The Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections: A Case Study in Digitization

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The Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Collections A Case Study in Digitization

• Michael UnsworthHumanities Librarian
• MSU Libraries unsworth_at_msu.edu

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Outline of Talk

• Genesis
• Why Should We Care
• Contents
• Why Digitize
• Publication History
• Bibliographic Treatment
• Digitizers
• Analysis
• Solutions/Coping Mechanisms
• Conclusions

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GENESISLibrary Instruction Session
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WHY SHOULD WE CARE

• "The content of this forty volume history series,
  though uneven in quality, includes valuable
  material. Every teacher of Michigan history will
  testify to its usefulness. Even the less
  scholarly contributions constitute important
  evidence of what a generation of pioneers
  regarded as significant in their history."
• Lewis G. Vander Velde, "The Michigan Historical
  Commission 1913-1963," Michigan History Vol. 48,
  no. 2 (June 1964) 98.

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WHAT IT CONTAINS

• Letters
• Speeches
• Memorial Reports
• Private and Professional Papers of Individuals
• Personal Remembrances
• Historical Essays
• Documentary Material

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EXAMPLE

• J.A. Giradin, Slavery in Detroit, Pioneer
  Collections Vol. 1 (1877) 415
• In ancient times the city of Detroit and
  vicinity had slaves among its inhabitants. The
  old citizens generally purchased them from
  marauding bands of Indians, who had captured the
  negro slaves in their war depredations on
  plantations
• Everyone lived in arcadian simplicity and
  contentment. The negro was satisfied with his
  position, and rendered valuable service to his
  master

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ANOTHER EXAMPLE

• F.M. Holloway, Hillsdale County from 1829 to
  1836 Inclusive, Pioneer Collections Vol. 1
  (1877) 180-181
• and Mr. Stevens went with it the proposed name
  of Litchfield to Detroit, and by the free use of
  liquid, and other arrangements, prevailed on the
  Legislature to adopt that name.

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WHY DIGITIZE?

• Scattered runs
• Access restricted to libraries
• Publishing inconsistencies
• Poor quality paper
• Loss of other materials
• Promise of hi-tech indexing

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WHY DIGITIZE?

• FROM THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
  CIRCULATION DEPT.
• This item v.9 1886 is sufficiently overdue
  that it is not likely to be returned in a timely
  fashion. (The borrower who has it has been
  billed for its replacement) You may request this
  material via interlibrary loan (ILL)
• Pioneer collections report of the Pioneer
  Society of the State of Michigan, together with
  reports of county, town, and district pioneer
  societies Lansing? Mich. The Society,
  1877-1888 MSU MAIN LIBRARY F561 .M47 v.9 1886
• Also checked out at MSUL Vols. 1, 10-12 15-18,
  40 Index for Vols 1-15

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PUBLICATION HISTORY

• 1876-1886 (Vols. 1- 9) Pioneer Collections.
  Lansing Pioneer Society of the State of
  Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society of the
  State of Michigan (PHSSM) .
• 1886-1912 (Vols. 10-38) Historical Collections.
  Lansing PHSSM Michigan Pioneer and Historical
  Society.
• 1915-1929 (Vols. 39-40) Michigan Historical
  Collections. Lansing Michigan Historical
  Commission.
• Reprints/2nd ed. for Vols. 1-21 published
  1900-13.

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Michigan Historical Collections CAREFULL!!!
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(No Transcript)
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VARIANT TITLES

• Historical Collections And Researches 1ST ed.
  Vol. 37 (1909,1910)
• Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State
  of Michigan Reprint/ 2nd ed. Vol. 06 (1907) -
  Vol. 08 (1907) .
• Collections Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The
  State Of Michigan 2nd ed. Vol. 09 (1908)

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CAUTION!!!

• It never had the title of Michigan Pioneer and
  Historical Collections, but its been commonly
  used to describe the entire collection.

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BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 1st EDITION

• Successive Entry
• Pioneer collections (1877). Vol. 1- 9 (1876-1886)
  OCLC 8597825
• Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and
  Historical Society 1888). Vol. 10-38
  (1886-1912) OCLC 8069520
• Michigan Historical Collections. Vol. 39-40
  (1915-1929) OCLC 8597926

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Bibliographic Treatment for 1st Ed.Latest Entry
OCLC 1757295
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• DIGITIZERS

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SELECTIVE DIGITIZERS
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Library of Congress American Memory 9 Unique
Volumes
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Google Book Search 27 Unique Volumes
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Internet Archive Texts Collection 32 Unique
Volumes
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University of Michigan Digital Librarys Making
of America 40 Unique Volumes
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ANALYSIS
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Analysis

• Bibliographic control is complicated by the sets
  numerous titles and issuing bodies. Regardless of
  what system of cataloging is used, the resulting
  record(s) are long, obtuse, and mind-numbing to
  even the most motivated user.

