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  • One of our major initiatives this year was to work with a vendor to provide metadata enrichments for our entire Alma database. Leanne Finnigan coordinated this project, working closely with Matt Ducmanas to liaise with SCRC and Blockson. Approximately 300,000 records were enriched with tables of contents and summaries, providing richer keyword access for discovery. Approximately 2,000,000 records were enriched with consistent forms of author names, subject headings, genre headings, and series headings, which will increase accuracy of faceting and searching in Library Search. All records were upgraded to current standards for catalog description and encoding; obsolete and incorrect coding was updated, and punctuation was normalized. All of this should vastly improve the accuracy of Library Search, which is crucial as we move to Charles Library and depend solely on Library Search for discovery for the majority of our collection.

Barcoding project Project 

  • We completed this major project, led by Carla Davis Cunningham, in May 2019. Over the past three years, we have retrospectively processed tens of thousands of items found in the Paley Stacks without a barcode, in preparation for the move to Charles Library. This year alone, we cataloged over 1700 titles for this project, created 5000 item records, and modified an additional 8000 item records. In addition to the items identified by Access Services, our staff used Alma to identify over 5500 additional items missing barcodes that had not previously been detected based on visual inspection, and also corrected hundreds of barcodes in Alma with missing digits or bad characters. All of these efforts contributed to the success of our ASRS implementation, resulting in thousands fewer items that would have otherwise failed to load into the ASRS when it came time to move, as well as making thousands of titles more discoverable in Library Search. 

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  • In addition to the two major retrospective cataloging projects mentioned above, we also participated in a great deal of other collection related projects to prepare for the move to Charles Library.
  • In order to reduce the number of volumes that needed to be moved from Paley to Charles Library, the Acquisitions and Collection Development department identified a number of bound journals and duplicate monographs that could be deselected. Molly Larkin processed 75,000 withdrawn bound journal volumes, comprising over 1100 titles that needed to be removed from our catalog and our holdings removed from WorldCat, while Myra Hom and others processed 1500 duplicate monograph withdrawals. 
  • When it was determined that some Paley microfilm reels would be housed in the ASRS, Molly Larkin created approximately 1000 detailed item records for each reel belonging to the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, so that they could be barcoded and added to the ASRS.
  • Leading up to the move, numerous collections changed locations. Leanne Finnigan facilitated the Alma location changes for over 5,000 items in Media and Oversize collections that were moved to Kardon. A new Juvenile collection was created, for which Leanne Finnigan changed the Alma locations for 3600 items and Evelyn Lane helped with relabeling. As part of the ASRS-related location changes, we also transferred the majority of the Paley Reference collection to circulating stacks. 
  • To complement our retrospective cataloging efforts, we outsourced the cataloging of over 500 materials for which we do not have in-house language expertise, in order to expedite the processing of these materials prior to the move to Charles Library and to ensure timely patron access.
  • Numerous MADS staff contributed to measuring & green dot stickering projects in order to prepare the physical collection to be moved from Paley to Charles Library.
  • Developed We developed an inventory of digitization equipment to track move from Paley to Charles and coordinated the move of the Quartz planetary scanner with a vendor.

Database cleanup 

  • In addition to the above mentioned database maintenance related to the move, we also performed ongoing cleanup to the various metadata repositories we maintain, including CONTENTdm and Alma.
  • To prepare for the migration of electronic theses and dissertations from CONTENTdm to DSpace, we updated identifiers and/or filenames for over 1,300 records.
  • In Alma, we cleared out numerous defunct location codes, removed approximately 2000 records for returned leisure books, identified and updated items with a Music Restricted item policy, fixed approximately 3000 broken URLs in bibliographic records, and continued to cleanup electronic resource portfolios following Alma migration. 
  • Altogether we modified approximately 50,000 physical item records in Alma between various projects, including retrospective cataloging, and we withdraw withdrew nearly 100,000 items, including bound journals and duplicates. 

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  • Rachel Appel
    • Born Digital Access Bootcamp. Workshop presented with Alison Clemens, Jessica Farrell, & Greg Wiedeman. DLF Forum, Henderson, NV, Oct. 14, 2018.
  • Stefanie Ramsay
    • Primary Source Set Sorcery. Lightning Talk presented with Jasmine Clark. DLF Forum, Henderson, NV, Oct. 15, 2018.
    • CONTENTdm Customization at Temple University. Webinar presentation. CONTENTdm Community Insights, March 26, 2019.
  • Rachel Appel and Stefanie Ramsay
  • Leanne Finnigan
    • The Metadata-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: Assessing Metadata Quality at DPLA Hubs. Presentation with Amelia Mowry, Teresa Hebron, & Penelope Shumaker. DPLAFest, Apr. 17, 2019, Chicago, IL.
    • Aggregating with Eliza and Barb: Creating User Personas for Software Development at PA Digital. Lightning Talk. DPLAFest, Chicago, IL, Apr. 18, 2019.
    • Completed certificate program in XML and RDF-based Systems
  • Holly Tomren
    • From Prototype to Production: Turning Good Ideas into Useful Library Services. Presentation with Andrew Pace. CNI Fall Membership Meeting, Washington, DC, Dec. 10, 2018.
    • Recipient of Distinguished Service Award from the American Indian Library Association
  • Carla Davis Cunningham and Molly Larkin
    • