Digital Library of Appalachia Handbook
ACA Central Library
Appalachian College Association
www.aca-dla.org
Revised August 2010
1
Table of Contents
Contributing to the Digital Library of Appalachia
Scope, content, & mission – 3
Selection criteria – 4
Copyright and permissions – 6
Project checklist – 7
Care and handling of materials – 8
How to digitize: Specifications and best practices by format
Digitization terminology – 9
Scanning text – 11
Scanning photographs – 11
Scanning drawings, maps, & other fine-line images – 12
Digitizing three-dimensional objects using a digital camera – 12
Digitizing audio – 13
Specifications table – 14
Saving your master image – 15
Creating access images – 15
Scanning steps – 16
Metadata specifications
Creating file names – 17
Naming files for compound objects – 18
Creating item records using Dublin Core – 20
Description and use of elements – 21
Sample records – 31
Adding your items to CONTENTdm – 35
Ongoing care of your collection
Maintenance – 36
Ideas for promotion of your collection – 36
Assessment of your collection’s usage – 37
Additional readings – 38
Appendix A: Fair Use laws and evaluation tools
U.S. Code definition of Fair Use– 39
American Library Association copyright evaluation tools - 39
When does work pass into the public domain? – 40
Appendix B: Ready reference tip sheets
CONTENTdm required & recommended fields for the DLA – 42
MARC to Dublin Core crosswalk – 43
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Contributing to the Digital Library of Appalachia
Scope and content
The Digital Library of Appalachia seeks to provide online access to archival and
historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian
region. The thirty-four member libraries, archives, and museums associated with
the Appalachian College Association, known collectively as ACA Central Library,
seek to generate interest and encourage continued scholarship for the entire
region. Information in the collection exists as reproductions of color or black and
white photographs, reformatted typed pages, published books, unpublished
manuscripts, personal diaries and correspondence, journal and newspaper
articles, musical recordings, oral history recordings and transcripts, and other
relevant materials.
Mission of the Digital Library of Appalachia:
1. To improve scholarly access to research resources related to Appalachia.
Improved access, particularly to primary source material, will strengthen
academic offerings in Appalachian Studies. Students, faculty, and
researchers will be able to draw upon the Digital Library of Appalachia for
authentic information, and thereby gain a greater understanding of the
region.
2. To virtually bring together research resources which are physically based
in numerous geographically remote locations across five states. This
unprecedented opportunity for comparison and contrast will foster new
learning about Appalachian experience.
3. To broaden opportunities for classroom instruction. Faculty will be able to
design new or revised courses based on the resources made available
through the Digital Library of Appalachia. Likewise, students and teachers
in regional K-12 schools may find the Digital Library of Appalachia
revitalizes their courses in state and local history and culture.
4. To promote participating institutions by showcasing the contributions of
their special collections to Appalachian scholarship.
5. To help preserve irreplaceable materials by providing quality digital
surrogates and thus diminish handling of the originals.
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What to digitize: Selection criteria for adding items to your online collection
Putting materials in a publicly accessible digital archive is in fact ‘publishing’
them, and requires the usual quality controls of a good publication. Librarians
and archivists at each institution are responsible for using their good judgment
and knowledge of their collections in assessing local holdings and choosing
items to be digitized.
The DLA Committee has established some general guidelines for selection:

Materials included in the Digital Library of Appalachia project
should be particularly and substantively representative of
Appalachian experiences.

Appalachia, as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission,
is a 200,000 square-mile region that follows the spine of the
Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern
Mississippi. It includes all of West Virginia and parts of twelve
other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia.

Preference is given to materials that reflect the heritage of
Appalachian College Association geographic regions, but
materials that address other Appalachian areas may be
appropriate.

Preference is given to scarce or unique items in libraries’ special
collections that can be defined by one or more of the following
categories:
Cultural Landscape
Daily Life and Customs
Education
Literature
Minorities
Music
Natural environment
Politics and government
Religion and beliefs
Visual arts and handicrafts
Work and occupations
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
Collections whose use will very likely be increased with digital
access should have a higher priority for selection.

Materials that are known to be already represented in existing
digital collections elsewhere outside of ACA schools should not
be duplicated in the DLA.

Materials included may be in any format that the contributing
institution can digitize and catalog to recommended
specifications.

Materials may be appropriate for users at any level, including K12 schools, higher education, and personal enrichment.

