A County-Wide Museum-Library Collaboration September 2002 Crossing Organizational Boundaries

The Project Supported by an IMLS National Leadership Grant for Library-Museum Collaboration, Three-way partnership A major research library (UW) A mid-size history museum (MOHAI) 10 smaller museums and historical societies belonging to the Association of King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO)

Project Partners Museum of History & Industry University of Washington Libraries Black Heritage Society of Washington State Eastside Heritage Center Maple Valley Historical Society Northwest Railway Museum Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society Rainier Valley Historical Society Renton Historical Museum Shoreline Historical Museum White River Valley Museum Wing Luke Asian Museum

Online access to 12,000 King County Images (Fall 2003) Web-based access to many images from smaller organizations throughout the county Ability to search collections from one institution or across all together

Benefits for Project Partners Increased comfort with digitization technology and cataloging methodology Increased communication among the partners Improved image collections management Ability to add additional images and/or information after the project is completed Workshops on image selection, cataloging, photo sales Scanning and cataloging of images Use of CONTENTdm software Hosting of database on UW server

Major Activities of Project Staff Establish partnerships and communication mechanisms Plan workshops and other meetings Keep partners on task with image selection Determine scanning requirements Schedule and facilitate scanning Review quality of scans and upload to server Develop data dictionaries Catalog images Preliminary records (before scanning) Full records (before Web launch) Public outreach Evaluation

Partnerships Communicate project planning to all partners /listserv Telephone Site visits Be prepared for changes Illness Workload stress Different organizational cultures Permissions

Workshops Assess preliminary training needs of partners Baseline survey administered in March-April Schedule presenters, participants This is a challenge with part-timers, volunteers from multiple institutions Be prepared to coach outside workshop framework Site visits Evaluate workshops What could we do better?

Scanning Revisited UW, MOHAI requirements for past projects Experimented with size, compression level of images to be displayed online Had to leave room in scanning schedule for equipment repairs, rework, filling in gaps Balancing partners requests with vendors requirements Reviewing deliverables for quality, accuracy

Cataloging Some fields are required by UW Some systems have already been established Each institution has different ideas, differing levels of information available Consistency desired for maintenance, searchability

Public outreach Presence at conferences throughout project to explain process, disseminate concept WMA Annual Conference, Keyport, WA, June 2002 LITA, Dallas, TX, October 2002 Washington Heritage Conference, Bellevue, WA, October 2002 AAM Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 2003 (tentative) Need to publicize product (website) when complete Exhibit possibilities

Evaluation Important at every stage in the process IMLS strongly urges use of Outcome-based Evaluation (OBE) Measure process, not project What changed for participants as a result of project?

Project Technology: CONTENTdm Software to gather, organize, manage, store, and search digital material Create digital images Put them into databases Catalog them Find them again Post them to the Web

Workstation-based image input Scanning spreadsheets contain basic catalog records added during upload Scanned CDs are uploaded from a workstation to the server via FTP

Web-based cataloging For editing catalog records and server/collection administration Can be used anywhere at any time Easy to use forms Any number of users What to do in the field with slow connections or no connections?

Continual Updates Possible Web-based cataloging allows instant updating even after publication Data Easy using the web – front end Images More complex process – will probably require UW to do this

Multiple Databases Each institution has its own database on the UW server Each institutions home page can link to its separate database on the server The website will cross organizational boundaries, and show all the material virtually combined

Cross-database searching Websites home page will search all the databases simultaneously All 12,000 images can be searched at once Searching all kinds of ways * Format* People * Places* Date * Events* Subjects

Case Study: UW Libraries

UW Libraries: Lead Partner Duties Maintain server Upgrade software Administer users Run help desk Train users

UW Libraries: Staff Involved Systems administrator in Computing dept. Cataloging staff Special Collections staff Student workers Pacific Northwest experts Metadata specialists CONTENTdm help desk person Web producer

Benefits to UW 1 of 2 Fulfill mission Connecting people with knowledge Create a great resource for faculty and students Relationships with MOHAI and AKCHO Re-evaluate our processes Create and document workflow processes

Benefits to UW 2 of 2 4,000 TIFF images of Seattle Get funding for our digital operation Clean up some paperwork Get less glamorous material scanned Examine outsourcing as an option Promote our collections

Challenges of Project for UW 1 of 2 UW was the guinea pig Worked out procedures and kinks with scanners Pressure to get better computer security Need to create cooperative strategies With other institutions With commercial companies Communications Commercial scanner doesnt make the same judgment calls as staff/student scanners

Challenges of Project for UW 2 of 2 Training grant staff Maintaining 2 workflows Re-evaluating all our processes Adapting to new processes 4,000 images out of circulation at one time Identifying so many images Pulling so many images at once Re-filing

