The American Library in Paris Digital Collection: a Prototype Digital Library
Description
www.americanlibraryinparis.tumblr.com
(File 1, no. 13 outside of ALA Library, Place des Jacobins)
Tags: #WWI #Le Mans #soldiers’ libraries #Place des Jacobins #black and white #vintage photographs
Celeste Rhoads
Tefko Saracevic
MLIS 553: Digtial Libraries
Final Project
April 28, 2014
Table of contents
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I.
Description of Institution
II.
Collection Content
III.
Tools and Materials
IV.
Digitization & Preservation
V.
Legal Issues
VI.
Searching & Browsing
VII.
Project Timeline
VIII.
Future Development
i. Description of Institution
The American Library in Paris:
During the closing years of World War I, when the United States entered the conflict, hundreds
of American libraries launched the Library War Service, a massive project to send books to the
doughboys fighting in the trenches - by the Armistice, nearly a million and a half books.
The American Library in Paris was founded in 1920 by the American Library Association with a
core collection of those wartime books and a motto about the spirit of its creation: Atrum post
bellum, ex libris lux: After the darkness of war, the light of books. Its charter promised to bring
the best of American literature and culture, and library science, to readers in France. The Library
has undergone several changes in location since 1920, but has now been located at 10, rue du
General Camou for over thirty years. With a collection of over 120,000 volumes, the American
Library in Paris is the largest English-language lending library on the European continent.
The American Library in Paris Digital Collection aims to tell a unique American story by collecting,
preserving and sharing the diverse life experiences of Americans living in Paris from the
inception of the American Library in Paris until the present. The Project will include archival
photographs, historical documents and oral histories collected by the American Library in Paris,
its staff and members. The project will systematically collect living people’s testimony (their oral
histories) and their own experiences, particularly as they relate to the central focus of inquiry:
Paris and the American Library in Paris.
ii. Collection Content
The American Library in Paris Digital Collection will focus on the history of the American Library
in Paris and the American expatriate experience - of lived experiences in Paris, particularly in
relationship to the historical and continuing development of the American Library in Paris. The
Collection will have a two-part focus: highlighting the rich history of the American Library in Paris
through the archival photographs that will be made available on the site, and exploring the
accomplishments and contributions of interviewees as they relate to Paris and the development
of the French/American community and Franco-American relations. Although majority of the
Collection will concentrate on the history of the Library and on individuals living in Paris, the
Collection will also document materials of interest by featuring the experiences of Americans
who have returned back to the U.S. after having lived long periods of time in Paris.
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Anyone interested in the American expatriate experience, or the history of the American Library
in Paris will likely take an interest in this collection, as it will make accessible documents hitherto
hidden from the public or undocumented.
The American Library in Paris Digital Collection will include:
 Digitized photographs from 1919-2014
 Oral histories (transcribed)
 Oral histories (audio recordings)
iii. Tools & Materials
Materials needed to successfully digitize the archival photographs in the collection (these
materials are already available on the library premises or owned by Library staff):
 Scanner
 Cotton gloves
 Computer with photo editing capabilities
 Interns/volunteers for scanning, documenting
 Free program for making the collection available to the public (this collection will use the
free site, Tumblr)
Materials needed for the successful collection of oral histories:
 Guidelines for the Collection
 List of Interviewers / Interviewees
 Recording device
 Release forms
 Preliminary set of interview questions
 Field notes form (for interviewer)
 Life history form (for interviewee)
 Interns/volunteers (for research, transcribing, audio editing, scanning, etc.)
 Computer
 Tripod*
*After the preliminary test interview, it was concluded that a tripod should be
incorporated into the list of materials.
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iv. Digitization & Preservation
The photographs in the American Library in Paris’ collection have been inaccessible to the public
until now – locked in files in a basement “atelier” with no attention given to their preservation
or dissemination until several years ago when one Library staff member began recruiting
volunteers with archival experience and library training to begin the process of scanning these
photographs.
With the creation of a digital library, these photographs will be made available to those
interested in the history of Americans in Paris, and the history of the American Library in Paris.
Recording oral histories will allow the Library to collect unique information that can be of great
value to researchers now and in the future. These photographs and the oral histories will add a
rich, personal dimension to research on the American expatriate experience in Paris.
Of the 370 photographs in the archival collection (housed in three separate storage boxes,
labeled file 1, file 2 and file 3), 30 of the photographs have been digitized and included in this
prototype digital library. Along with making these archival photos available to the public, digital
copies have been stored on the Library’s servers in JPEG and PDF formats. Two brief oral
histories have been recorded and are also stored on the Library’s servers as well as on the
prototype site.
v. Legal Issues
"Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other
transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or
phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or
public display constitutes publication.” (17 U.S.C. §101)
According to the definition laid out the United States Copyright Office, it can be concluded that
the works included in the prototype were published (by way of distribution and lending of
copies) and they can therefore be digitized and made available for public use. The photographs
used in the prototype collection are from 1919, and as published works, are in the public
domain, although the libraries and archives provisions of the Copyright Act could also apply in
this situation, as the works are being made freely available for research. Peter Hirdle’s checklist
for Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States was maintained for each individual
photograph, tracking date and publication, as well as efforts to contact the copyright holder.
