May notes

SIL BHL Task Force
Minutes
23 May 2007


ATTENDING
M. Adams, L. Creighton, E. Gilligan, A. Juneau, M. Kalfatovic (recording), S. Pilsk, C. Shaw, K. Thompson

COMMUNICATION
Martin reminded members that they should all be signed up for the BHL Wiki, BHL listserv (from AMNH) and be aware of the SIL distribution list (SILBHL). The task force will try to conduct as much business as possible via these tools and reserve meeting times for larger, all group issues.

Martin also noted that a folder had been created on the LAN under committees for the SIL BHL taskforce and that various documents created by the committee will be available there for all SIL staff to view. Martin will also send out an introductory note along with the first minutes to SILLIB to give SIL staff a better idea of the BHL project and SIL activities.

GENERAL BHL/EOL UPDATES
Martin updated the group on recent activities and events. The most important development is that the SIL Internet Archive Scribe machine (the single unit “Temporary Scanning Project” or TSP) arrived at Natural History on May 5. The Scribe is located in CEG22 (a large room down the hall from the Cullman).

BHL Portal (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/)
Work on the BHL portal has been continuing apace since the official launch date of May 9th (as part of the EOL launch – see below). Please take a look at the URL above for the current site. This is a work in progress and there will be many changes. There is an ongoing request for additional feedback from potential users on features they will need for human interaction with the site. The portal is currently heavy with MOBOT botanical literature, but includes SIL’s contribution of the Biologia Centrali-Americana and we will design a process for further ingestion of SIL (and other member) content in the coming weeks.

Encyclopedia of Life (http://www.eol.org/)
The EOL took place at the National Academy of Sciences on May 9th. There was significant publicity about EOL at the time and ongoing discussion in many forums.

BHL Literature Online
The 10 BHL libraries now have slightly over 1.25 million pages of literature online (SIL represents ~ 350,000 of these pages). Scribe machines have recently begun operation at the Natural History Museum (London); the Boston Library Consortium (covering the Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Harvard Botany Libraries); and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Fieldiana publications from the Field Museum). You can see the results of the Scribe installations online at: http://www.archive.org/details/biodiversity (there is some extraneous non-BHL related Smithsonian material here – trade literature – that will be removed from this collection shortly).

SIL INTERNET ARCHIVE SCANNING CENTER UPDATE
IA Hiring. The SIL TSP is in place but not yet operational. SIL is waiting for the IA to hire staff and fix a defective camera that arrived with the machine. The IA has posted the position of Scanning Center supervisor (the posting is available on Craigslist). The job posting was sent to the SIL BHL group and posted to the U of Maryland CLIS list (by Keri) and DC/SLA (by Suzanne). The IA hopes to have a person in place by mid-June.

Marcia, Laudine and Martin discussed earlier whether ASO or CSD (Vicki Avera) should work with the Internet Archive for credentialing the contractor staff. In discussions at the meeting, it was decided that as ASO would be running the IA contract, that ASO would handle credentialing the contractors. Martin and Laudine will work out the details and report back.

Connectivity. Keri has verified that the Internet connectivity in CEG22 is working for the single Scribe machine. We will do more testing when possible with IA staff before operations begin.

Selection process. SIL has broadly decided that the Entomology Library will be the immediate focus for scanning. Martin pointed out that there will be a relatively slow ramp up to full production scanning and that only a fairly small number of volumes will be needed at first. There will also probably be a mix of monographs and serials in the first 200 or some items pulled for scanning. Martin emphasized that it is important to stay flexible and not expect selection procedures in place on day one of scanning. Martin also noted that he hoped that there would be the opportunity for some “on demand” scanning of items selected by SIL or SI staff.

Picklists. Keri demonstrated and discussed the web-enabled “picklist” that includes bibliographic records pulled from SIRIS. The picklists were generated from SIRIS and manipulated by Keri to remove certain classes of materials. The goal of the picklists will be for staff pulling materials from the shelves to have a list of items.

Workflow. Workflow details are still in flux. Martin emphasized that with the slow ramp up and small number of materials SIL will have the opportunity to develop procedures on the fly.

Martin reported that initial reports from the Natural History Museum (London) scanning center show a high turndown rate of materials (25% rejected at the shelf; 25% of selected material rejected by IA staff). In further discussion with NHM, it was determined that the majority of these rejections were due to foldouts (a known IA scanning issue).

Tentative workflow: Using the picklist, SIL staff will pull items from the shelf; items will be checked out in SIRIS to “IA Scanning Center”; picklist will be updated to indicate an item has been pulled; items rejected by SIL staff will be indicated in the picklist; items will be taken to the IA Scanning Center; items rejected by the IA will be set aside for review by SIL staff (Eliza) and possible reintegration into the IA workflow; after items are scanned they will remain in the scanning center while some level of QC is done on the images; after QC, items will be discharged from SIRIS and returned to the shelves. Approximate turnaround time will be determined, but based on past experience will range from 24 hours to 1 week.

Suzanne asked about physically marking books that have been scanned. The pros and cons of doing this were discussed and various solutions proposed. The Workflow Sub-group will look into this in more detail.

Courtney reported that the test of the scanning patron (set up by Bess Missell) is working and that she has the physical “borrowers card”. Bess and Polly did additional testing of the patron, which has a 3 week loan period, and a few details need to be worked out. Overdue notices are currently being sent to Erin Rushing (this will be changed to Courtney)

Ann noted that Richard Green (with Martha Rosen as back up) would be working with Courtney on pulling materials from the Entomology Library.

SIL WORKING GROUPS
Three working groups (sub-groups of the task force) were created to deal with specific issues. The sub-groups will draw on other SIL staff as appropriate and needed for assistance. The groups are:

I. Selection: Courtney, Ann, Keri, Suzanne. The selection group will work on what types of items will be selected and how to use the picklists most effectively.

II. Workflow: Courtney, Ann, Martin, Eliza, Keri. The workflow group will analyze the initial workflow once production starts and work on procedures.

III. Metadata: Suzanne, Marcia, Keri. The metadata group will work on assuring that the IA pulls the appropriate metadata from SIRIS and work with the SIRIS Office for any additional support needed.

SIL BHL @ ALA
Martin mentioned that SIL has reserved the Kerby Conference room for June 25. The current plan is to have a BHL presentation by SIL staff from 10-12 that day. The presentation will include an overview of the BHL project and also a tour of the IA Scanning Center. More details to follow. Courtney and Keri volunteered to assist with planning.

RETHINKING SIL NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS AND SERVICES
Martin mentioned that other BHL Directors and members of the BHL listserv had raised some questions about what will “natural history collections and services look like as the BHL project gets going and in the years after?.” Laudine and Eliza noted that this is a good time to start thinking about this topic with the impending move of SILRA and other space planning being done by SI and SIL. The group agreed it was an interesting subject and should be discussed in more detail as time permits.