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Analysis

• 2. Not all volumes digitized
• 1st. Ed. 39 of 40 vol. were done Vol. 9 was not
  digitized by any project
• 2nd. Ed. just 13 of 21 vol. were done
• The contents of all 40 vol. are accessible

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Analysis

• 3. Indexing/Access to Contents
• Each volume has its own index
• Society-created cumulative indexes were digitized
  
• Many indexes created by outside groups have not
  been digitized

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Analysis

• 4. No project treated it as a serial or
  collection
• No one stop listing
• Cant search authors or subjects across all
  volumes, as in

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ANALYSIS

• JSTOR

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Analysis

• 6. Digitization has
• Increased distribution of individual volumes
• Provided access to content with
• Volume cumulated indexes
• Keyword searching only within each volume
• Complicated comprehensive searching by volume by
  volume searching

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SOLUTIONS/COPING MECHANISMS
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1. Get Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Collections as an access point on bibliographic
records (OCLC8069520 Connexion record)
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1. Get Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Collections as an access point on bibliographic
records (OCLC8069520 WorldCat record)
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2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on
Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto OPAC)
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2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on
Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto MARC record)
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3. Produce a comprehensive Web Guide
http//libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC
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http//libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC
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4. Selective Indexing
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Native Americans Guide
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Native Americans Guide
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Native Americans Guide
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5. COMPREHENSIVE INDEXING PROJECTRequires
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CONCLUSIONS
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• 1. NONE of the mass digitization projects took an
  effort to study bibliographic records to insure
  that all access points were available for
  Internet searching.

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2. Genus Librarianus is still needed, but needs
time resources to stay abreast of developments.
Then can s/he react to techno projects and make
sense of them by using knowledge of the print
and online worlds.
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END
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DETAILED ANALYSISOF EACH PROJECT
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DIGITIZER American Memory (LC)
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DIGITIZER American Memory (LC)

• 9 vols digitized all 2nd Ed.
• Formats Scanned and html
• Retrievability
• Title Historical collections ONLY
• Author Michigan state historical society ONLY
• Collection LC

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DIGITIZER Google Book Search
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DIGITIZER Google Book Search

• 31 vols digitized 1st Ed. 20 2nd Ed. 11
• Formats Page images (scanned?) and Plain
  text (html)
• Retrieveability all Author title permutations
  plus Michigan state historical society WITH GREAT
  DIFFICULTY PERSISTENCE
• Text Searching Yes
• Print/Save via PDF
• Collections Harvard U. U of Virginia

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DIGITIZER Internet Archive
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DIGITIZER Internet Archive

• 36 vols digitized 1st Ed. 31 2nd Ed. 5
• Multiple formats
• Text Searching Yes
• Retrieveability All permutations
• Print/Save via PDF
• Reader reviews
• Collections U. of Toronto Allen County
  (Indiana) Public Library

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DIGITIZER U. of Michigan
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DIGITIZER University of Michigan

• 40 vols digitized 1st Ed. 39 2nd Ed. 1
• Formats scanned OCR
• Retrieveability Author Michigan Historical
  Commission Michigan State Historical Society
  Title Michigan historical collections.
• Text Searching Yes
• Print only small image
• Source Collection University of Michigan

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CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 2nd
Ed./REPRINTS

• Successive Entry
• Pioneer Collections (1900). Vol. 1- 9 (1900-1908)
  OCLC 13501029
• Historical collections made by the Pioneer
  Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. 11-12
  (1908) OCLC 13500880
• Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and
  Historical Society 1908) . Vol. 13-21
  (1908-19??) OCLC 13500714

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PAST BIBLIOGRAPHIC TREATMENT FOR 2nd Ed. Latest
Entry
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RETRIEVABILITY

• American Memory
• Site Title Historical collections Author
  Michigan state historical society
• Actual Titles
• Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State
  of Michigan (2nd Editions)
• Collections Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The
  State Of Michigan (2nd Editions)
• Pioneer Collections (2nd Editions)
• Historical Collections (2nd Editions Reprints)
• Actual Authors
• Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan
• Michigan Pioneer And Historical Society