The main reason to digitize any collection is to improve access and preserve materials. By
digitizing this collection, the previously unavailable archival photographs will be accessible from
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anywhere in the world.
In order to continue with this project, which contains photographs which may still fall under
copyright, all efforts would have to be made to find the copyright holder of photographs dated
after 1922 and to obtain permission for their inclusion in the project, or to document which of
the photographs published between 1922-1976 were not published with a correct copyright
statement and therefore in the public domain.
vi. Searching & Browsing
This collection was made accessible via Tumblr.com – a free website – and it was built using a
customizable theme – Art She Said Pro – which includes visible tags, a search bar and high
resolution photographs. Additional pages have been added, including an “about” page and a
“highlights” page that includes groupings within the collection (examples: “military life,”
“reading,” “sailors,” “oral histories”). The collection can be accessed through both searching and
browsing – either via the Tumblr page or through direct access to the site at
www.americanlibraryinparis.tumblr.com.
The archival photographs in the collection were tagged using a controlled vocabulary that was
documented per use (a copy of tags and subject in the note field is now included in the list of
archival materials). Library of Congress Subject Headings were used whenever possible. In
addition to the tags for each photograph in the collection (which are searchable via clicks or
through the search bar on the main page of the site), each item includes a note with Dublin Core
descriptive fields. The notes are not searchable using the Tumble interface, so duplicate
information has been added via tags whenever possible (ie: tags might include “1919” for the
date created, and G. Gorce, the creator of a work, and “Military life” and “Quiberon (France)”).
vii. Project Timeline
The updated timeline for this project has been revised to reflect the additional time needed to
test the site, apply tags and descriptive material, and finalize interviews with participating
members of the Library community who wish to record their oral histories.
While originally intended to include oral history recordings and transcripts, the digital library
only contains test oral histories at the present date (brief videos illustrating the feature, but not
indicative of the more in-depth interviews of 2-5 minutes that will be included in the oral
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histories portion of the Digital Collection). A large amount of time has been consecrated to the
task of researching copyright on individual works. The Library director has approved this project
and approved use of volunteers and interns for assistance towards the completion of the
project. I intend to dedicate 1-2 hours of my own time per week towards the site until the end
of this timeline (September), when staff time will need to be allocated in order for the site’s
continuation.
Timeline
Description of activities
May 5, 2014
Present prototype digital library to staff for feedback
May 5-23, 2014
Allow time for testing and troubleshooting
Test alternative presentations or “themes”
May 23- July 1, 2014
Continued development of collection
Confirmation of appointments w/ interviewees
Recording of first interviews (1 – 1.5 hours each) (5x)
Determine additional photographs for inclusion
Attempt to contact potential copyright holders for photographs
published after 1922 (document activities)
July 1 – August 2014
Troubleshooting
User testing
Sept. – Dec. 2014
Initial public presentation of American Library in Paris
Digital Collection
 Web announcement
 Promotion of site
 Call for participants (interviewees)
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viii. Future Development
This prototype digital library contains 30 of the 370 archival photographs housed on-site at the
American Library in Paris. Physical scanning of photographs (the verso sides of which have not
yet been scanned) will require a large time commitment, as will the conversion of files into
usable format (JPEG), and proper labeling of files and description of materials on the site.
Volunteers and interns can provide valuable assistance in the preparation and execution of the
American Library in Paris Digital Collection. Interns and volunteers have already completed the
scanning of the front side of photographs (begun in 2005 and completed in March of 2014).
There is also a need for professionals with skills in cataloging, classification and web design who
can contribute to and build upon this project. I would estimate that proper tagging and
application of subjects and other descriptive data accounted for 60-70 percent of the time spent
on the creation of this prototype. In order to successfully create a useable, searchable digital
library, standard descriptive data would need to be maintained.
Existing staff members have contributed their time to brainstorming ways to organize the
collection as well as how to promote it once it is completed, however to ensure the proper
maintenance of this digital collection at least one staff person would need to be given time to
maintain the site each week. The Library’s development manager is in the process of putting
together a proposal for a grant that could be used to cover the cost of additional staff or a
visiting fellow to oversee the project after fall of 2014. I intend to dedicate 1-2 hours of my time
to this project until September of 2014 at which point I will revisit the planning of the site, and
staff time could hopefully be allocated to the its maintenance.
Bibliography
Hirtle, P. (2009). Copyright and cultural institutions: guidelines for digitalization for
u.s. libraries, archives, & museums. [e-book] New York: Cornell University Library.
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University of Illinoi s at Urbana-Champaign. (2013) An Introduction to Digital
Libraries, Museums and Archives. Retrieved from
http://www.library.illinois.edu/dcc/resources/introduction.html
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Projects for
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