Tuesday, October 18, 2016

After many years of denial and avoidance, the AARP Library embarked on a project to create a staff-use article database for AARP’s flagship publication, AARP The Magazine. They recount the adventure, complete with thorny source material, tales of woe, reaching across the cubicles, XML to the rescue, and ultimately success! They share what they did right, what they wish they’d done differently, the pros/cons of various formatting options, and several unexpected “silver linings” that emerged from the stormy endeavor, shining a spotlight on the library and boosting their engagement and relevance across the enterprise. Hulser discusses making content discoverable through the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), a framework for efforts to provide worldwide access to a variety of biodiversity materials, including those from pre- 17th centuries. While scanning items is a great first start, making older items in particular discoverable through OCR has limited success. Hulser provides an overview of projects focused on the crowdsourcing and gaming techniques engaged by staff at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Smithsonian Libraries, and other BHL members to heighten success in access to materials with unusual fonts and handwritten text.