A Data First Approach (Then Retreat, Then Regroup, Then Approach Again) to a Collaborative Digital Project
Start Date
7-10-2017 10:40 AM
End Date
7-10-2017 12:10 AM
Description
“In Her Own Right: Women Asserting Their Civil Rights, 1820-1920” is an NEH-funded pilot project to identify, scan, and present online items in libraries in the greater Philadelphia area relating to the struggle for women’s rights. The technical working group for the project was tasked with identifying a suitable digital infrastructure to showcase the material. They did that. Then they complicated matters by also prioritizing a data-first approach the project. This presentation is the perspective of one member of the technical working group, and will detail the decision to build data exports and APIs in addition to a user interface. There have been false starts, changed plans, and periods of self-doubt. This ongoing project is a case study in collaborative digitization projects from a data first perspective, the evaluation of library-supplied data, engaging user participation for data enhancement, and the practicalities of implementing user-supplied data.
Type
Presentation
Session
#s1a: Finding Herstory: Digital Methods in Archival Research, moderator Tammy Troup
Language
eng
Location
Elaine Langone Center, Walls Lounge
A Data First Approach (Then Retreat, Then Regroup, Then Approach Again) to a Collaborative Digital Project
Elaine Langone Center, Walls Lounge
“In Her Own Right: Women Asserting Their Civil Rights, 1820-1920” is an NEH-funded pilot project to identify, scan, and present online items in libraries in the greater Philadelphia area relating to the struggle for women’s rights. The technical working group for the project was tasked with identifying a suitable digital infrastructure to showcase the material. They did that. Then they complicated matters by also prioritizing a data-first approach the project. This presentation is the perspective of one member of the technical working group, and will detail the decision to build data exports and APIs in addition to a user interface. There have been false starts, changed plans, and periods of self-doubt. This ongoing project is a case study in collaborative digitization projects from a data first perspective, the evaluation of library-supplied data, engaging user participation for data enhancement, and the practicalities of implementing user-supplied data.