Digital Preservation of Rare Books and Manuscripts

Sharon Reilly

Digital Preservation of Rare Books and Manuscripts:

Annotated Bibliography

Sharon Reilly

INFO 522: Information Access & Resources

August 31, 2012

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This assignment is entirely my own work.
I have not quoted the words of any other person from a printed source or website without indicating what has been quoted and providing an appropriate citation.
I have not submitted this assignment to satisfy the requirements of any other course.

Signature:Sharon Reilly

Date:August 31, 2012

Introduction and Scope

The following bibliography covers information on aspects of the digital preservation of rare books and manuscripts, covering frameworks to evaluate whether or not to attempt a digitization project, what to digitize, what method to capture and store images and metadata, barriers to success, special considerations due to the nature of special collections and cultural heritage implications. The articles were published between 2001 and 2011, with most entries published 2008 or later. Authors from around the world were included to help illustrate the global access possible through digitization, greatly expanding use of materials that had been very difficult to access due to their rarity. The transformative impact on scholarship is described by several authors.

Description

Access to rare book and manuscripts has been limited due to factors such as their location, great value or fragile condition. Use is often limited to scholars who must travel to the libraries or archives and use the documents under the watchful scrutiny of the library staff. Also, incomplete cataloging of some collections makes their contents hard to locate. Many documents are at risk of being lost because of inadequate storage conditions, rough handling or their physical composition. Digitization, the process of electronically capturing images of the documents or optical character recognition scanning (OCR) them, along with creating metadata files, hold the promise of solving some of the problems inherent in rare document collections.

Summary of Findings

Digital technology holds the promise of greatly increasing access to rare books and manuscripts while also serving to preserve these often fragile documents. Many important cultural heritage documents exist only as manuscripts in places like Morocco, Iran and India. Many of the Moroccan manuscripts are held by private individuals and are deteriorating rapidly due to the lack of archival storage. Often they are subject to dust, insect and climate damage. (Abdelhamid & Nieuwenhuysen, 2010) The same is true of many historic Persian manuscripts in Iran, which are also at risk due to the political unrest in the region. (Madden & Seifi 2011). Less dramatic but still very real is the damage to original documents that Forde describes, caused by frustrated users carelessly rifling through boxes in search of uncataloged records. (2005).

Scholarship has advanced and new avenues of research have been opened by the access digitization can provide. Ioppolo describes scholars being drawn to the study of manuscripts by first viewing them online. (2004). The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland has digitized their collection of Islamic manuscripts, and these are being used in a Qatar Foundation sponsored program for K-12 students. (Bockrath, Case, Fetters & Herr, 2010). Scholars are now able to access online materials they once had to travel hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles to study—if the trip was economically feasible at all.

Digitizing rare books and manuscripts provides much more of a challenge than digitizing general collection. First of all, scholars may not feel the digital surrogates are adequate substitutes for the originals. When Abdelhamid and Nieuwenhuysen surveyed members of the history department of University of Abdelmalek Essaadi in Morocco, they indicated a reluctance to use digital copies instead of directly accessing the originals, although the authors believe this is partly influenced by the insight they receive from the private owners of the manuscripts. (2010). However, Nikolova-Houston and Houston argue thatwe have to distinguish between the “intellectual content of a manuscript and its evidentiary and forensic values (2008, p. 110).” They found that many scholars were satisfied with digital surrogates and some actually preferred them. Even those concerned with the physical characteristics of the documents can benefit from digitization. Ioppolo describes the way high quality digital images can be enlarged to show detail hard to discern on the original, and the ability to compare handwriting from one document to that in another. (2004).

Another potential drawback is the cost involved in digitizing rare books and manuscripts. The Walters relied on grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize their collection of Islamic manuscripts. Their goal was to create the highest possible quality images using a custom built state-of-the-art computerized camera and book cradle. (Bockrath, Case, Fetters & Herr, 2010). On the other hand, the Jayakar Library determined they could do a good quality scans in house for a modest budget, because they already possessed the infrastructure to accomplish the task, including two Minolta PS 7000 book scanners. (Londhe, Desale & Patil, 2011).Nikolova-Houston and Houston argue that “acceptable level” digitization can be done in house without special equipment, and that the librarian has a duty to maximize access to the collection, even if funds for high quality imaging cannot be obtained (2008). Some organizations are entering into partnerships with outside organizations to conduct mass digitization programs. Ceynowa describes the. Bavarian State Library’s partnership with Google to conduct the mass digital capture of their seventeenth through nineteenth century books. Google is covering the cost in exchange for a digital copy of each book to add to Google Books. They decided the benefits of maintaining relevance by providing such robust digital resources outweighed any risk that having the copies available on Google would decrease demand for their resources. An added benefit is that the availability of a digital surrogate will decrease the amount of damage sustained by the original resulting from handling. Google benefits by obtaining huge amounts of searchable content, making them more attractive to users. (2009). Rieger discussed the challenges involved in adapting mass digitization methodology to rare book projects, which are traditional done on much smaller scale with near one hundred percent quality control. She raises issues that have to be considered such as the level of quality control that is acceptable and methods to safeguard the books and manuscripts which are often in fragile condition. (2010).

