Digitization of Library Material In Europe LIBER Workshop

Digitization of Library Material In Europe LIBER Workshop, Copenhagen, 24 -26 October 2007 Dan Burnstone, Publishing Director, Pro. Quest

Pro. Quest: what we do • Full-text and index databases in the Humanities and Social Sciences – – – Literature (e. g. Literature Online) Historical Collections (e. g. EEBO; Parliamentary Papers) Historical Journal backfiles (e. g. Periodicals Archive Online) Music, Performing Arts and Film (e. g. IIMP; IIPA) Black Studies • Historical newspapers (e. g. New York Times; Chicago Tribune) • Dissertations • Aggregated journal databases in Business, Medical, General Reference (ABI, Pro. Quest 5000) • A&I databases in Arts, Humanities, Natural and Social Sciences • Library access and management services (Serial Solutions) • Microfilm

Public-private collaborations Some current examples: – Pro. Quest and the EEBO Text Creation Partnership – Pro. Quest’s partnership with Bodleian and JISC to digitize part of the Johnson collection – Partnership with BOPCRIS to host 18 th Century Parliamentary Papers – Agreement with The National Archives for CO 1 – Colonial State Papers – Contributory model • e. g. Digitization in the US of the Hartford Courant

Early English Books Online Content: • Images of virtually every book, periodical and pamphlet printed in Britain and America, and books in English printed in other countries, from 1473 to 1700 • 33 languages, from Algonquin to Welsh • 200 contributing libraries • More than 100, 000 books

EEBO & the Text Creation Partnership • TCP launched in 1999 by universities of Michigan & Oxford; now has 150 members worldwide • Aims to provide SGML/XML tagged & keyed texts for 25, 000 works in EEBO ; complete in 2008 • Text + image = a powerful research and instructional tool • “An unprecedented partnership between a commercial publisher and the library community” (Dr Mark Sandler, University of Michigan)

Structure of the Partnership • Institutions that own EEBO can become members of the Text Creation Partnership • Annual fee over 5 years which goes into the TCP to fund the keying of texts • Pro. Quest matches a % for every member that joins • Discount on the price of EEBO for those who buy into EEBO and the TCP at the same time • PQ provides the text in the form of digital images for re-keying by the TCP

Structure of the Partnership • Both Pro. Quest and U. of Michigan host a copy of the content • Partner institutions own the content & can load it themselves for local use • Five years after completion of the project (i. e. in 2013), the texts will be made openly accessible and enter into the public domain • The partnership thereforesees the eventual emergence of the keyed text into the public domain

The Johnson Collection The online collection includes five categories of material: • Nineteenth-century Entertainment including theatre material and non-theatrical entertainment material • Booktrade • Popular prints – an invaluable record of locations and landscapes, architecture, popular tastes and appetites for artistic works and topography • Crime, Murders, and Executions - giving insights into the judicial system and its punishments • Advertising

The Johnson Collection • Partnership between Oxford University, Pro. Quest and JISC • Phase 2 of the JISC digitization programme providing funding for the preservation, creation of metadata and digitization • Oxford provides the expertise to preserve and create the metadata • Pro. Quest provides the digitization services • Pro. Quest assumes the costs for the creation of the interface, search technology and the ongoing hosting of the content • Pro. Quest provides free access to the United Kingdom and can sell the content outside of the UK • Sales outside of the UK market support the ongoing hosting of the content and pays a royalty back to Oxford

Homepage

Contributory model HNP Hartford Courant (1764 -1922) • State Library of Connecticut lead initiative to collect funds (including foundation support) and Pro. Quest digitized the Hartford Courant public domain and hosts file for all Connecticut residents • Cost effective manner to digitize valuable local content set

Hartford Courant • Digitization paid for by the State Library of Connecticut • The newspaper will be freely available in CT and for sale outside of the State • The library will realize a royalty

Our approach • • Understanding of the specialised needs of academia - reflected in design & functionality Expertise in the handling and conversion of rare and fragile materials Frequent updating and redesign of resources to meet evolving requirements Compliance to ever-changing standards is a “given” for us

Our approach • • Ensuring the long-term sustainability of resources Providing a robust and dependable service Promotion of resources worldwide to ensure maximum usage Flexible business models respond to specific requirements and conditions, e. g. by including open access components

Some of the commercial partner’s strengths • Market Research • Promotion/dissemination • Expertise in rights management and clearance • Technical support and responsiveness to user queries • Training • Economies of scale • Willingness to assume financial risk and storage costs

Cardinal rules for public-private collaborations 1. Common understanding of the needs the project is trying to satisfy 2. Clarity, communication, openness and trust 3. A legal framework 4. Defined roles & team structures 5. A project plan & project management

Strongly recommended • Common culture • Shared interests • Public-private career changers (and vice versa) • GSOH