Participating institutions must exercise due diligence with regard
to copyright compliance. Staff may refer to guidelines in this
handbook for recommendations on fair use, copyright protections,
privacy considerations, and ownership rights. Please see
Appendix for information about Fair Use.
Additional questions to consider
In addition to the specific parameters set above, you might find it helpful to ask
yourself the following questions. If you can answer most of these definitively and
positively in regard to specific materials, then those items are probably worthy of
your time and effort spent on digitization.
Why do you think the item is representative of Appalachia? In what context?
Who is the intended audience for the item or collection? Will the material be of
interest to the general public or to a specific audience?
Do you think that digitizing the item will help meet a demand for access to that
content? If it actually increases demand for the originals, are you prepared to
handle those requests?
Will digitization provide better documentation of the item than is currently
available?
Do you hold copyright on the item? If not, can you contact the copyright owner for
permission to digitize?
Can the item withstand the handling required for digitization?
Will digitizing the item provide content that could be used for educational
purposes, either at the K-12 or college level?
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Copyright and Permissions
We encourage Fair Use of these materials under current U.S. Copyright law and
accompanying guidelines. Collections of the Digital Library of Appalachia (DLA)
are made available for non-profit and educational use, such as research,
teaching and private study.
For these purposes, end users may reproduce DLA materials (print, download or
make copies) without prior permission. Users must obtain written permission
from the owning repository or rights holder before using a particular item for other
purposes, including publication or other commercial applications. The owner of
each item in the Digital Library of Appalachia is identified in the "Holding Library"
field of the item record. Requests for permission should be addressed to specific
holding libraries. Contact information should be provided in the “Rights” field on
the item record. We recommend having requests routed to a general library
contact email, if possible, where it can then be forwarded to the appropriate
person.
Please see Appendix A, “Fair Use,” for guidelines and links to tools that can help
you assess your selected items.
For more information, please see “Image Rights Options – Banding, Branding,
and Watermarking” tutorial in the CONTENTdm Tutorials folder on your DLA
flash drive.
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Project checklist
Your project will run much more smoothly if you follow a consistent routine. Here
are the major steps to consider in completing your projects (all of which should
be addressed in this handbook):
Preparation
- Establish project goals
- Select items or collections
- Make a good faith effort to research any copyright limitations
- Train staff in handling and scanning of materials
- Define your work space
- Organize and prepare the materials for digitization
Digitization
- Digitize items according to recommended specifications
- Save digital items using DLA file naming procedure
- OCR text-based items (or re-key by hand)
- Proofread OCR text
- Create access images from master
- Backup TIFF images by placing copy on external hard drive
- Inspect digital items for quality
Metadata
- Upload digital items into CONTENTdm Project Client
- Complete metadata records for each item using DLA guidelines
- Review records, then upload to CONTENTdm Administration
Publication
- CONTENTdm administrator for your collection reviews uploaded items
- Administrator makes any necessary edits and approves items that are ready to be published in
the online collection
- Item is published online!
Maintenance & assessment
- CONTENTdm administrator for your collection periodically reviews collection to ensure stability
and accuracy of records
- CONTENTdm administrator regularly evaluates collection user statistics:
1. How many times the collection is being accessed in a set period of time
2. What items are being accessed most frequently over time
3. What format of items is being accessed most frequently over time
4. What search terms are being used most frequently
- Identify collection’s strong points as well as those materials that are being underutilized. - Adjust
item records to facilitate more effective searching
Promotion
- Actively promote collection through online resources (links, sample images on sites like Flickr or
Wikimedia, social media tools)
- Create flyer or postcard that highlights key features and informs users how to access the
collection; distribute among faculty, students, & area cultural/educational organizations
- Consider writing an article for school or local paper, newsletters for school departments and
local organizations, journals
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Care and Handling Procedures during Digitization for All Collection
Materials
You may be fortunate enough to have students or other staff to assist with your
project. Item selection and item record creation is best left to the librarian or
subject specialist, but others can be trained to help with scanning. Review the
scanning specifications, file naming conventions, and step-by-step instructions
with your assistants, and then guide them through a few practice scans. Here are
some common sense rules that your assistants will want to be aware of when
handling special collections materials and scanning equipment (adapted from
handling
procedures
written
by
Yale
University
Libraries
http://www.library.yale.edu/preservation/handdig.htm):
The following points provide guidance for handling most collection materials:
Be observant, careful, and use common sense.
No food or drink at work spaces.
Wash hands before handling collection materials, especially after eating, to make
sure they are clean at all times.
Do not use collection materials as a writing surface.
Remove paper clips, pins, and string carefully.
Do not use pens, markers, or sharp objects near collection materials.
Keep surfaces clean and uncluttered.
Do not place objects on top of collection materials.
If collection materials are to be stacked, limit stack sizes and heights.
Do not place items on the floor, near windows, or on radiators.
Do not loosen or unbind any book.
Cease the scanning process if materials show signs of stress from handling.
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How to digitize: Specifications and best practices by format
Specifications here are informed by the practices of BCR (Bibliographical Center
for Research), University of North Carolina, Library of Congress, Research
Libraries Group, and Institute of Museum and Library Services (see “Additional
