The “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: A Case Study in Digitization

1. The “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: A Case Study in Digitization Michael UnsworthHumanities Librarian MSU Librariesunsworth@msu.edu

2. GENESIS:Library Instruction Session

3. WHY SHOULD WE CARE "The content of this forty volume history series, though uneven in quality, includes valuable material. Every teacher of Michigan history will testify to its usefulness. Even the less scholarly contributions constitute important evidence of what a generation of pioneers regarded as significant in their history." Lewis G. Vander Velde, "The Michigan Historical Commission: 1913-1963," Michigan History Vol. 48, no. 2 (June 1964): 98.

4. EXAMPLE: J.A. Giradin, “Slavery in Detroit,” Pioneer Collections Vol. 1 (1877): 415: “In ancient times the city of Detroit and vicinity had slaves among its inhabitants. The old citizens generally purchased them from marauding bands of Indians, who had captured the negro slaves in their war depredations on plantations… “Everyone lived in arcadian simplicity and contentment. The negro was satisfied with his position, and rendered valuable service to his master…”

5. ANOTHER EXAMPLE: F.M. Holloway, “Hillsdale County from 1829 to 1836 Inclusive,” Pioneer Collections Vol. 1 (1877): 180-181: “…and Mr. Stevens went with it [the proposed name of Litchfield] to Detroit, and by the free use of liquid, and other arrangements, prevailed on the Legislature to adopt that name.”

6. WHY DIGITIZE? • Scattered runs • 54 repositories: OCLC; 20+ with full runs • Publishing inconsistencies • Poor quality paper • Loss of other materials

7. WHY DIGITIZE? FROM THE MSUL CIRCULATION DEPT.: “This item is sufficiently overdue that it is not likely to be returned in a timely fashion. (The borrower who has it has been billed for its replacement) You may request this material via interlibrary loan (ILL): Pioneer collections : report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, together with reports of county, town, and district pioneer societies Lansing? Mich. : The Society], 1877-1888 MSU MAIN LIBRARY F561 .M47 v.9 1886” Also checked out at MSUL: Vols. 1, 10-12; 15-18, 40 & Index for Vols 1-15

8. DIGITIZERS • American Memory(Library of Congress; digitized for the “Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910”) • Google Book Search • Internet Archive Texts Collectionis a "collection is open to the community for the contribution of any type of text," many were scanned by Microsoft's "Live Search Books" during 2006-2008. • University of Michigan Digital Library

9. PUBLICATION HISTORY • 1876-1886 (Vols. 1- 9): Pioneer Collections. Lansing : Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan & Pioneer and Historical Society of the State of Michigan (PHSSM) . • 1886-1912 (Vols. 10-38): Historical Collections. Lansing : PHSSM & Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society. • 1915-1929 (Vols. 39-40): Michigan Historical Collections. Lansing : Michigan Historical Commission. Reprints/2nd ed. for Vols. 1-21 published 1900-13.

10. Michigan Historical Collections CAREFULL!!!

12. VARIANT TITLES • Historical Collections And Researches [1ST ed.] Vol. 37 (1909,1910) • Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan… [2nd ed. or Reprint] Vol. 06 (1907) - Vol. 08 (1907) . • Collections: Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The State Of Michigan… [2nd ed. or Reprint] Vol. 09 (1908)

13. CAUTION!!! It never had the title of Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, but it’s been commonly used to describe the entire collection.

14. BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 1st EDITION Successive Entry • Pioneer collections (1877). Vol. 1- 9 (1876-1886) OCLC #8597825 • Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society : 1888).Vol. 10-38 (1886-1912) OCLC #8069520 • Michigan Historical Collections. Vol. 39-40 (1915-1929) OCLC #8597926

15. Bibliographic Treatment for 1st Ed.Latest Entry; OCLC #1757295

16. ANALYSIS

17. Analysis • The set’s numerous titles and issuing bodies complicate any system of bibliographic control. It is inherently messy.

