciplinary network
of living scientists
Linked JazzTools for describing a social network
of Jazz musicians
