Case Study
Government: National Library of Medicine OnLine Finding Aids Initiative
Business Challenge:
Provide online finding aid access to the personal papers and research collections of many of the world's top physicians and medical specialists.
Business Team:
National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division (HMD) HMD's resources for historical scholarship in medicine and related sciences are among the richest of any institution in the world. Collected over many years, the material in HMD provides researchers with sources that are both rare and exhaustive in scope. The HMD staff is comprised of professionals holding expertise from many disciplines, including medicine, library science and archive management, and information technology.
Electronic Scriptorium, Ltd. solves complex information management and data conversion problems for leading media companies, e-commerce initiatives, museums, libraries and government agencies. In a business association unique to Scriptorium, cloistered monks underpin a highly educated workforce that meets exacting standards of quality and accuracy. Scriptorium provides expertise in content creation for online product catalogs, digital photography, digital photo cataloging, USMARC record cataloging and XML document conversion.
Technical Approach:
The National Library of Medicine's History of Medicine Division is internationally recognized as one of the foremost institutional collectors of medical history documents and research manuscripts. HMD's disciplined program for enhancing its collection has resulted in the acquisition of approximately 70,000 items printed before 1801, and about 550 before 1501. The collection of modern manuscripts occupies an estimated 3,100 linear feet, including about 250 oral histories.
World prominence in the medical history field has allowed HMD to become the repository of many of the world's important collections of scientific personal papers. In fact, HMD's holdings include thousands of pages and boxes of materials that have yet to be bibliographically cataloged. In many cases, a "finding aid" does exist for individual collections of documents (commonly referred to as "personal papers"). Each finding aid provides a rough inventory of the quantity of documents and a general categorization of the document types that make up the collection (for example, Correspondence, Speeches or Photographs, etc.). While online access to individual documents from each collection is not yet available, the finding aid provides an important research tool for scholars seeking to locate research sources related to a certain medical topic or historic person.
In 1999, HMD initiated an exhaustive search to locate a partner with the skills and expertise to convert the finding aids to a web-accessible format. The result was a sole source procurement award to Electronic Scriptorium. In collaboration with HMD staff, Electronic Scriptorium implemented a set of HTML/XML tools for converting the paper-based finding aids to a web-accessible format.
Implementation Methodology:
HMD's archives staff embarked on the HTML/XML document conversion project with a clear concept of the technical encoding standards that would be used for the project. The encoding expertise demonstrated by HMD's professional staff allowed the technical specifications to be easily communicated to Electronic Scriptorium's project manager. Electronic Scriptorium translated the technical document encoding specifications into a written document that was approved by HMD staff and then used as an internal training document for Electronic Scriptorium staff members.
Prior to the document encoding phase of the project, each finding aid was first reviewed for consistency and content by a professional staff member familiar with the types of problems that can be encountered within a finding aid. As potential problems were identified, they were matched with a strategy for handling them in a manner consistent with HMD guidelines.
In consultation with HMD, Electronic Scriptorium selected NoteTabs, a commercially available document encoding tool, for use during the document encoding phase of the project. Working from paper copies of the original finding aids, each segment of the finding aid was entered into an electronic document. The electronic document was then enhanced using the NoteTabs XML document encoding tool. NoteTabs' customization features allowed the Electronic Scriptorium staff to predefine encoding styles for common segments of the finding aids. For example, document format standardization used to describe the physical document containers outlined in the finding aid was accomplished by developing macro conversion routines that were then used repeatedly throughout the project. Likewise, standard document headers were applied to each finding aid through the use of encoding macros.
Each paper finding aid was individually reviewed and encoded using standard mark-up language tags and conventions. The converted electronic finding aid was then compiled to create a fully functional HTML/XML document for display on the web. Each document was thoroughly reviewed before submission to HMD. Further review by HMD allowed Electronic Scriptorium to refine the conversion approach, thus producing not only high quality documents, but ones compatible with other resources already available on the National Library of Medicine homepage.
Summary:
Electronic Scriptorium provided finding aids to HMD as completed throughout the project, and in turn HMD's professional staff reviewed the documents as they were received. Feedback from the HMD staff allowed subsequent documents to be more closely fine-tuned, thus improving the overall work product.
Electronic Scriptorium successfully converted HMD's substantial backlog of finding aids to an HTML/XML encoded format. The finding aids are now available electronically on NLM's internationally recognized website. Medical researchers have gained improved access to HMD's scientific collection and can evaluate the resources held by HMD without travel to Washington, DC. The project demonstrates NLM's continuing international leadership in the medical community through the use of advanced technology for improved health and disease control.
From a corporate perspective, Electronic Scriptorium enhanced its experience in the evolving technical area of document encoding. Our work with the National Library of Medicine demonstrates the ongoing need by world-class organizations for quality corporate partners and we are pleased to have played a role in the history of such an important leader in the field of world health.
