an overview of the new york botanical garden digitizing program

Digitization at the New York Botanical Garden

John Mignault

Systems Librarian, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library

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The LuEsther T. Mertz Library

A prestigious botanical and horticultural library

Goals Strengthen collections Increase access Provide quality resources &

services Stewardship of collections

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Virtual Herbarium 7.5 million pressed

plant specimens 1.5 million

specimens digitized Running on KE Emu

software

http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/VirtualHerbarium.asp

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The pilot project - Michaux

http://library.nybg.org/library/page1.php

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Why digitize?

More people now visit the Library virtually than physically

Need to expand access to materials to an increasingly online user population

Total Library usage (e-mails, onsite, website) = 120,800

Over 29,000 onsite visitors - 25% 82,300 visitors to the virtual library - 75%!

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Circa Instans, 1190

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How much of the Library’s collections should we digitize?

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Proposed Plan for Digitization

Criteria

contributes to a critical mass in a specific subject supports an online research or curriculum tool

Other factors

on demand research requests or interlibrary loans commercial use scans for product development collaborative potential preservation reformatting

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Library Digitization Plan

user studies and audience identification select collections to be scanned implement best practices image format and resolution preservation and conservation quality control and image management equipment selection and maintenance server space and digital archival storage assess staffing and funding needs

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Web-based access provides substantial benefits to library users worldwide

By making research materials that are out of copyright and in the public domain available digitally, we can drive traffic to the Garden’s website and expose all of our collections to a greater audience.

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Digitization of Caribbean material can support Garden research programs

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Research environmentTaxonomic intelligence toolsFull text available in BHL portalAdvanced search applications

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Book scanning in the Garden’s imaging lab

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Future efforts

Task force Technology infrastructure Develop staffing Integration with Virtual Herbarium Integration of library resources

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Links

NYBG: http://www.nybg.org Mertz Library:

http://library.nybg.org Virtual Herbarium:

http://tinyurl.com/2zuvfa BHL:

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org