Digitization of the “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections”: Great Concept/Fumbled Execution

Michael UnsworthHumanities Librarian

MSU Libraries unsworth@msu.edu

Outline of Talk• Genesis

• Why Should We Care

• Contents

• Why Digitize

• Publication History

• Bibliographic Treatment

• Digitizers

• Analysis

• Solutions/Coping Mechanisms

• Conclusions

GENESIS:Library Instruction Session

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.

WHAT IT CONTAINS:

• Letters

• Speeches

• Memorial Reports

• Private and Professional Papers of Individuals

• Personal Remembrances

• Historical Essays

• Documentary Material

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…”

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.”

WHY DIGITIZE?

• Scattered runs

• Access restricted to libraries

• Publishing inconsistencies

• Poor quality paper

• Loss of other materials

• Promise of hi-tech indexing

WHY DIGITIZE? FROM THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES’ CIRCULATION DEPT.:

“This item [v.9 1886] 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

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.

Michigan Historical Collections CAREFULL!!!

VARIANT TITLES

• Historical Collections And Researches [1ST ed.] Vol. 37 (1909,1910)

• Collections of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan… [Reprint/ 2nd ed.] Vol. 06 (1907) - Vol. 08 (1907) .

• Collections: Report Of The Pioneer Society Of The State Of Michigan… [2nd ed.] Vol. 09 (1908)

CAUTION!!!It never had the title of Michigan

Pioneer and Historical Collections, but it’s been commonly used to describe the entire collection.

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

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

DIGITIZERS

SELECTIVE DIGITIZERS

Library of Congress’ American Memory – 9 Unique Volumes

Google Book Search – 27 Unique Volumes

Internet Archive Texts Collection 32 Unique Volumes

University of Michigan Digital Library’s Making of America 40 Unique Volumes

ANALYSIS

Analysis1. Bibliographic control is

complicated by the set’s numerous titles and issuing bodies. Regardless of what system of cataloging is used, the resulting record(s) are long, obtuse, and mind-numbing to even the most motivated user.

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

• The contents of all 40 vols. are accessible

Analysis

3. Indexing/Access to Contents:

• Each volume has its own index

• Society-created cumulative indexes were digitized

• Many indexes created by outside groups have not been digitized

Analysis4. No project treated it as a serial or

collection:• No “one stop” listing• Can’t search authors or subjects across all

volumes, as in:

ANALYSIS:JSTOR

Analysis6. Digitization has:• Increased “distribution” of

individual volumes• Provided access to content with:

– Volume & cumulated indexes– Keyword searching only within

each volume

• Complicated comprehensive searching by volume by volume searching

SOLUTIONS/COPING MECHANISMS

1. Get “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections” as an access point on bibliographic records (OCLC#8069520: WorldCat record)

2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto OPAC)

2. Provide links to Digitized Volumes on Bibliographic Records (U. of Toronto MARC record)

3. Produce a comprehensive Web Guide

http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC

http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/MPHC

4. Selective Indexing

Native Americans Guide

Native Americans Guide

Native Americans Guide

5. COMPREHENSIVE INDEXING PROJECT

Requires $$$$

CONCLUSIONS

1. NONE of the mass digitization projects took an effort to study bibliographic records to insure that all access points were available for Internet searching.

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 by using knowledge of the print and online worlds.

END

DETAILED ANALYSISOF EACH PROJECT

DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC)

DIGITIZER: American Memory (LC)

• 9 Vols digitized: all 2nd Ed.

• Retrievability:

–Title: Historical collections ONLY

– Author: Michigan state historical society ONLY

• Collection: LC

Formats:Scanned

HTML

DIGITIZER: Google Book Search

DIGITIZER: Google Book Search • 31 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 20 ; 2nd Ed.: 11• 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• Formats: PDF; Plain text; EPUB (download)

DIGITIZER: Internet Archive

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

DIGITIZER: U. of Michigan

DIGITIZER: University of Michigan • 40 vols digitized: ; 1st Ed.: 39 ; 2nd Ed.: 1• Formats: scanned & OCR• Retrieveability: Author: Michigan Historical

Commission & Michigan State Historical Society Title: Michigan historical collections.

• Text Searching: Yes• Print only: small image• Source Collection: University of Michigan

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

PAST BIBLIOGRAPHIC TREATMENT FOR 2nd Ed.

Latest Entry

RETRIEVABILITYAmerican 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