Rare books and manuscripts often provide unique challenges to creating digital surrogates, since they are often irregular, have leaves inserted or missing and include marginalia which is valuable to scholars. Cameron and Mix describe the process of digitizing the manuscript of the sixth edition of the Organon der Heilkunst by Samuel Hahnemann, which is an important document in the history of homeopathic medicine. The manuscript consists of a copy of the fifth edition with handwritten notes in the margins and sheets inserted throughout the book. They decided to create a Flash flipbook file with icons which, when clicked, open the note sheets that were inserted in the original at that spot. (2011). Kowal and Martyn describe another complicated project undertake by the British Library to create electronic images of maps contain within their rare books. The challenge they faced was which metadata system and standard would work best for this type of project. Although other systems were considered, they decided to stick with their integrated library system following the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) in the Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) format, since it already contained the data for the books themselves, so the map data could be linked to the parent book file. (2008).

Digital technology holds great promise in preserving and allowing access to rare books and manuscripts. However, it does not eliminate the need to preserve the physical copies of many documents. Many of these items have inherent value as physical objects, whether for their beauty, cultural and historical significance, or scientific information to be obtained. However, digital surrogates can help us protect the physical artifact by allowing access to the content remotely, sparing these fragile, valuable items any more wear than necessary.

Entry 1:

Abdelhamid, B. M., & Nieuwenhuysen, P. (2010). Digital access to cultural heritage material: Case of the Moroccan manuscripts. Collection Building, 29(4), 137-141. doi: 10.1108/01604951011088862

Abstract: “Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the readiness of academic researchers in history in Moroccan universities to change their habits and ways of accessing old manuscript collections from direct access to on/offline access to digitized versions of the same documents.

Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted with a sample population of about 30 researchers, both students and teachers. This survey used a questionnaire distributed directly.

Findings - This user study came to the conclusion that though people appreciate the possible existence of a digital library for manuscripts (on- or offline), they have some hesitation to use it solely because they are afraid of losing a precious and fruitful human interaction with the private holders of manuscript collections.

Research limitations/implications - The study is considered as a basis for future studies that could enhance the concepts and the methods. The limitations in this research are mainly due to the local scope of the survey.

Originality/value - The survey is unique in the sense that it is the first one. The manuscripts have been studied previously at several levels except a user needs perspective.”

Annotation:Overviewof a small survey of members of the history department of the University of Abdelmalek Essaadi of their attitudes about studying digital surrogates of historic Moroccan manuscripts that are largely privately held and are often in poor condition due to lack of archival storage and conservation. Although not a definitive study on the topic, the authors provide insight into the cultural as well as financial and technological impediments to preserving cultural heritage objects in a developing country.

Search Strategy:I chose the decided to try ProQuest Research Library to expand my possible sources. I chose a keyword search to bring as broad a selection as possible. I altered my search string from earlier strings to focus on digital preservation, instead of my earlier concept of both digital and conventional methods.

Database:ProQuest Research Library

Method of Searching:Keyword searching

Search string:digitization OR digital AND (preservation OR conservation OR restoration) AND all((rare book? OR manuscript?))

Scholarly/Refereed Status:I limited my search to peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals and journal is listed as refereed in Ulrich’s.

Entry 2:

Bockrath, D., Case, C., Fetters, E., & Herr, H. (2010). Parchment to pixel: The Walters Islamic manuscript digital project. Art Documentation, 29(2), 14-20.

Abstract: “The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, is nearing completion of an initiative to digitize its Islamic manuscripts — a collection comprised of 128 codices and sixty single leaves, dating from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries and containing extraordinary treasures from the world of Islamic art and calligraphy. The project seeks to create full digital surrogates of the entire collection, capturing preservation-quality, high-resolution digital images, providing appropriate metadata, and making the results available at no charge online under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 license. This article details the processes and procedures behind the ambitious plan and offers critical analysis of the role the project will play in the collective digital management of visual resources.”

Annotation: This article, which won the 2010 Gerd Muehsam Award for articles written by graduate students, provides an in depth, step by step description of the Walters’s digitization of rare Islamic manuscripts. It provides a comprehensive roadmap to anyone interested in conducting such a project by outlining the entire process, including the selection of imaging device and software, the selection of documents to image, the creation of the metadata to accompany the images, the interim handling of the files, the permanent warehousing of the data and the intended use and access to the data.

