Kirtas and Digitization: An Update
Thirty-nine out-of-copyright theology books have been scanned and are now available at Amazon.com for scholars to print on-demand as part of Emory University’s digital scholarship initiative. In addition, 966 other rare theology items are in process to be added to Emory’s online collection and to Amazon’s print-on-demand collection. A small selection of World War I poetry titles also have been scanned to add to the Beck Center’s existing digital collection of World War I poetry and postcards.
This service is possible through Emory's partnership with Kirtas Technologies Inc., which makes cutting-edge digital scanning technology. Emory purchased a Kirtas robotic book scanner to scan thousands of rare, out-of-copyright books in its research collections. Scholars can browse the pages of these books on the web or order bound, printed copies via a fast, affordable print-on-demand service. A number of titles also are undergoing TEI-XML enhancement by the Beck Center.
Library users soon will be able to download PDFs (generated by the library’s repository) of scanned materials through discoverE, the library’s new catalog search interface, says Kyle Fenton, IT manager in digital programs and systems.
“Be on the lookout for this feature to show up soon,” he said.
Said Martin Halbert, director of digital innovations for Emory University Libraries: "We believe that mass digitization and print-on-demand publishing is an important new model for digital scholarship that is going to revolutionize the management of academic materials. Information will no longer be lost in the mists of time when books go out of print. This is a way of opening up the past to the future."
The Kirtas machine scans an average of 15 to 20 books per day, said Chris Palazzolo, social sciences team leader in library services.
The Emory University Libraries are among the premier research libraries in the United States, with extensive holdings in the humanities, including many rare and special collections. The Libraries’ digital scholarship initiative will increase accessibility to these aging materials and ensure their preservation.
Emory will receive compensation from the sale of digitized copies, although Halbert stressed that the print-on-demand feature is not intended to generate a profit. It simply will help the library recoup some of its costs in making out-of-copyright materials available.
Altogether, the university houses more than 200,000 out-of-copyright volumes published before 1923.
In addition to making out-of-copyright books more accessible, Emory librarians envision the university’s mass digitization and print-on-demand capabilities expanding the range of more current scholarly materials.
“The Emory Libraries plan to use the program to support an array of scholarly publishing needs of our campus,” said Rick Luce, vice provost for libraries at Emory. “We will be providing new opportunities for our faculty and students to disseminate their work, if they choose to do so, under the Emory banner.”
A library committee determines how to prioritize digitization of various collections, Palazzolo said. The next books to be digitized include a collection of World War I poetry, a collection of old trade paperbacks called Yellowbacks, a collection of regimental histories, and a selection of Emory University archives and Methodist disciplines.
–Beth Kurylo, KeyWORDS contributor
Stocking Stuffing Time Is Near!
Salvation Army stockings have arrived for stuffing by employees in the Robert W. Woodruff Library building for the ninth consecutive year. In the past eight years, employees in this building have filled 1,062 stockings with goodies for children of all ages thanks to teamwork, resourcefulness and imagination.
This project, sponsored by the Salvation Army, is an opportunity to help some of the less fortunate children in the Atlanta metro area. It’s fun to stuff stockings with your colleagues – plus, you get a good feeling from knowing you helped a family when times are tough. Some departments enjoy filling stockings as a group; other individuals enjoy taking them home for a family project.
Anyone who wants to pick up one or more stockings to fill may contact Belinda Smith in Interlibrary Loan at libbps@emory.edu or give her a call at 404.727.6041. Smith also can offer a list of suggestions for filling these special goodie containers, and show you a sample filled stocking. Stuffed stockings are due back to Smith by Dec. 1, 2008.
Sixty Students Participating in Emory Libraries’ First Two-Year, Distance Learning MLIS Program
While many Georgians marked the end of summer with cookouts and family gatherings over the long Labor Day holiday, 60 graduate students from North Georgia spent four days in the Robert W. Woodruff Library learning how to be digital librarians. It was the first session of a new distance-learning program that will culminate in master’s degrees for those who complete the requirements.
The two-year, accredited program is offered by Emory University, the University of North Texas (UNT) and the Atlanta University Center’s (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library. Graduates will earn a master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS) from UNT without ever having to leave Georgia.
More than half of the 60 students matriculated have scholarships, said Martin Halbert, director of digital innovations for Emory University Libraries.
