Office of Innovation: Connecting with Our

CustomersDenise M. HendersonInternal Digitization CoordinatorDigitization DivisionOffice of Innvovation

June 13, 2016Special Libraries Association (SLA) Annual Conference

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Office of Innovation Fosters a culture of innovation and collaboration throughout NARAOversees NARA’s description/cataloging program incl. standardsCoordinates NARA’s Open Government efforts Responsible for NARA’s digitization program Responsible for NARA’s public engagement / public access programs

Program dates to 2010President Obama’s issuance of Open Government Directive to create a

culture of transparency, participation, and collaboration

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Digital Engagement Division • Web and Social Media Branch

NARA’s website

Today’s Doc on Tumblr

• Digital Public Access Branch

The National Archives Catalog

Citizen Archivist Dashboard

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A Brief History of Catalog Systems at NARAPre-1990s: Paper-based finding aids

Inventories, preliminary inventories (PIs), check lists, select lists, guides, item lists, folder lists

1990s: National Archives Information Locator (NAIL)

2003-2010: Archival Research Catalog (ARC)

2010-2014: Online Public Access (OPA) System

2014…and beyond: National Archives Catalog

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Getting to the Public (baby steps) 35 units contribute content to the National Archives Catalog

Descriptions about archival holdingsThe who, what, where, how much

Digital content Digitized materials Film and audio filesBorn-electronic data (Ted’s stuff!)

Large numbers of born digital images from Special Media units

Description and Authority Services – NARA’s data entry “back-end” of the catalog

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What’s in the CatalogDescriptions for 94% of NARA’s

holdingsIncreasing number of digital

objects 12M and counting!

Photograph of Richard M. Nixon Shaking Hands with Entertainer Elvis Presley in the Oval Office (NAID 1667921)

World War I Draft Registration Card for Harry Handcuff Houdini(NAID 641795)

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People wantthe needles!

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Citizens Contributing to Access

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Citizen Archivist DashboardLaunched in 2010

NARA’s hub for crowd-sourcing – gathering people around specific activities

Tagging integrated into OPA in 2010

Transcription Tool – launched December 2011 with no fanfare

Within days – all documents posted online for transcription were transcribed

Transcription was integrated into National Archives Catalog in 2015

Within days – all documents posted online for transcription were transcribedLast major release also included the launch of public comments

Disclaimer – Publicly Contributed!

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Evolution of Participatory Archives“An organization, site or collection

in which people other than the archives professionals contribute knowledge or resources resulting in increased appreciation and understanding of archival materials and archives, usually in an online environment.”

Kate Theimer, 2011

“While archives generally work behind the scenes organizing and preserving historical documents, records, and photographs for future generations, the hippest archives are seeking to embrace participatory culture to create social archives which include anyone with an interest in helping to collect and preserve history.” Denver Public Library, Creating Your Community

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Engagement: Go where the action’s at!

Ansel Adams Photograph:

Almost 300 Million Views in August 2012

NARA’s Still Pictures have gotten the most hits on DPLA since April 2013

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Digitization Division Responsible for developing digitization strategy, policy, and priorities

Manages all external partnerships

Coordinates the Digitization Governance Board (DGB)

Oversees NARA’s internal digital imaging labs

Ensures digital content is flowing into the National Archives Catalog

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Digitization StrategyStrategy for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access, 2015-2024

Published in 2014

Established five approaches towards digitizationPartnershipsCrowdsourced DigitizationAgency TransfersCulture of DigitizationNARA Digitization Projects

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How Are We Getting It Done?External partners – responsible for the bulk of digitization output

Archival units – taking on more digitization projects

NARA’s digitization labs – handling a variety of projects

Organizational / Individual contributors

Digitization Labs – Microfilm

Digitization Labs – Textual

Digitization Labs – QC

Digital Content: By the Numbers

FY14: 439,679

FY15: 4M +

FY16: 4.9M and counting…

Cocktail Construction Chart , 1974 (National Archives Identifier 7035823)

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Operationalizing a Digitization ProgramStrong policiesPriorities Planning/project management SOPsDevelop and implement trainingAppropriate equipment for the appropriate recordsTechnology infrastructureAn effective communication loop

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Digitization Driving Enhanced AccessDescription = foundational access

Digitization = enhanced access

Make it accessible in digital form so others can make it even more accessible

Developers

Civic Hackers

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Big Data is a Big DealDigital data = BIG datasets

Data Mining“It can be big data. Or medium data. Or even little data.” ---A NARA colleague

Long data“Big data is a snapshot in time. Long data leads to an understanding of how

the world has changed over time.” ---Wired.com 1/29/2013

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Mapping the Blitz The Bomb Sight web map and mobile app reveals WW2 bomb census maps between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941, previously available only by viewing them in the Reading Room of The National Archives (UK)

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Collaboration = Cool Things

Watch a video – What is Old Weather?

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#OneNARA (not to mention UMD)

California- Tule Lake- Master Plot Plan, 4/6/1945 (NAID 27814022)

For more information about UMD’s project, please see visit “Developing New Methods of Digitizing and Curating Socially and Politically Important Historical Records.”

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The Sementic Web – Linked Data

Connection of pieces of related data and information coming from different sources such as information systems and databases

Digitization ResourcesFederal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (FADGI)

www.digitizationguidelines.gov

Participation in NDSA (National Digital Stewardship Alliance) subgroupshttp://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsa/

Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Archival Materials for Electronic Access: Creation of Production Master Files – Raster Images (2004 Guidlines) www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/guidelines.pdf

External Products and Services:www.archives.gov/preservation/products/

Digitization Resources • DPLA Self-Guided Curriculum for Digitization

• “More Application While Less Appreciation: The Adopters and Antagonists of MPLP” (Dennis Meissner and Mark A. Greene, Journal of Archival Organizations, 8.3/4, July-Dec 2010)

• “Balancing Boutique-Level Quality and Large-Scale Production: The Impact of “More Product, Less Process” on Digitization in Archives and Special Collections” (Shan C. Sutton, RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, vol. 13 no. 1, pgs 50-63)

• “Enduring Access to Special Collections: Challenges and Opportunities for Large-Scale Digitization Initiatives” (Oya Y. Reiger, RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, vol. 11, no. 1, pgs 11-22)

Questions?

Contact Information

Denise HendersonInternal Digitization CoordinatorDigitization Division Office of InnovationNational Archives and Records Administrationdenise.henderson@nara.gov301-837-1593