Research Libraries Roundtable Annual Meeting Minutes, 2014

Research Libraries Roundtable Annual Meeting Minutes

2014 COSA-NAGARA-SAA Joint Annual Meeting

Washington DC

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

3:30 – 5:00 pm

AGENDA

Business Meeting, 3:30-4:00

• Acknowledgement and thanks to 2013-2014 RLRT Steering Committee
  • Lisa Carter, The University of Ohio
  • Ben Goldman, Pennsylvania State University
  • Erik Moore, University of Minnesota
  • Merrilee Proffitt OCLC Research
  • Tom Rosko. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Michelle Light, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Council Liaison)

• Endorsements
  • The steering committee received 9 session proposals for review last fall. The committee chose the following two proposals for endorsement and send those to the 2014 Program Committee, both were accepted into this years program:

• RLRT Session Recommendations on Sched.org : http://archives2014.sched.org/RLRT

• Microsite and Communications
  • There will be changes to the RLRT microsite in September in order for us to better organize our information and make it easier for you to get to our rosters, meeting minutes, annual reports and other resources.
  • We will be asking for your ideas on how roundtable members can better communicate with each other throughout the year, so please be thinking about how we can better serve and organize for you.

• Election
  • Onsite paper ballot election for Vice Chair/Chair Elect (See candidates’ biographies and statements on RLRT microsite.)
  • Bios and statements were provided prior to election date. Candidates’ statements were read during annual meeting.
  • Election results: Jennifer Meehan (Emory University) is the RLRT Vice Chair/Chair Elect for 2014-2015.

• OCLC Research Update (Merrilee Proffitt)

Handouts

• OCLC Research Update at SAA Handout: http://oc.lc/research-update-saa14
• ArchiveGrid SAA Handout: http://oc.lc/archivegrid-saa14
• Demystifying Born Digital Publications SAA Handout: http://oc.lc/research-borndigital-saa14

• Report from Council liaison Michelle Light

Program, 4:00 – 5:00 pm: Un-hiding Collections panel

Speakers:

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Katie McCormick is the Associate Dean of Libraries for Special Collections & Archives at The Florida State University. In this capacity she manages the rare book, manuscript, and archival collections of FSU as well as their cataloging and digitization. Her professional interests include community engagement, preservation, digital access, audio/visual archiving, and teaching. She holds an M.L.I.S. Simmons College, and a M.A. in English, with a focus in Irish Literature and Culture, from Boston College.

“Order out of Chaos: Uncovering Hidden Collections through Collaboration & Enhanced Discovery”

In early 2013, FSU Libraries determined that, despite previous efforts, a significant portion of the archival collections were difficult or impossible to discover online or that the information that was available was inconsistent, and sometimes incorrect, across different systems. After a broad collections review, specific issues were identified, addressed, and new workflows were created. Katie McCormick will discuss the collections review process, priorities realignment, new workflow considerations, and project outcomes. She will also touch on collections issues encountered along the way and strategies for resolving them.

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Erik Moore is the University Archivist and Co-Director of the University Digital Conservancy, the University of Minnesota's institutional repository for administrative records and scholarly research. Moore leads the archival operations of the University's official collecting repository that maintains and provides access to 18,000 cubic feet of records originating from campus administrators, colleges, departments, and faculty. Moore currently serves on the Research Libraries Roundtable and Electronic Record Section steering committees as well as SAA's Membership Committee. He has advanced degrees in Library & Information Science and Historical Studies.

During a 12 month digitization project, the University of Minnesota Archives converted nearly 250,000 items related to various natural history collections. As the scanning progressed, it became evident that a portion of the material was not Minnesotan in origin, but rather documented a First Nation 1,800 miles away on Vancouver Island. Learn more about how digitizing deep into collections helped archives staff digitally repatriate another community's cultural heritage. 

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Silvia Southwick is the Digital Collections Metadata Librarian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her main responsibilities include designing and maintaining an application profile for UNLV digital collections, defining metadata elements and creating index guidelines for each digital collection, designing and implementing metadata quality control processes, managing the implementation of the UNLV’s Linked Data Project. Silvia’s research interests are in the areas of metadata management and linked data.  Silvia received a Ph.D. in Information Transfer and a Masters in Library Science from the Syracuse University School of Information Studies.

“Exploring the Application of Lessons Learned from the UNLV’s Linked Data Project to Metadata for Archives”

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Linked Data Project provides a case study of the complex topic of linked open data: from emerging concept in librarianship to practical outcome. The project began with a small academic library study group created in April 2012 that comprised of professionals from various functional areas. The initial goal was to better understand Linked Data concepts and potential benefits to the Libraries. In October 2012 after reviewing literature, attending presentations, and discussing concepts, UNLV Digital Collections designed an exploratory project. Because there was very little in the literature about “how” to practically implement linked data in digital collections, the team decided to focus on the transformation of typical digital collections metadata. The project made significant progress outlining technologies, tools, and models that can be implemented by librarians; and experimented with visualization tools to show the linked data produced by this project. This presentation covers basic concepts of linked data, models and tools used for transforming metadata into linked data and ends with an overview of our first efforts toward applying lessons learned to generate linked data for archives.

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Michael Szajewski has served as Archivist for Digital Development and University Records at Ball State University since 2011. In this position, he develops and promotes digital collections, manages digitization projects, develops instructional content, and oversees Ball State’s university records collection area. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and communication studies from Northwestern University in 2009 and a Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University in 2010 with a concentration in archives and records management. 

“Using Google Analytics Data to Expand Discovery and Use of Digital Archival Content” [link to paper]

slides

The strategic use of web analytics data allows archivists and digital librarians to gain insight into the process of un-hiding digital collections.  This talk will discuss the ability of Google Analytics, a popular and freely available web analytics tool, to provide information professionals with valuable data regarding users of digital archives collections, the content with which they engage, and their means of discovering this content.  Access to this data allows archivists and digital librarians to both maximize the impact of digital collections and document the value of digital projects.