18. Analysis 2. Not all volumes digitized: • 1st. Ed.: 39 of 40 vol. were done Vol. 9 was not digitized by any project • 2nd. Ed.: just 13 of 21 vol. were done

19. Analysis 3. Indexing: • Each volume has its own index • Society-created cumulative indexes were digitized • Most indexes created by outside groups have not been digitized

20. Analysis 4. No project treated it as a serial or collection: • No “one stop” listing • Can’t search authors or subjects across all volumes, as in: ERGO

21. Analysis 5. Digitization has: • Increased “distribution” of individual volumes • Provided access to content with: • Volume & cumulated indexes • Keyword searching only within each volume

22. SOLUTIONS/COPING MECHANISMS

23. Digitizer Compilation JSTOR

24. Contributor Compilation:U. of Toronto

25. Contributor Compilation:856 fields in MARC records

26. Outsider Compilation #1 http://guides.lib.msu.edu/ page.phtml?page_id=2159

27. Outside Compilation #1

28. Outside Compilation #3

29. Selective Indexing

30. Selective Indexing

31. Selective Indexing

32. Selective Indexing

33. COMPREHENSIVE INDEXING PROJECTRequires $$$$

34. CONCLUSIONS

35. 1. Three of the mass digitization projects took no or minimum effort to study bibliographic records to insure that all access points were available. Only the Internet Archive provided all author and title permutations.

36. 2. “Genus Librarianus” is still needed, but needs time & resources to stay abreast of developments. Then can s/he react to techno projects and make sense of them using knowledge of the print and online worlds.

37. END http://libdata.lib.msu.edu/login.phtml

38. DETAILED ANALYSISOF EACH PROJECT

39. DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC)

40. DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC) • 9 vols digitized: all 2nd Ed. • Formats: Scanned and html • Retrievability: • Title: Historical collections ONLY • Author: Michigan state historical society ONLY • Collection: LC

41. DIGITIZER: Google Book Search

42. DIGITIZER: Google Book Search • 31 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 20 ; 2nd Ed.: 11 • Formats: “Page images” (scanned?) and “Plain text” (html) • Retrieveability – all Author & title permutations plus Michigan state historical society WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY & PERSISTENCE • Text Searching: Yes • Print/Save: via PDF • Collections: Harvard U. & U of Virginia

43. DIGITIZER: Internet Archive

44. DIGITIZER: Internet Archive • 36 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 31; 2nd Ed.: 5 • Multiple formats • Text Searching: Yes • Retrieveability: All permutations • Print/Save: via PDF • Reader reviews • Collections: U. of Toronto & Allen County (Indiana) Public Library

45. DIGITIZER: U. of Michigan

46. DIGITIZER: University of Michigan • 40 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 39 ; 2nd Ed.: 1 • Formats: scanned & OCR • Retrieveability: Author: Michigan Historical Commission & Michigan State Historical SocietyTitle: Michigan historical collections. • Text Searching: Yes • Print only: small image • Source Collection: University of Michigan

47. CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHICTREATMENT FOR 2nd Ed./REPRINTS Successive Entry • Pioneer Collections (1900). Vol. 1- 9 (1900-1908) OCLC #13501029 • Historical collections made by the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. 11-12 (1908)OCLC #13500880 • Historical collections (Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society : 1908). Vol. 13-21 (1908-19??) OCLC #13500714

48. PAST BIBLIOGRAPHIC TREATMENT FOR 2nd Ed.Latest Entry

49. RETRIEVABILITY American Memory: • Site Title: Historical collections; Author: Michigan state historical society • Actual Titles: • Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan (2nd Editions) • Collections: Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The State Of Michigan (2nd Editions) • Pioneer Collections (2nd Editions) • Historical Collections (2nd Editions & Reprints) • Actual Authors: • Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan • Michigan Pioneer And Historical Society