Reading” for citations).
For text and image materials, specifications are for creating master images in
TIFF format, from which CONTENTdm will automatically generate a lowerresolution access image in JPEG format.* It is recommended that master images
be unaltered and stored for archival purposes, for the production of print
materials, for in-house consultation, and for the creation of derivative images
when needed.
* Quality of the automatically generated JPEG images may vary, so you may
wish to generate your own JPEGs from the master files for comparison. See
“Creating access images” at the end of this section for details.
Terminology
Here are a few terms and phrases that will be used in this section:
Bit: Short for “Binary digit,” a bit is a unit of measurement that determines the
depth of color information stored in a scan. The greater the bit-depth, the greater
the variety of shades that can be represented in a scanned image. Greater bitdepth also increases file size, however, and so we recommend adhering to the
specifications below to generate master images that are high quality, yet not too
large.
Grayscale: Provides a range of gray shades in an image, and delivers a finer
scan quality than a black and white scan.
JPEG: Stands for “Joint Photographic Experts Group.” JPEG is an image file
format that is most useful for creating images with file sizes small enough to
display online or send electronically, while retaining decent image quality. In the
DLA we refer to the JPEG as the “access image,” because it is this format that
displays in the online collections. When a TIFF image is uploaded into
CONTENTdm, a JPEG “access” image will automatically be generated from that
larger “master” image.
OCR: Stands for “Optical Character Recognition.” When a document is scanned
as a TIFF or JPEG, it creates an image file. The text can be read by the human
eye, but cannot be searched by keyword. OCR software recognizes letters and
generates a text document to accompany the image. These automated
transcriptions are rarely perfect, but with some supervision and editing, the
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searchable transcript in combination with the accompanying image can create a
multipurpose digital item.
Pixel: Stands for “picture element.” A pixel basically carries a piece of
information about the scanned image.
PPI: Stands for “pixels per inch.” The more pixels that populate an image, the
more detailed that image will be. More detail also translates into a larger file size,
and at some point, the detail in an image can exceed what is necessary for any
archival purposes or for what can be detected by the human eye. The
specifications recommended below will generate master images at a sufficiently
high quality.
Resolution: A grid pattern into which the original image is segmented. The
number of pixels per inch determines how fine, or detailed, the grid will be. The
higher the resolution, the more detailed the grid.
RGB Color: RGB stands for “Red, Green, Blue,” the basic colors that can be
combined in various ways to produce a broad spectrum of colors. How many
shades of each color, exactly, depends upon the bit-depth. The higher the bitdepth, the greater the range of shades that can be extracted in your scan. For
most of our projects, the recommended setting for RGB color is 24-bit.
TIFF: Stands for “Tagged Image File Format”. TIFF is a high-resolution file format
that is generally accepted as the standard for archival image files. TIFF files are
generally very large, because they are scanned at a high degree of detail and
image quality. Therefore, they cannot easily be downloaded from a website or
other point of access, but they are valuable for creating high-quality “master”
images from which smaller derivative image files, such as JPEGs, can be
created for more convenient access.
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Specifications
The TIFF specifications below are intended for items measuring between 5.5” –
11.5” on the longest side. For larger items, decrease the resolution to 300 ppi.
For items between 1.5” – 5.5”, increase the resolution to 800 ppi. For items
measuring less than 1.5” on the longest side, see page 52 of “Best Practice
Guidelines for Digital Collections at the University of Maryland Libraries” in
“Additional readings.”
A summary chart is provided at the end of this section.
For more information, another very good and approachable primer on digital
imaging is available at
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/contents.html.
Scanning text
Scan at 300 ppi, or with spatial dimensions at 4000 pixels across the longer
dimension.
To scan an item using Optical Character Recognition software (see below), scan
at 400 ppi. Scan in 8-bit grayscale, or in 24-bit color where it is important to the
representation of the document. Save as TIFF image.
When scanning text documents, spatial resolutions should be based on
the size of text found in the document, and resolutions should be adjusted
accordingly. Documents with smaller printed text may require higher resolutions
and bit depths than documents that use large typefaces.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Basically, OCR software “reads” a scanned text document to generate a
fully searchable transcript. See the ABBYY Finereader guide on your DLA
flash drive for detailed instructions.
Scanning photographs
In general, photographs should be scanned in their entirety, including edges, to
provide users with an authentic surrogate. Scanning in color will increase file
size, but is recommended for color or sepia-toned photographs. Black and white
photographs should be scanned in grayscale.
Black & white photographs
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Scan at 600 ppi, or with spatial dimensions at 4000 pixels on the long
dimension, and in 16-bit grayscale. Save as TIFF image.
Color or sepia photographs
Scan at 600 ppi, or with spatial dimensions at 4000 pixels on the long
dimension, and in 24-bit RGB color. Save as TIFF image.
Drawings, maps, and other fine-line images
Scan at 600 ppi*, or with spatial dimensions at 4000 pixels on the long
dimension, and in 24-bit RGB color. Save as TIFF image.
*Smaller maps (less than 36 inches on the longest dimension) should be digitized
at 600 ppi, 48-bit color or 16-bit grayscale if possible. For larger maps, 300-400
ppi may be more practical. If it becomes necessary to digitize a map in sections
and stitch the image together in Photoshop, keep both the original images of the
sections as well as the combined image. – BCR, June 2008
Three-dimensional objects
Using a digital camera, create an image at 600 ppi, and in 24-bit color. Save as
TIFF image:
1. Set your camera on the tripod and adjust to the height or angle needed.
2. Set up your item in front of or under the camera.
3. Preview the image through the viewfinder or the LCD viewer on the
camera.
