Creating a Digital Library with Open Source Software

NHLA Spring 2008Concord, New Hampshire

Background

Challenges of the Original Materials Deterioration No index; items were hard to locate Low accessibility

Primary Goals Encourage preservation Improve accessibility and visibility

Inspiration

Beyond Brown Paper http://beyondbrownpaper.plymouth.edu

WordPress Open Source Software Blogging Software

Why WordPress Works Full-text searching Broad categories Tags Web-based Dynamic pages built on a database

Process Simplified Installed WordPress on a remote server Purchased a domain name Scanned or keyed in the data Added each article as separate blog post Continued to tweak the template,

plugins, etc.

Costs Open source software = Free Web hosting = $10/month Domain name costs = $6.00/year I have an inexpensive scanner with OCR

software (cost $100) I used my own computer.

Outcomes The warrant articles can be found through

a full-text search. The articles can be browsed by subject,

topic, or year. The articles are easily accessible online. Hopefully, the materials will be handled

less.

Learn from My Mistakes Plan Plan Plan

Planning a Digital Library Create a small sample project

Digitize no more than 5% of your materials to start with.

Implement different plug-ins and themes. Develop a solid navigation structure with

categories and tags.

Planning a Digital Library Readjust your plan accordingly.

New versions of WordPress or other open source software will continue to be developed.

New features may be added that would enhance your site.

Be aware of new features in development.

Planning a Digital Library Consider using your own computer as a

host for the sample project. Using your own computer, versus a remote

server, can save you time when developing a new project.

Planning a Digital Library Learn as much as you can about the

software before starting your main project. Use the pilot project as a way to learn the

software, implement plug-ins and themes, etc.

Planning a Digital Library Collaborate closely with other

organizations. WordPress software can easily be configured to

allow for multiple contributors. Work with volunteers from the library or other

town organizations, like the historical society, to help build the site.

Think Outside the Box Look at the big picture. Don’t get caught up with the traditional

library-methods of creating a digital library.

However you decide to digitize and publish your collection, you will have increased its accessibility and helped to preserve the materials.

Primary Goals Revisited Increase the visibility and accessibility of

our collections Help to preserve physical collections