Digital library services news - summer 2019
Welcome to the Summer 2019 Digital Library Services Newsletter, prepared by the Product and Service Management team! This newsletter includes contributions from: Cathy Aster, Hannah Frost, Dinah Handel, Michael Olson, and Josh Schneider.
Panel at DLF Forum - DLF - HBCU Authenticity Project
As a participant on the IMLS-funded Digital Library Federation (DLF) - Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Alliance Authenticity Project, Cathy Aster has been hard at work with a small group of project colleagues preparing a panel presentation for DLF Forum in Tampa, FL this coming October. The panel preparation activities have provided a perfect test bed for carrying out mentoring and conversation activities in collaboration with project fellows. As participants from the initial cohort, we will share our experiences and the impact on our professional work. The Authenticity Project involves early to mid-career librarians and archivists working at HBCUs, mentors from HBCUs, and conversation partners from predominantly white institutions (PWIs). It aims to build authentic connections and promote genuine exchange.
SUL Text Search Study Report
Hot off the presses and read all about it! During the past academic year, we conducted a user study on stakeholder expectations and needs for text search capabilities in SUL’s digital library ecosystem, to inform future software development priorities and possible service expansion. The study was conducted through interviews with seven SUL bibliographers, one Hoover curator, one academic technology specialist, and one representative from Special Collections. A report (Stanford login required) based on this study reveals major opportunities for expanding research support for both existing and incoming/prospective collections across a broad range of subject areas. Improving the accessibility of our collections was an overarching goal surfaced via user interviews, and remains a unifying theme. Many thanks to everyone who participated and weighed in!
New Stanford Libraries Viewer Improves User Experience for Image Viewing and Full Text Search
As featured in two digital library blog posts published in July 2019 (1 July and 29 July), the recent production release of Stanford Libraries' new viewer affords a greatly improved user experience. For image content - display, navigation, zoom, share and download - all offer enrichments facilitated by enabling Mirador 3 in the viewer, leveraging recent work by the international Mirador community in which DLSS has a key leadership role. Full text search, a fairly recent addition to the DLSS service portfolio, benefitted enormously with significant navigation and user interface changes. Don't miss the two five-minute tutorials that will assist in orienting you to the capabilities of the new viewer!
Arboretum Chinese Labor Quarters 3D Imaging Project
The Digital Production Group is started a new 3D imaging project in partnership with the Arboretum Chinese Labor Quarters project this summer. In July, Megan Victor, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Archaeology Center, brought approximately 14 artifacts to our 3D imaging lab. The artifacts will be imaged using a combination of tools: some are well suited for our David structured light scanner, while others are more complex and require photogrammetry. The 3D models will be made available in the Stanford Digital Repository once the imaging work is complete. We are very pleased to be contributing to such an important campus-wide effort, and hope that 3D models of artifacts will encourage engagement with the project both on and off the Stanford campus.
SMPL makes itself at home at SRWC
At last, the Stanford Media Preservation Lab has relocated to its permanent facility at the new Stanford Redwood City campus. The team and 24 "machine carts" loaded up with computers and audiovisual playback equipment moved into our specially designed spaces in Academy Hall on July 18. Now the real work begins: installing two audio labs, one video lab, a photo-documentation space, and five born-digital processing workstations. We are living in a pile of cables! The entire installation is expected to take 6-8 weeks to complete, with some services returning to normal operations in the meantime. After moving our labs 3 times in 7 years, we are really looking forward to staying put! Many thanks to Jerry Alabastro, Jacob Cohn, Larry Dahl, Brian Kerrick, Serena Rao, and Deni Wicklund for all their hard work and support throughout this process.