4. Adjust the lighting in the room as needed and preview again.
5. Take the picture and, if satisfactory, save image as a TIFF.
6. Transfer the TIFF master to your computer.
7. Pull up the image in the photo editing software.
8. Using the editing software, crop the image, leaving a thin margin around
the image.
9. Adjust image size, if needed.
10. Save this cropped TIFF in the appropriate folder on your computer. It will
be your access TIFF from which you can create high-quality reproductions
and additional derivative files when needed. Add an ‘a’ to the end of the
file name to distinguish between the master TIFF and the access TIFF
(example, AB10001a.tif).
11. Change the PPI and change the file extension to JPEG (example,
AB10001.jpeg). This will be the copy you can use for printing and web
access, and the copy you will upload into CONTENTdm.
12. Save the original TIFF on your external drive or other storage media.
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Audio
Sample at 96 kHz and 24 bits for master file. It is recommended to save master
files in a nonproprietary format. For access files, generate mp3 derivatives from
master files.
The most important aspect in selecting a file format is to choose one that is nonproprietary, with a high potential for future readability. Uncompressed formats will
provide maximum audio fidelity… It is recommended that institutions use WAV
for master files but can use MP3 for access files and delivery on the web.
According to the University of Maryland Libraries, one hour of recorded stereo
audio transferred at 48 kHz and 24 bit will result in a file size of approximately
1GB.
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Media type
Text (Printed)
Resolution
300-400
ppi
(higher number for
OCR scan); or
spatial dimensions
at 4000 pixels on
longer side
B&W Photographs 600 ppi; or spatial
dimensions
at
4000 pixels on
longer side
Color
600 ppi; or spatial
Photographs
dimensions
at
4000 pixels on
longer side
Illustrations,
600 ppi; or spatial
Maps, and
dimensions
at
Handwritten Text
4000 pixels on
longer side
Three-dimensional 600 ppi using
objects
digital camera
Audio
Color
Master format
8-bit
grayscale; TIFF
24-bit RGB color
when
color is
necessary
16-bit grayscale
TIFF
24-bit RGB color
TIFF
24-bit RGB color
TIFF
24-bit RGB color
TIFF
Sample at 96 kHz and 24 bits for
master file.
WAV
The TIFF specifications above are intended for items measuring between 5.5” –
11.5” on the longest side. Pixels per inch (ppi) must be proportionate; Therefore,
larger items are scanned at a lower resolution and smaller items are scanned at
a higher resolution.
Bigger item = smaller ppi ratio \ Smaller item = bigger ppi ratio
For items longer than 11.5” on the longest side, decrease the resolution to 300
ppi.
For items between 1.5” – 5.5” on the longest side, increase the resolution to 800
ppi.
For items measuring less than 1.5” on the longest side, see page 52 of “Best
Practice Guidelines for Digital Collections at the University of Maryland Libraries”
in “Additional readings.”
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Saving your master image
You only need to scan an item once, at the previously specified resolutions, in
order to create any necessary copies. Save two copies of your TIFF image: one
to your computer’s hard drive (if using a dedicated computer) as a “use” TIFF,
from which you can create any necessary derivatives, print, and use for any other
purposes (but do not edit or alter); and one to your external hard drive as an
“archives” TIFF, which exists for digital preservation and any future migration
purposes.
Creating access images
To create an access image in JPEG format, you can open up a copy of the “use”
TIFF image in Photoshop and use the “save as” function to change the extension
from .tiff to .jpeg. You can change the image resolution to 200 ppi for text files
and 300 ppi for any other image files. Here you will also have the opportunity to
edit the image if you desire. Be sure not to alter the original TIFF!
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Scanning steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
Make sure the scanner surface is free of dust, debris, and smudges.
Align the item on the scanner bed.
Preview the scan.
Crop the image as necessary, leaving some white space around the item’s
borders.
5. Set the PPI on the scanner software according to the specifications in this
handbook appropriate for the material.
6. Scan and save as a TIFF image in a file on your computer using the file
naming scheme described in the following pages (example, AB10001.tif).
7. Open the image in Photoshop or other photo editing software.
8. Carefully crop image to a very small margin of white space surrounding
the image (which demonstrates to users that the image is a whole rather
than a portion of an item).
9. Save this cropped TIFF in the appropriate folder on your computer. It will
be your access TIFF from which you can create high-quality reproductions
and additional derivative files when needed. Add an ‘a’ to the end of the
file name to distinguish between the master TIFF and the access TIFF
(example, AB10001a.tif).
10. Change the PPI and change the file extension to JPEG (example,
AB10001.jpeg). This will be the copy you can use for printing and web
access, and the copy you will upload into CONTENTdm.
11. Save the original TIFF on your external drive or other storage media.
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Metadata specifications
Creating file names
File names must be consistent, unique, and permanent, and follow a naming
convention that will be logical to anyone who might contribute to the project at a
later date. BCR recommends that “The object ID [consist] of any unique
numbering scheme already in use to represent the object or, if no such number
exists, a short description representing the item.”
The file naming conventions specified here were created by the DLA Task Force
in 2006 and are in accordance with the recommendations of the National
Archives and Records Administration.
File names for the DLA will consist of eight characters plus an extension based
on file type. e.g. aa12345.ext
The first two characters are lower-case letters signifying the contributing
institution as follows:
ab
al
be
bt
bl
br
ca
cn
cu
de
eh
fe
kc
ki
le
lm
li
lw
mh
mv
mi
mo
ov
pi
tw
Alderson Broaddus
Alice Lloyd
Berea
Bethany
Bluefield
Bryan
Campbellsville
Carson-Newman
Cumberland
Davis & Elkins
Emory & Henry
Ferrum
Kentucky Christian
King
Lee
Lees-McRae
Lincoln Memorial
Lindsey Wilson
Mars Hill
Maryville
Milligan
Montreat
Ohio Valley
Pikeville
Tennessee Wesleyan
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tu
un
uc
us
vi
ww
wv
wj
Tusculum
Union
University of Charleston
University of the South
Virginia Intermont
Warren Wilson
West Virginia Wesleyan
Wheeling Jesuit
The next five digits signify an item. An item is defined as the unit of content
referenced by an individual bibliographic record or by a line in a finding aid
