Charette Digital Project: An Historic Pittsburgh Architectural Journal Goes Online

Martin Aurand, Carnegie Mellon UniversityAASL / March 2003

“The Future of Libraries Is Digital.”--Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Strategic Plan

http://delta.ulib.org/html/

http://diva.library.cmu.edu/HELIOS/

Digital Collections

Library of Congresshttp://memory.loc.gov/

University of PittsburghHistorical Society of Western Pa.

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/

Why Digital Projects?

• Improve access

• Support teaching, research, and publishing

• Contribute to growing network of digital resources

• Address growing expectations

Presenting Digital Content

• Resources (raw materials)Collection Descriptions and Finding AidsInformational Databases

• Interpretation (packaged)ExhibitionsElectronic Publications

• Hybrids

Digital Projects in Architecture

Athenaeum of PhiladelphiaUniversity of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives

http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/

Canadian Architecture Collectionhttp://cac.mcgill.ca/safdie/

Digital Texts

http://www.sah.org/netresources.htmlSociety of Architectural Historians: Net Resources

Architectural Club Exhibition Catalogs

Locally-produced Trade Catalogs

http://www.lib.cmich.edu/clarke/aladdin/catdir.htm

Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University

Regional Architecture Journals

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/cab/Blackader Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art, McGill University

What Is a Charette?

The term “charette” evolved from a pre-1900 exercise at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in France. Architectural students were given a design problem to solve within an allotted time. When that time was up, the students would rush their drawings from the studio to the Ecole in a cart called a charrette. Students often jumped in the cart to finish drawings on the way. The term evolved to refer to the intense design exercise itself. Today it refers to a creative process akin to visual brainstorming that is used by design professionals to develop solutions to a design problem within a limited timeframe.

What Is

• Charette magazine was the journal of the Pittsburgh Architectural Club; and was at times co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Pennsylvania Society of Architects.

• Over the years, its coverage of architecture extended beyond Pittsburgh to the whole of Pennsylvania, and the Tri-State area.

• Charette comprises a rich fifty-year survey of regional architecture and the architectural scene.

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Why Digitize

• Charette is an essential source for architectural research in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania.

• Charette’s contents were virtually inaccessible for lack of indexing or other access. There is only spotty indexing of Charette in the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.

• Most library collections of Charette consist of incomplete runs and some issues of the journal are quite rare.

• The run size (vols. 1-54, 1920-1974) is manageable.

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By Decade

1920s 1930s

1940s 1950s 1960s

What is the Charette Digital Project?

• The Charette Digital Project will create an online digital archive encompassing virtually the entire run of Charette.

• The archives will consist of electronic images of each page of Charette complete with all covers, text, photographs, graphics, advertisements, etc.

• The user interface will permit browsing by issue and full-text searching of the contents of Charette through the web.

Planning a Digital Project

• Define Project

• Consider technical framework (e.g. functionality requirements, metadata and image standards, etc.)

• Consider operational framework (e.g. expertise, personnel, and equipment requirements, etc.)

• Find models and/or partners

• Identify funding

• Obtain internal approvals

Stages of the Charette Digital Project

1. Research2. Copyright Investigation3. Identification and Acquisition4. Scanning, Post-Processing, OCR, and Storage5. DIVA delivery and navigation functionality 6. Web Interface

1. ResearchCharette was created and originally published in-house by the Pittsburgh Architectural Club, but had additional sponsors and publishers during various periods:

SponsorsPittsburgh Architectural Club: February 1920 to Sept./Oct. 1971Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects: various yearsPennsylvania Society of Architects: May 1951 to December 1960 and October 1962 to December 1967

PublishersPittsburgh Architectural Club [Inc.]: February 1920 to December 1947John J. McKee: January 1948 to December 1959R. W. Bingham: January 1960 to January 1961Chatham Associates, Inc. / Thomas E. Morgan: September 1961 to October 1964Van Trump, Ziegler & Shane, Inc.: January 1965 to Sept./Oct. 1971Archimedia: Nov./Dec. 1971 to March/April 1974

2. Copyright Investigation

Copyright information was obtained from U.S. Copyright Office Circulars 15 & 22.

A search for active copyrights was requested and was performed by the U. S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. No active copyrights for Charette for 1920-1963 were found, and no renewals were found.

• 1920-1961: 28 years if not renewed [no record of renewal)]• 1961-1963: 28 years if not renewed [no record of renewal]• 1964: 28 years plus automatic renewal of 47 years [cannot locate copyright holder]• 1965-1971: 95 years [permissions obtained from Arthur P. Ziegler]• 1971-1974: 95 years [cannot locate copyright holder]

3. Identification and AcquisitionThe entire run of Charette was analyzed in detail to identify all issues that were published. Carnegie Mellon University Libraries owns most issues of Charette. Additional issues were borrowed for the project from the Art and Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the James D. Van Trump Library and Achives of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Three issues could not be located and are not currently part of the project.

4. Scanning, Post-Processing,OCR, and Storage

The Carnegie Mellon University Libraries' department of Archives and Digital Library Initiatives completed scanning, post-processing, and OCR of 546 issues of Charette with >15,000 pages. Storage (27 gigabytes) is provided by the Libraries’ department of Library Information Technology.

5. DIVA delivery and navigation functionality Journal delivery and navigation functionality is provided through the DIVA system, a project of the Libraries' department of Library Information Technology.

6. Web Interface

The web interface was provided by the Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives.

Problems Encountered

• Lack of internal procedures to launch project

• Inadequate criteria for pre-evaluation

• Unstable digital working environment

http://www.library.cmu.edu/Research/ArchArch/Charette