UW Libraries: Collections Scanned A.C. Warner C.F. Todd Theodore E. Peiser Dearborn Massar Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civil Works Administration UW Campus

A.C. Warner 500 photographs from early 1900s Northern Pacific Railway Seattle, ships on Elliot Bay, waterfront mills Photographer for Lowman and Hanford, publishers

C. F. Todd 425 photographs University of Washington campus Seattle waterfront Denny regrade activities Pike Place Market Seattle buildings especially apartments

Theodore E. Peiser 150 photographs. 1860s to 1900 Seattle scenes Departing for the China Expedition/Boxer Rebellion Temporary camps including Camp Lawton Corrals & stables for troops in Seattle

Dearborn Massar 3,000 photographs Team of Phyllis Dearborn and Robert Massar Contemporary architecture of the Pacific Northwest Commercial and residential Interiors and exteriors

Federal Emergency Relief Administration 450 photographs Medical, hospitals and nursing Industrial arts projects Domestic arts projects Earthmoving projects Agricultural and lumber projects Highway and street construction School building and playground projects

Civil Works Administration Photographs from 1930s Infrastructure projects Playfield and park improvements School projects Hospital and nursing activities Airport improvement

UW Campus 1,532 photographs Covers early history of UW Includes more recent architectural images

Case Study: MOHAI

MOHAI: Lead Partner Duties As a lead partner, duties include: Hiring, housing, and overseeing staff paid by grant Managing grant budget, including keeping track of matching time contributed by all partners Assisting with training of AKCHO partners Choosing 4,000 images

MOHAI: Staff involvement Collaborative project involves staff throughout museum: IT – workstations, computer troubleshooting Library – image selection, training Curator of Photography – image selection, training Historian – metadata, training Education – evaluation External Affairs – grant-writing, publicity Fiscal office – budget matters Special events office – meeting set-up Administration – overview Interns and volunteers – image filing and re-filing

Challenges of Project for MOHAI Challenges of taking on a digitization project: Smaller staff (than UW) means people already wear more than one hat Selecting 4,000 appropriate images is an enormous undertaking Dealing with grant requirements and people can take as much time as doing the project Granting agency now suggests needs assessment and requires evaluation

Benefits of Project to MOHAI Benefits of working on a collaborative project: Grant funding means 4,000 images will be scanned and cataloged (less than 2,000 are already online) Entire website makes Seattle history more accessible to a broader audienceMOHAIs mission Collaborative nature supports our relationships with peers in the heritage community Increased visibility may lead to increased photo sales

MOHAI image selection approach Used project to greatly expand knowledge of collections not previously examined Moen Collection – early snapshots of Ballard Glass lantern slides ca. 1880s-1890s Expansion of images from important collections Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection Webster & Stevens Addition of images from collections frequently requested Century 21 color slides Formats not possible to scan in-house Glass negatives Oversize A few images not in King County but important to King County history

AKCHO image selections 1 of 4 White River Valley Museum 402 images of Auburn and Kent area Possibility of adding more Buildings; businesses; homes; farms; Northern Pacific Railroad; Japanese American community represented Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society 497 photos Selected broadest possible spectrum from fairly specific collection, including: ocean-going vessels; shipyards; tugs; sailing ships; maritime characters; and trades

AKCHO image selections 2 of 4 Eastside Heritage Center 801 images representing Eastside history, primarily Redmond, Bellevue, and Kirkland Northwest Railway Museum Railroads; lumber mills; mining; wooden bridges May select railroad-themed images from UW and MOHAI collections and assist with their cataloging Rainier Valley Historical Society Rainier Valley/Columbia City streetscapes; small town life and urbanization; streetcars/transportation; schools; sports; local businesses and industries

ACKHO image selections 3 of 4 Black Heritage Society Activities relating to African Americans in King County from its earliest years Maple Valley Historical Society 434 images of Maple Valley and vicinity (Ravensdale; Georgetown; Black Diamond; Hobart; Taylor) Local industries/commerce; Schools; Transportation; Sports/recreation Renton Historical Museum 400 images scanned, with offer to contribute 100 additional images Renton people, places, and activities depicted, including schools; built and natural environment; people at work and at leisure; family portraits; and disasters

AKCHO image selections 4 of 4 Shoreline Historical Museum 211 images scanned, with possibility of adding more if time permits Images depict Shoreline vicinity since 1880s, including early settlers; Interurban; Aurora Ave. businesses; Playland Wing Luke Asian Museum 162 images scanned Ownership issues, geographic limitation made for smaller contribution Asian Americans in Seattles International District are represented