(MARC field 856 subfield f).
Item designation reflects the level of detail desired for access. In some cases an
item may be a book, and in other instances a chapter. In some cases it may be
an entire map; in other instances it may be a section of a map. The local archivist
determines the content of an item. The item number carries no particular
meaning other than perhaps the order in which it has been added to the
collection. Following the numerical method should also enable participants to
quickly retrieve files from their own folders should they be needed for other
purposes. For example, Folder 1 might be named Items 00001 – 00100 and,
predictably, contain items 1 through 100.
Naming files for compound objects
If two files of different formats representing the same item will be added (such as
an image file along with accompanying text file), then the item number must be
duplicated in the file name.
Example:
A contributor from Lindsey Wilson wants to add an image of a handwritten letter,
plus an accompanying transcript that has been typed into a text file.
The image should be named lw00123.tif
The transcript should be named lw00123.txt
This method will allow CONTENTdm to understand that these two items belong
to the same record. It will also clarify file relationships for current and future
project participants.
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In the case of adding a document with multiple pages as a single item, the item
number will be duplicated, followed by a suffix of an underscore and a letter to
signify in which order the pages display.
Example:
A contributor at Carson-Newman wants to add a 4 page document as a single
item. The pages are scanned individually and should be named as follows:
cn00001_a.tif
cn00001_b.tif
cn00001_c.tif
cn00001_d.tif
As you can see, the item number did not change because all 4 of these images
will be consolidated into a single item in CONTENTdm with one overall
bibliographic record. The underscore and letter signify the order in which the
pages will present, so that CONTENTdm will load _a as page 1, _b as page 2,
etc.
If the contributor would prefer to display these pages as individual items with their
own separate bibliographic records, then the item numbers should be unique:
cn00001.tif
cn00002.tif
cn00003.tif
cn00004.tif
For more information, please see the “Creating Compound Objects” tutorial in the
CONTENTdm Tutorials folder on your DLA flash drive.
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Creating item records using Dublin Core
Metadata records in CONTENTdm are created using the Dublin Core (DC)
standard, “a vocabulary of fifteen properties for use in resource description. The
name ‘Dublin’ is due to its origin at a 1995 invitational workshop in Dublin, Ohio;
‘core’ because its elements are broad and generic, usable for describing a wide
range of resources.”
Certain elements are recommended for the purposes of this particular project as
necessary to produce useful item records. Others are considered optional as
staff time and resources allow, though completion of these optional fields when
possible will result in richer and more comprehensive records.
Elements in Dublin Core are fewer than in MARC because DC elements can be
repeated if necessary to provide additional information. For example, if a book
has an alternate title, the “Title” field could be repeated and refined as
“Title.Alternative.” These fields might be completed as such:
Title
Title.Alternative
Moby Dick
The Whale
Just as the 246 field in MARC can be used to enter an alternate title, duplication
of the title field in DC can provide a space for this information and increase the
item’s searchability.
For more information, please see the “Building your First Collection” tutorial in the
CONTENTdm Tutorials folder on your DLA flash drive.
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Description and use of elements
Element descriptions are pulled directly from the Dublin Core Metadata Element
Set, Version 1.1. Examples have been adapted from “Metadata Elements for the
Digital Library of Appalachia,” prepared by Robyn Williams of Lincoln Memorial
University in 2001.
Required elements for DLA item records
Title
A name given to the resource. Typically, a title will be a name by which the
resource is formally known.
Capitalize formal titles and names (“The Trail of the Lonesome Pine”). Where a
formal title is not available, use a concise description of the item (“Portion of a
map of Lee County, VA”) and do not capitalize except for beginning word and
proper names.
The “title” field can be duplicated and renamed to provide a space for “Alternate
title.”
The “title” element in Dublin Core maps to the 24x field in MARC.
Examples:
Manuscript material
1. “Dear Betsy”
2. Treatise on the Treatment of the Negro
Photograph / Pictorial work / Slide / Photographic negative
1. Downtown Middlesboro
2. Girl on the Swing at Beach Mountain #5
3. Self-portrait by Alice Liddell
Cartographic materials
1. West Virginia: a Pictorial and Historical Map
2. Portion of a map of Lee County, VA
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Artifacts / 3-dimensional objects / Realia
1. Post office furniture
2. Friendship quilt, nine-patch
Audio
If one audio item contains multiple selections, distinguish these with semicolons.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Arkansas Traveller (live recording)
How Come? ; Tell Everyone ; Done This One Before
Powell Lane playing unidentified song
Lane Brothers interview
Mountain bluebird’s song
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. Examples of a creator
include a person, an organization, or a service.
For an individual creator, include the last name, followed by first name, middle
initial with a period, and birth and/or death dates (joined by a hyphen) when
known. If the creator is unknown, the notation is Unknown.
The “creator” field in Dublin Core maps to the 1xx field in MARC.
Examples:
Unknown
Fox Jr., John – 1863-1919
Stuart, Jesse
Stoney Mountain Quartet
Chamber of Commerce - Floyd County, Kentucky
Subject
The topic of the resource. Typically, the subject will be represented using
keywords, key phrases, or classification codes. Subject headings in the DLA
collections conform to Library of Congress Subject Headings, which are provided
for you as a list when entering into the subject field (for more information, please
see “Using a Controlled Vocabulary” tutorial in the CONTENTdm Tutorials folder
on your DLA flash drive).
22
The “subject” element in Dublin Core maps to the 6xx field in MARC.
Multiple subjects may be added but must be separated by semicolons.
Examples:
Mines and mining; West Virginia
Quilts and quilting; North Carolina; Ashe County
Category
This field employs the locally defined vocabulary of categories used to provide a
context for DLA items. One or more of the following categories may be added to
this field, when relevant:

Cultural Landscape

Daily Life and Customs

Education

Literature

Minorities

Music

Natural environment

Politics and government

Religion and beliefs

Visual arts and handicrafts

Work and occupations
23
Description
An account of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an
abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of
the resource.
The “description” element in Dublin Core maps to the 520 field in MARC.
Examples:
This diary documents many of Edward Walker’s activities, especially during the
years 1872-1899. These include his involvement with a number of family-based
businesses, his home-building plans and activities upon the Little Fork River, his
involvement with housing and education related boards, and his marriage to
Sarah Stuart in 1879 as well as the births of Daniel Stuart Walker (b. 1881), Mary
Walker [Cornett] (b. 1886), and Jesse Stuart Walker (b. 1889).
*
This photograph shows a group of women and young girls washing clothes in an
outdoor yard, in front of a house on Poplar Fork near Smilax, KY. The owner of
the home is unknown. The women are identified from left as: Goldie Couch,
[unknown], [unknown], Thelma Eversole (child), Ruth Vanover, Bettie Cornett,
[unknown], Belle Cornett (child), and [unknown, possibly Goldie Couch’s
daughter Joy, b. 1884]. The women are using four metal washtubs, with two
washtubs set up and supported on boards above. The upper two washtubs are
used to soap, the lower two are used to rinse. There is an ironing board set up to
the left with a flatiron on the fire below it. To the far left is Poplar Creek and the
swinging bridge that was used for foot traffic. To the far right is the beginning of
the clothesline, with sheets hanging to dry.
*
On this audio track, The Nationaires sing a Christian gospel song. Members
include: Jerry Nelson, Warren Howard, Sam Hutchins, Bob Hutchins, Jack
Langley (piano), and Terry Price (guitar). This was possibly broadcast on Dewey
Hill’s radio program on WPAQ (Mt. Airy, NC) or WBOB (Galax, NC).
24
Date
Record to indicate the date of an event in the life cycle of the resource, such as
the date when it was formally published, the date of mass production, the date of
an event, or the date of creation. The date should take the YYYY-MM-DD format.
If the date is unknown and cannot be reasonably estimated, the notation is
[unknown]. If a time period within a range of years can be estimated, leave the
date field blank and use the Coverage element (Covered in the “Optional
elements” section).
Examples:
1931-10-22
1931-10
1931
Ca. 1931
See also the Coverage element for documenting time periods.
Format
The format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. Examples of
dimensions include size and duration. This element is repeatable and can be
renamed in CONTENTdm to help contributors clarify its utility. For our purposes,
the format will describe the physical or logical extent of the item.
Examples:
For text documents: 26 p.; 8 1/2 in. x 11 in.
For an image: sepia; 8 x 10 cm.
For an audio recording: 75:05 (1 hr., 15 min., 5 sec.)
25
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource. Typically, rights
information includes a statement about various property rights associated with
the resource, including intellectual property rights.
Permissions questions often arise with digital collections. The rights field should
also contain persistent contact information, such as the library’s main phone
number and email address. If possible, avoid using contact information for an
individual staff member, as this is subject to change and cannot be easily
maintained. Identify someone on your library’s staff who can answer questions
relating to copyright and use permissions and who will accept redirected queries.
The “rights” field in Dublin Core maps to the 506 or 540 field in MARC.
See the appendix for sample forms and permissions statements.
Sample statement:
This image may be viewed, downloaded, and printed for personal use, but any
commercial use is prohibited without permission from the College. Questions
may be directed to the Library at (phone number) or (link to general library
email).
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available. In the DLA, the
“publisher” field should be renamed “Holding library.” This will always be the
name of the college whose library contributed the item to the digital collection.
The “publisher” field can be duplicated if needed to provide a space for the name
of a publishing company, recording company, or other entity that was responsible
for enabling the publication of the item.
Example:
Create two publisher fields in CONTENTdm. Rename one of the fields “Holding
library.”
Holding library: King College
Publisher: Okeh Records
26
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context. In the DLA,
this refers simply to the file name.
Example:
li00051.jpg
Optional elements
These elements are optional, but recommended for creating item records
of optimal value. When these fields are not filled out in CONTENTdm, they
will not appear in the item record online.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource. A person or
organization not specified in a creator element who has made significant
intellectual contributions to the resource but whose contribution is secondary to
any person or organization specified in a creator element (for example, editor,
transcriber, and illustrator).
The “contributor” field in Dublin Core maps to the 7xx field in MARC.
Examples:
Hiller, Lejaren Arthur – 1924- [illustrator]
Roane County Historical Society
Coverage
The time period or geographic range of the resource. Record a range of dates as
appropriate. Rename this field “Time period” or “Place” to indicate whether
coverage is temporal or spatial.
27
“Time period” may be used in place of the “date” field if citing a date range or era
may be more accurate in describing the item.
The “coverage” field in Dublin Core maps to the 260c field in MARC.
Examples:
Time period:
19th century
1930-1939 Ca.
Place:
Ohio Valley
Madison County, Kentucky
Relation
A related resource. Recommended best practice is to identify the related
resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system.
The “relation” element in Dublin Core maps to the 530 or 760-787$o$t field in
MARC.
Examples:
Track number 9 on reel TD 46 in the Blue Ridge Institute Archives.
Transcribed from microfilm M1003, roll 37 of 73, frames 001 through 003.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived. The described
resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. This may
be the name of a collection held within a library.
The “source” element in Dublin Core maps to the 534$t or 786$o$t fields in
MARC.
Examples:
Jackie Ward Collection, Lot 242, Folder #1
28
Type
The nature or genre of the resource. Recommended best practice is to use a
controlled vocabulary such as the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCMITYPE]. The
DCMI Type Vocabulary provides a general, cross-domain list of approved terms
that may be used as values for the Resource Type element to identify the genre
of a resource.
To describe the file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource, use
the Format element.
The “type” field in Dublin Core maps to the 533 field in MARC.