Provide online finding aid access to the personal papers and research collections of many of the world's top physicians and medical specialists.
Business Team:
National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division (HMD) HMD's resources for historical scholarship in medicine and related sciences are among the richest of any institution in the world. Collected over many years, the material in HMD provides researchers with sources that are both rare and exhaustive in scope. The HMD staff is comprised of professionals holding expertise from many disciplines, including medicine, library science and archive management, and information technology.
Electronic Scriptorium, Ltd. solves complex information management and data conversion problems for leading media companies, e-commerce initiatives, museums, libraries and government agencies. In a business association unique to Scriptorium, cloistered monks underpin a highly educated workforce that meets exacting standards of quality and accuracy. Scriptorium provides expertise in content creation for online product catalogs, digital photography, digital photo cataloging, USMARC record cataloging and XML document conversion.
Technical Approach:
The National Library of Medicine's History of Medicine Division is internationally recognized as one of the foremost institutional collectors of medical history documents and research manuscripts. HMD's disciplined program for enhancing its collection has resulted in the acquisition of approximately 70,000 items printed before 1801, and about 550 before 1501. The collection of modern manuscripts occupies an estimated 3,100 linear feet, including about 250 oral histories.
World prominence in the medical history field has allowed HMD to become the repository of many of the world's important collections of scientific personal papers. In fact, HMD's holdings include thousands of pages and boxes of materials that have yet to be bibliographically cataloged. In many cases, a "finding aid" does exist for individual collections of documents (commonly referred to as "personal papers"). Each finding aid provides a rough inventory of the quantity of documents and a general categorization of the document types that make up the collection (for example, Correspondence, Speeches or Photographs, etc.). While online access to individual documents from each collection is not yet available, the finding aid provides an important research tool for scholars seeking to locate research sources related to a certain medical topic or historic person.
In 1999, HMD initiated an exhaustive search to locate a partner with the skills and expertise to convert the finding aids to a web-accessible format. The result was a sole source procurement award to Electronic Scriptorium. In collaboration with HMD staff, Electronic Scriptorium implemented a set of HTML/XML tools for converting the paper-based finding aids to a web-accessible format.
Implementation Methodology:
HMD's archives staff embarked on the HTML/XML document conversion project with a clear concept of the technical encoding standards that would be used for the project. The encoding expertise demonstrated by HMD's professional staff allowed the technical specifications to be easily communicated to Electronic Scriptorium's project manager. Electronic Scriptorium translated the technical document encoding specifications into a written document that was approved by HMD staff and then used as an internal training document for Electronic Scriptorium staff members.
Prior to the document encoding phase of the project, each finding aid was first reviewed for consistency and content by a professional staff member familiar with the types of problems that can be encountered within a finding aid. As potential problems were identified, they were matched with a strategy for handling them in a manner consistent with HMD guidelines.
In consultation with HMD, Electronic Scriptorium selected NoteTabs, a commercially available document encoding tool, for use during the document encoding phase of the project. Working from paper copies of the original finding aids, each segment of the finding aid was entered into an electronic document. The electronic document was then enhanced using the NoteTabs XML document encoding tool. NoteTabs' customization features allowed the Electronic Scriptorium staff to predefine encoding styles for common segments of the finding aids. For example, document format standardization used to describe the physical document containers outlined in the finding aid was accomplished by developing macro conversion routines that were then used repeatedly throughout the project. Likewise, standard document headers were applied to each finding aid through the use of encoding macros.
Each paper finding aid was individually reviewed and encoded using standard mark-up language tags and conventions. The converted electronic finding aid was then compiled to create a fully functional HTML/XML document for display on the web. Each document was thoroughly reviewed before submission to HMD. Further review by HMD allowed Electronic Scriptorium to refine the conversion approach, thus producing not only high quality documents, but ones compatible with other resources already available on the National Library of Medicine homepage.
Summary:
Electronic Scriptorium provided finding aids to HMD as completed throughout the project, and in turn HMD's professional staff reviewed the documents as they were received. Feedback from the HMD staff allowed subsequent documents to be more closely fine-tuned, thus improving the overall work product.
Electronic Scriptorium successfully converted HMD's substantial backlog of finding aids to an HTML/XML encoded format. The finding aids are now available electronically on NLM's internationally recognized website. Medical researchers have gained improved access to HMD's scientific collection and can evaluate the resources held by HMD without travel to Washington, DC. The project demonstrates NLM's continuing international leadership in the medical community through the use of advanced technology for improved health and disease control.
From a corporate perspective, Electronic Scriptorium enhanced its experience in the evolving technical area of document encoding. Our work with the National Library of Medicine demonstrates the ongoing need by world-class organizations for quality corporate partners and we are pleased to have played a role in the history of such an important leader in the field of world health.
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