“We knew we would be able to award 35 scholarships, but we didn’t know how popular the program would be,’’ Halbert said. “I have been asked repeatedly if we will offer this popular program again, and it depends on several factors.” Those include funding and whether UNT, Emory and AUC are interested in repeating the program.
A decision is likely next summer, Halbert said. If the program is offered again, a new class might be admitted in the fall of 2010, after the current group graduates.
Each $12,800 scholarship covers about 60 percent of the total tuition cost of the UNT master’s program. In this program, on-site instruction is conducted throughout four-day sessions held during the fall and spring semesters at Emory. The remainder of course instruction occurs online. Students are encouraged to participate in an online School of Library and Information Sciences Village, where they have their own neighborhood. The "Village," as it is known, is a virtual student union with a coffee shop, neighborhoods and many other features designed to provide ways that students can round out their educational experience.
The program’s goal is to increase the number and diversity of students enrolled in an American Library Association (ALA) accredited program, and to educate new librarians with specialized training in digital and traditional librarianship. The scholarship program is funded through a grant to the Emory University Libraries and the UNT School of Library and Information Sciences from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The ultimate diversity goal of the program is to produce new librarians with backgrounds that are underrepresented in the profession. The program therefore sought to recruit students who were diverse in terms of not only ethnic origins, but also in terms of linguistic abilities, holding previous degrees not solely in the liberal arts and living in rural locations.
Among the 35 students who earned scholarships for the two-year distance learning program:
•31 percent (11) are African-American.–Beth Kurylo, KeyWORDS contributor•11 percent (4) are of Asian descent.
•Students from Cumming and Canton to Powder Springs, Fayetteville and Monroe are participating.
•Languages spoken by students in this class included French, Spanish, German, Urdu, Hindi, Vietnamese and Japanese.
•Previous undergraduate and graduate degrees that are outside the traditional liberal arts include mass communications, instructional technology, international studies, environmental communications, communication and media studies, technical communications, computer information systems, business administration, industrial engineering and operations research, accounting, economics, information technology, anthropology, zoology, biology, human resources and law.
Mapping It Out with GIS: New Ways to Examine Data
On the second floor of Robert W. Woodruff Library, in a suite of rooms with experts who help students, faculty and staff with myriad technology needs, are two librarians who specialize in geospatial information and quantitative data. Michael Page is Emory’s geospatial data librarian. Robert O'Reilly is the quantitative data librarian. Together, they have tools to help social science researchers find answers to their questions. O’Reilly handles consultations and instruction on quantitative datasets, especially those with a social science focus.
Page has a collection of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools, including computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. Among a broad range of disciplines, including business, humanities, and the health, natural or social sciences, GIS has become an important research tool.
With GIS, researchers can link databases with maps, visualize data patterns, and make calculations. Electronic Data Center (EDC) supports the use of GIS in research and instruction by offering consultation services in data access and management, project design or in developing a learning pathway to adopt GIS.
Page also has, for the first time, two handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units that can be used by faculty and approved graduate students. About the size of a cell phone, these GPS units allow users to walk around campus, for instance, and mark where all the bus stops are. Then they can download the data to a computer, and put that information on a map. Unlike the GPS systems found in some automobiles, the hand-held devices are used to collect data, not find directions. Demand will help determine whether more hand-held GPS units are ordered.
The Electronic Data Center (EDC), established in 1996, supports quantitative and spatial research in the social sciences and is one of a limited number of full-service data centers at universities in the United States. At EDC, researchers have access to a broad collection of numeric and spatial data from specialized workstations equipped with statistical and mapping software.
Emory’s Center for Interactive Teaching is next to EDC, and together with the Beck Center, they all are part of the Technology Centers.
Check out a fall GIS and mapping workshop:
Google Earth and Google Maps
Woodruff Library Room 314
11:45 a.m. - 12:35 p.m. Fri., Nov. 7, 2008
This workshop provides an introduction to the different types of virtual globes and online map applications that are available and explores how they can be used in research and instruction. Although the primary focus will be on Google Earth and Google Maps the workshop will also demonstrate other applications available.
Understanding Geographic Information Systems
Woodruff Library Room 314
11:45 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. Fri., Nov. 14, 2008
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. Learn more about this technology and how it can be used for research and projects in the business, humanities, and the health, natural, or social sciences.
–Beth Kurylo, KeyWORDS contributor