DCMI Type Vocabulary terms most commonly used for this project (for
complete list, see the “Additional Readings” section):
Event
A non-persistent, time-based occurrence. Metadata for an event provides
descriptive information that is the basis for discovery of the purpose,
location, duration, and responsible agents associated with an event.
Examples include an exhibition, webcast, conference, workshop, open
day, performance, battle, trial, wedding, tea party, conflagration.
Image
A visual representation other than text. Examples include images and
photographs of physical objects, paintings, prints, drawings, other images
and graphics, animations and moving pictures, film, diagrams, maps,
musical notation. Note that Image may include both electronic and
physical representations.
Interactive Resource
A resource requiring interaction from the user to be understood, executed,
or experienced. Examples include forms on Web pages, applets,
multimedia learning objects, chat services, or virtual reality environments.
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when
shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television
programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Instances
of the type Moving Image must also be describable as instances of the
broader type Image.
Physical Object
29
An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital
representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Image,
Text or one of the other types.
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music
playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or
sounds.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings,
graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to
assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Instances of the type
Still Image must also be describable as instances of the broader type
Image.
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include
books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of
mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre
Text.
30
Sample records
Now that we have described the fields, here are some examples of how they may
be put to use for items in various formats. Note that only the required fields and
selected optional fields will appear in the completed record (in other words, fields
left blank will not be visible to the end user):
Photograph
Title: Aerial view of Bethany College
Creator: Cramblet Jr., Wilbur H.
Description: This photograph shows the college after the "Coal Bowl" had been
strip mined. In connection with M.M. Cochran and supervised by Bethany's
President, Wilbur H. Cramblet Sr., the mining brought in needed monies for the
college during the bleak World War II years. The "Coal Bowl" is currently the
location of the freshmen parking, tennis courts and the wellness center. Also
pictured are the V-12 barracks that were erected and used by the military
reserves.
Subject: Universities & colleges; Architecture, gothic; Coal mining; Strip mining
DLA Category: Cultural landscape; Education; Natural environment
Date: 1945
Geographic area: Bethany, West Virginia
Format: 1 black & white photograph; 28 x 36 cm.
Type: Image
Holding library (publisher field): Bethany College
Source: Wilbur H. Cramblet, Jr. Collection
Identifier: bt00332.jpg
Rights: This image may be viewed, downloaded, and printed for personal and
educational use, but any commercial use is prohibited without permission from
Bethany College. Questions may be directed to the Library at (phone number) or
(link to general library email or contact page).
31
Pamphlet or short document
Title: Attempt by Communists to seize the American labor movement
Creator: United Mine Workers of America
Description: This series of six articles was prepared by the United Mine Workers
of America, disclosing the attempt that is being made by the Red forces, under
the direct supervision of Moscow, to seize control of the organized labor
movement of America and use it as the base from which to carry on the
Communist effort for the overthrow of the American Government.
Subject: Labor unions; United Mine Workers of America; Communism
DLA Category: Work; Politics & government
Date: 1924
Format: 1 booklet (ii, 43 p.); 15 x 22.5 cm.
Type: Text
Holding library (publisher field): West Virginia Wesleyan College
Identifier: wv00012.pdf
Relation: 68th Congress; 1st session; Doc. no. 14
Publisher: Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Rights: This image may be viewed, downloaded, and printed for personal and
educational use, but any commercial use is prohibited without permission from
West Virginia Wesleyan College. Questions may be directed to the Library at
(phone number) or (link to general library email or contact page).
32
Audio
Title: I’ll Fly Away
Creator: Reece, Florence
Description: Florence Reece (1900-1986) talks and sings in her Harlan County,
Kentucky home to a group of high school students from Paideia school in Atlanta.
The group is led by John Sundale. Florence's husband, Sam, a retired miner, is
also present. Sam was an organizer for United Mine Workers of America and
died of black lung later in 1978.
Subject: Banjo – Appalachian Region
DLA Category: Music; Religion
Date: 1978
Time period (coverage field): 1970-1979
Format: 1 audio cassette (4 min.)
Type: Sound
Holding library (publisher field): Warren Wilson College
Source: Oral History cassette collection
Identifier: ww08422.mp3
Relation: Song number 19 on audio cassette labeled 'Florence Reece 1978'.
Rights: This is a short excerpt from a 4 minute tune. This recording may be
accessed for personal and educational use, but any commercial use is prohibited
without permission from Warren Wilson College. Questions, or requests for the
complete recording, may be directed to the Library at (phone number) or (link to
general library email or contact page).
33
3-dimensional artifact
Title: Quilt – Babyblock and stars
Creator: Holton, Martha Lou Meek; Keller, Lelah Holton
Description: Pieced babyblock quilt with an inner star pattern. Six pointed stars
and white hexagons form the pattern. Colors are blue with white polka dots.
Edged with a navy blue seam binding. Hand quilted in white around each object
(a technique known as “in the ditch”). Very good condition.
Subject: Bedding; Handicrafts; Quilting
DLA Category: Arts & culture; Domestic life
Time period (coverage field): 1930-1939 ca.
Format: 1 quilt: cotton and polyester; blue and white ; 75 1/2 x 87 in.
Type: Image
Holding library (publisher field): Berea College
Source: Berea College Appalachian Artifacts Collection
Identifier: be50007.jpg
Relation: Photograph of Artifact 2004.1.1 in the BC Appalachian Artifacts
Collection
Rights: This item may be accessed for personal and educational use, but any
commercial use is prohibited without permission from Berea College. Questions,
or requests for the complete recording, may be directed to the Library at (phone
number) or (link to general library email or contact page).
34
Adding your items to CONTENTdm
The best resource for thorough, up-to-date and user-friendly guides for using
CONTENTdm in through the User Support Center on the CONTENTdm website.
You can log in by creating a free account at this site:
http://www.contentdm.org/login/login_USC.asp