Search Strategy:I chose the Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson) database because I thought it would be a good place to start looking for articles on the topic. I chose a keyword search as it was one of my initial searches.

Database:Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson)

Method of Searching:Keyword searching

Search string:(digitization OR digital preservation OR preservation OR conservation OR restoration) AND (rare book? OR manuscript?)

Scholarly/Refereed Status:I limited my search to peer reviewed journals. Also, Ulrich’s lists it as a refereed journal.

Entry 3:

Cameron, K., & Mix, L. A. (2011). From Hahnemann's hand to your computer screen: building a digital homeopathy collection. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 99(1), 51-56. Retrieved from

Abstract: “The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Library holds the unique manuscript of the sixth edition of Samuel Hahnemann's Organon der Heilkunst, the primary text of homeopathy. The manuscript volume is Hahnemann's own copy of the fifth edition of the Organon with his notes for the sixth edition, handwritten throughout the volume. Thereisa high level of interest in the Organon manuscript, particularly among homeopaths. This led to the decision to present a digital surrogate on the web to make it accessible to a wider audience. Digitizing Hahnemann's manuscript and determining the best method of presentation on the web posed several challenges. Lessons learned in the course of this project will inform future digital projects. This article discusses the historical significance of the sixth edition of Hahnemann's Organon, its context in UCSF's homeopathy collections, and the specifics of developing the online homeopathy collection.”

Annotation:After a detailed history of the document and its significance, the authors provide an overview of the process involved in evaluating the benefits of digitizing the document, the unique challenges presented by the physical condition of the book and the options considered for presenting the digital version. Although not a detailed guideline for completing such a project, it provides a useful overall summary of the issues to be considered when planning to digitize a historic manuscript.

Database:Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson)

Method of Searching:Keyword searching

Search string:(digitization OR digital preservation OR preservation OR conservation OR restoration) AND (rare book? OR manuscript?)

Scholarly/Refereed Status:I limited my search to peer reviewed journals. Listed as refereed in Ulrich’s, and listed as “international, peer-reviewed journal” on publication’s website.

Entry 4:

Ceynowa, K. (2009). Mass digitization for research and study: The digitization strategy of the Bavarian state library. IFLA Journal, 35(1), 17-24. doi: 10.1177/0340035208102031.

Abstract: “The Bavarian State Library is one of the largest European research libraries. The Library`s unique collection profile is characterized by extremely precious manuscripts, rare printed books and comprehensive special collections from thousands of years of cultural heritage. Responding to the challenges of the digital age, it is a primary strategic objective of the Bavarian State Library to digitize as soon as possible its unique collections, which are a good part of written cultural heritage, and to make them usable for the world. Aiming for this strategic objective, the library undertakes several large-scale digitization projects, which will bring more than 1.2 million books online during the next few years. The deployment of state-of-the-art robotic scanners as well as a public-private partnership with Google which are part of this digitization strategy are described in detail. The implications for the future role of libraries - especially as `bricks and books' institutions - in the rapidly changing information landscape is also briefly discussed.”

Annotation:The DeputyDirector General of the BavarianState Library in Munich makes the case for a large scale digitization program of their seventeenth through nineteenth century copyright-free collections in cooperation with Google and in which Google covers the cost in exchange for a digital copy of the items scanned. He makes a strong argument that the library benefits by being able to provide greater access to materials and remain relevant in an increasingly internet based environment, but also that the program is allowing them to preserve the contents of books that will soon be lost due to rapid deterioration and spare other fragile books the damage that would result from handling because the digital copy is available for use.

Search Strategy:I decided to limit my search terms to the title in order to focus the articles found. I believed LISA would have large number of articles on my topic and did not want to be overwhelmed with articles that only made brief reference to the topic.

Database:Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA)

Method of Searching:Title searching

Search string:ti(digitization OR digital AND (preservation OR conservation OR restoration)) AND all((rare book? OR manuscript?))

Scholarly/Refereed Status:I limited my search to peer reviewed journals. Listed as refereed in Ulrich’s, and publication website states they publish peer reviewed articles.

Entry 5:

Devi,T.S. (2008) Impact of information technology on the societal archive: A case study of Manipuri manuscripts, The International Information & Library Review, 40 (3), 179-184.

Abstract: “Manuscripts are one of the precious materials of our cultural heritage, acting as a valuable source of history and knowledge and offering perspective on contemporary society. In Manipur, we are losing our manuscripts through decay and improper handling. Current progress in the field of information and communication technology offers a potential solution to the problem. Through large scale digitization projects, manuscripts can not only be stored and preserved, but also made available to the public. This paper highlights the importance of the Manipur Manuscripts collection and the necessity to preserve the collection for future generations.”