Digital Archives at the National Library of Medicine

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Digital Archives at the National Library of
Medicine

• A presentation at the MLA Session
• Lighting the Path Digital Repositories in the
  Real World
• May 24, 2004
• by Diane Boehr
• Cataloging Unit Head, National Library of
  Medicine,
• National Institutes of Health,
• Health Human Services
• boehrd_at_mail.nlm.nih.gov

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Scope

• Historical medical works
• The NLM Archive
• PubMed Central

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Considerations as you begin a project

• It will take much longer than you anticipate
• You will learn a great deal about topics outside
  your normal work duties
• Be willing to take baby steps and make a start
• It is very rewarding to see the fruits of your
  labor

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HMD Projects

• Historical Anatomies
• Medicine in the Americas

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Historical Anatomies

• http//www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatom
  ies/home.html
• Provides high-resolution downloadable scans of
  selected important images from illustrated
  anatomical atlases dating from the 15th to the
  20th century
• Titles and images selected by Michael North, Head
  of Rare Books and Early Manuscripts

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Historical Anatomies

• Consists of large JPEGs and zoomable digitized
  images from the books and a brief bibliographical
  and historical introduction to each title

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Technical details

• The imaging for this project is contracted out
• The contractor makes archival quality TIFF files
  (800 ppi resolution) and from that, thumbnail and
  JPEG images are made for the site, using Adobe
  Photoshop
• Zoomifyer Pro is used to create the pan and zoom
  images
• The TIFF files are backed up on CD-ROMs

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Search and retrieval

• Individual images do not have any metadata
  associated with them at this time
• Bibliographic citations on the site match the
  LocatorPlus records
• As the focus of the site is selected individual
  images from the books, rather than the entire
  text, there are currently no links from the
  LocatorPlus records for the individual titles to
  images on the Web site

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Sample screen
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Medicine in the Americas

• Monographic original source materials on the
  development of medicine in New World published
  prior to 1914 are being digitized in their
  entirety
• (http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db
  Books)

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Technical details

• Digitizing is being done in-house
• Books are scanned, and from the initial scan a
  photocopy and a TIFF file are created
• Photocopies are scanned to create OCR Word text
  files, which are then manually reviewed and
  cleaned up to create a searchable, downloadable
  PDF text in modern font
• TIFF file is used to create the typeface and
  layout of the original published work

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Technical details

• Mounting of these texts on the Web and the XML
  coding of the Word files done using the NLM
  Bookshelf platform
• Bookshelf developed by NCBI for medical texts
  supplied by publishers in SGML, or other desktop
  publishing formats
• Platform has an existing template that allows the
  record creators to easily input metadata without
  needing to know XML

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Search and Retrieval

• Bookshelf site only supports keyword searching
• Standard bibliographic data from LocatorPlus and
  brief historical data is included with the text
• Catalog records have hot links to the Bookshelf
  site

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Timeframes

• Both projects went from planning to
  implementation in about one year, although both
  projects will be adding more material to their
  sites
• Use of standard, off the shelf products or
  existing technologies made implementation easier

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NLM Archives

• A site to store material of permanent value that
  has been published on the NLM Web site, but is
  now outdated or superseded
• Searchable, yet clearly distinguished from
  current material

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What do we mean by permanent?

• Three aspects to permanence were identified
• 1) Identifier validity The extent to which the
  given name or identifier will always provide
  access to the same resource
• 2) Resource availability The extent to which a
  given resource is guaranteed to remain available
  in electronic form
• 3) Content invariability The extent to which the
  content of the resource could change

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NLM Permanence Ratings

• Four categories of permanence have been defined
• 1) Permanent, unchanging content NLM has made
  a commitment to keep this resource permanently
  available. Its identifier will always provide
  access to the resource. Its content will not
  change.

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NLM Permanence Ratings

• 2) Permanent, stable content NLM has made a
  commitment to keep this resource permanently
  available. Its identifier will always provide
  access to the resource. Its content is subject
  only to minor corrections or additions.

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NLM Permanence Ratings

• 3) Permanent, dynamic content NLM has made a
  commitment to keep this resource permanently
  available. Its identifier will always provide
  access to the resource. Its content could be
  revised, replaced.

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NLM Permanence Ratings

• 4) Permanence not guaranteed NLM has made no
  commitment to retain this resource. It could
  become unavailable at any time. Its identifier
  could be changed.

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Workflows

• Permanence ratings are assigned when a resource
  is promoted to the NLM Web site
• Default permanence ratings are generated based on
  the category to which the resource belongs
• Resource creators use a template which adds basic
  metadata, in addition to the category and
  permanence rating

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Templates

• Metadata input template is a feature of TeamSite,
  our Web content management software
• No knowledge of HTML is needed to use these
  templates
• Minimal set of required fields, with default
  values or drop-down menus supplied wherever
  possible

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Required metadata
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• The NLM metadata set is based on Dublin Core,
  with some local adaptations
• The full scheme may be seen at
• http//www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/metafilenew.
  html

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Workflows

• Every resource has the minimal metadata assigned
  by the resource creator
• Permanent resources are routed to the Cataloging
  Section
• Complete MARC bibliographic records are created
• Includes standardized access points, including
  MeSH and an NLM classification number
• Accessible in LocatorPlus
• Distributed to the utilities and other NLM
  licensees.

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Workflows

• The enhanced metadata created in Cataloging is
  then added back to the header information of the
  online resource
• Preliminary metadata and the enhanced versions
  can be seen by clicking on "View source"

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Basic metadata
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Enhanced metadata
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Archive Design

• Separate, distinct, but integral part of the NLM
  Web site
• Searchable with standard NLM search software
  Mindserver from Recommind

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Archive contents

• Out-of-date resources--older material that was
  once up on the site, but is no longer of current
  interest
• Earlier versions of current documents that have
  undergone major revisions

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Still to come

• Archiving non-HTML files, such as PDF, video and
  audio clips, etc.
• Archiving resources from areas in the library
  which do not get promoted through TeamSite

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Impact on Cataloging

• PubMed Central (PMC)
• A bibliographic record must exist in the NLM
  catalog before a journal is added to PMC
• Records must be created if the title is not
  already in the catalog
• Downloaded from OCLC
• Skeletal record created from local template
• High-priority, 24 hr. turnaround time
• Records are then fully cataloged

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Impact on Cataloging

• PMC
• If the title is already in the catalog, holdings
  must be updated
• Indicate the title is available in PMC
• Range of issues
• Any embargo periods

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Impact on Cataloging

• NLM Archive
• Cataloger creates core level MARC records for any
  new resource on the NLM Web site rated Permanent
• View the site, as well as utilize metadata
  supplied by record creator for descriptive data
• Supply MeSH and NLM classification
• Establish authorized name headings in the
  national authority file
• Transfer this enhanced metadata back to the
  resource

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Impact on Cataloging

• HMD projects
• Minimal impact on Cataloging
• Books being digitized already have records in the
  catalog
• HMD has its own cataloging staff who can make
  links between existing catalog records and
  digitized material

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Impact on Cataloging

• Despite the increased workload, we think
  archiving projects are enhanced when catalogers
  are involved in the projects
• Catalogers increase their knowledge by becoming
  involved in these projects