Click on the link in the “Register Now” box on the right side of the screen
to enter our Organization ID, which is ACA1107.

This will lead you to a screen where you can create your own account for
accessing the User Support Center.

Once you have logged in, you will have access to tutorials, user forums,
support FAQs, and more.

For instructional materials, click on the “knowledgebase” tab and browse
the various categories.

Several tutorials have been copied from the CONTENTdm User Support
Center and are included on your DLA flash drive for your convenience. If
you have any questions that are not answered here or on the USC online,
please do not hesitate to contact the DLA project manager or a member of
the DLA Task Force.
35
Ongoing care of your collection
Maintenance
Once you have uploaded items to your online collection, you will want to make
sure your hard work endures by periodically browsing the collection and checking
for any errors or broken links. You do not have to spend an intensive amount of
time doing this; merely skimming a sample of formats from time to time will be
very helpful in keeping you in touch with your collection and ensuring your work
is consistent.
End users will be your best assistants in pointing out any errors, inaccuracies, or
other problems with accessing items, and so you will want to maintain accurate
contact information on item records (this should be sent to a general library or
departmental email, if possible, or else you will need to make sure information for
a particular contact person is still valid). For this reason, it is important to have
one person who can field questions and make any necessary corrections or
additions to the collection.
Ideally, you will also have a secondary person who has a basic understanding of
how to edit a record. This protects the collection from falling into disrepair should
the primary administrator leave that position.
Any problems that seem beyond the scope of the collection administrator should
be reported to the server administrator at the ACA office.
Ideas for promotion of your collection
Now that you’ve made the effort to build an amazing collection, you’ll want to
share it with the world! Here are some ideas for reaching your audience:
Online
Actively market your digital collection as you would any other database. The
internet provides myriad opportunities for you to promote your collection with no
cost and just a little effort and creativity.
Consider these websites where your audience may already be gathering
information within the scope of your collections, or where they would be receptive
to learning more about your library or school:
-Departmental and library pages at your institution
-Local and regional schools and libraries sites
-State library and archives sites
-Municipal, regional, or state information sites
-Regional cultural/educational institution sites
Compile a list of relevant sites and contact the webmasters to ask if they will link
to your online collection.
36
Other ideas:
-
Select some public domain images and share them on a site like Flickr,
Creative Commons, or Wikimedia, with a link back to your collection.
If your library has a blog, Facebook or Twitter page, make your collection
a regular topic to share with your followers. Try highlighting a different
theme in your collection each time.
On paper
Using an image from your collection, create an attractive bookmark, flyer, or
postcard with a link to the website. Distribute among libraries, archives,
museums, galleries, or other relevant spaces on your campus. Mail a
postcard or send a handful of bookmarks to regional cultural and educational
organizations.
Consider writing an article for your college newspaper, departmental
newsletters, relevant regional organizations’ newsletters, and even your local
paper.
In person
Demonstrate the use of your collection to students, faculty, and anyone else
when you have an opportunity.
Assessment of your collection’s usage
You may find it helpful to regularly evaluate your collection’s user statistics, which
your collection administrator can access on their CONTENTdm Administration
page. Statistics provided are both quantitative (How many times the collection is
being accessed in a set period of time; Duration of users’ visits to the collection
pages; Number of records accessed; etc) and qualitative (Which items are being
accessed most frequently; Which formats are most popular; What search terms
are being used most frequently; etc).
This information can provide clues as to what your end users are interested in, as
well as which materials are being underutilized. A summary of which search
terms are being used can help you create or edit your metadata with the end
searcher in mind.
37
Additional readings
Digitization best practices, including scanning specifications
Best Practice Guidelines for Digital Collections at University of Maryland
Libraries. Second edition, 2007. Available at
http://www.lib.umd.edu/dcr/publications/best_practice.pdf
Digital Imaging Best Practices Version 2.0. Bibliographic Center for Research
Collaborative Digitization Program. June 2008. Available at
http://www.bcr.org/dps/cdp/best/digital-imaging-bp.pdf
Digitization Guidelines. NC ECHO: Exploring Cultural Heritage Online. Available
at http://www.ncecho.org/dig/digguidelines.shtml
A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. Institute of
Museum and Library Services. 3rd edition, 2007. Available at
http://framework.niso.org/
Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging Tutorial. Cornell University Library.
2002-2003. Available at
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/contents.html
CONTENTdm User Support Center
www.contentdm.org/usc
Dublin Core for item record creation
Dublin Core Date Element Specifications. Available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime
DC Format Element Specifications. Available at
http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/
DCMI Type Element Specifications. Available at
http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-type-vocabulary/
MARC to Dublin Core Crosswalk. Library of Congress. 2008. Available at
http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc2dc.html
38
Appendix A: Fair Use laws and evaluation tools
Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use. U.S. Code Title 17 > Chapter 1 >
Section 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a
copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords
or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining
whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to
be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted
work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted
work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such
finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
The American Library Association’s Copyright Advisory Committee has
developed some user-friendly tools designed to help educate librarians about
copyright:
The Public Domain slider is a tool to help determine the copyright status of a
work that is first published in the United States.
http://librarycopyright.net/digitalslider/
Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Code allows libraries & archives, under certain
circumstances, to make reproductions of copyrighted materials without the
permission of the copyright holder. This simple tool can help you determine
whether or not a particular reproduction is covered by this exemption.
http://librarycopyright.net/108spinner/
The Fair Use Evaluator is an online tool that can help users understand how to
determine if the use of a protected work is a “fair use.” It helps users collect,
organize, and document the information they may need to support a fair use
claim, and provides a time-stamped PDF document for the users’ records.
http://librarycopyright.net/fairuse/
39
When does work pass into the public domain?
(From Carrie Russell, Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide for Librarians.
American Library Association, 2004.)
Time of Publication
Before 1923
Between 1923 – 1978
Conditions
None
Published without a
copyright notice
Between 1978 – 3/1/1989 Published without a
notice, and without
subsequent registration
Between 1978 – 3/1/1989 Published without a
notice, but with
subsequent registration
Between 1923 – 1963
Published with notice, but
copyright was not
renewed
Between 1923 - 1963
Published with notice and
copyright was renewed
Between 1964 – 1978
Published with notice
Between 1978 – 3/1/1989 Published with notice
After 3/1/1989
None
Public Domain Status
In public domain
In public domain
In public domain
70 years after death of
author*
In public domain
95 years after publication
date
70 years after death of
author*
70 years after death of
author*
70 years after death of
author*
* If the work is of corporate authorship, copyright endures for the shorter of 95
years from publication, or 120 years from creation.
40
Appendix B: Ready reference tip sheets
You can post any of these sheets to your workstation if needed for quick
reference:

CONTENTdm required and recommended fields

MARC to Dublin Core crosswalk

Care and Handling Procedures during Digitization for All Collection
Materials
41
CONTENTdm required and recommended fields for the DLA
Here is the standard list of fields for the DLA project. Fields in bold are required;
fields in parentheses are optional, but recommended when applicable. You are
welcome to add extra fields to your project as you see fit.
Title
Creator
(Contributor)
Description
Subject
DLA category
Date - (or use “Coverage” field, renamed “Time period,” to provide a date range)
(Coverage) – (rename “Time period”)
(Coverage) – (rename “Place” to indicate a field for providing geographical
information)
Format
(Type)
Publisher - (rename “Holding library”)
(Source)
Identifier
(Relation)
(Publisher) – (use this field to provide names of publishing, recording companies,
etc)
Rights
42
MARC to Dublin Core Crosswalk (Unqualified) – Library of Congress
Conventions: 1."$" is used to specify the subfield used. If none is specified, use all
subfields. 2. DC element is repeated if multiple MARC fields are used.
MARC fields
DC
Element
100, 110, 111, 700, 710,
711
Contributor
Implementation Notes
720
651, 662
Coverage
751, 752
Creator
008/07-10
Creator element not used.
Date
260$c$g
500-599, except 506, 530,
540, 546
Description
340
Format
856$q
020$a, 022$a, 024$a
Identifier
856$u
008/35-37
Language
041$a$b$d$e$f$g$h$j
546
260$a$b
Publisher
530, 760-787$o$t
Relation
506, 540
Rights
534$t
Source
786$o$t
050, 060, 080, 082
Subject
600, 610, 611, 630, 650,
653
245, 246
Title
Repeat dc:title for each. Some applications may wish
to include 210, 222, 240, 242, 243, and 247.
Leader06, Leader07
Type
See Appendix 2 for Leader-Type rules.
655
43
44