1 Overview of Progress Cathy Pilgrim – Director ANDP Presentation to NSLA 19 February 2009, National Library of Australia Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program

2 Increase access to Australian newspapers Increase access to Australian newspapers Build a national service that will provide free online access from the first Australian newspaper published in 1803 through to the end of 1954 Build a national service that will provide free online access from the first Australian newspaper published in 1803 through to the end of 1954 Key Features of the service Key Features of the service Online access Online access Freely available Freely available Full text searchable Full text searchable Objectives

3 National Content Initial focus on major titles from each state and territory Initial focus on major titles from each state and territory Anticipate that ‘regional’ titles may be contributed later Anticipate that ‘regional’ titles may be contributed later Coverage: published between 1803 – 1954 Coverage: published between 1803 – 1954 (out of copyright) West Australian Northern Territory Times Courier Mail Advertiser Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Gazette Argus Mercury Canberra Times

4 $1 Million Grant from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation to digitise The Sydney Morning Herald to 1954 $1 Million Grant from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation to digitise The Sydney Morning Herald to 1954

5 1.8 million newspaper pages digitised from microfilm 1.8 million newspaper pages digitised from microfilm Pilot phase completed – Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and content analysis of 50,000 pages Pilot phase completed – Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and content analysis of 50,000 pages Prototype search and delivery service developed and tested with Australian state libraries Prototype search and delivery service developed and tested with Australian state libraries Australian Newspapers beta service publicly available in July Australian Newspapers beta service publicly available in July Progress…

6 Identify and locate selected newspaper microfilm Identify and locate selected newspaper microfilm

7 Processing in India

8 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of pages and article zoning

9 Beta service: ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/homendpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

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12 Summary needs 1. Small enhancements to advanced search 2. Major enhancements to text correction feature and related items (want it easier to do more) 3. Creation of networking features for user community (help, share, communicate, work with each other) 4. Transparency of users and system (open user profiles, statistics, ranking, about)

13 Users Registered login is optional Registered users 3,000 Registered users 3,000 Unique visitors 205,000 Unique visitors 205,000 75% of users in Australia 75% of users in Australia Average time on beta = 15 mins Average time on beta = 15 mins

14 Search Activity 2.5 million keyword searches 2.5 million keyword searches Up to 28,000 searches per day Up to 28,000 searches per day + Unknown amount of browsing by date, title, state, category. + Unknown amount of browsing by date, title, state, category.

15 User Interaction 2.2 million lines of OCR corrected 2.2 million lines of OCR corrected 104,000 articles corrected 104,000 articles corrected 43,000 tags added 43,000 tags added 1,800 comments added 1,800 comments added Top corrector 103,000 lines in 2,600 articles Top corrector 103,000 lines in 2,600 articles Correction 24 hrs a day/7 days a week. Correction 24 hrs a day/7 days a week. Peaks at 3pm and 9pm Peaks at 3pm and 9pm

16 Questions Australian Newspapers beta service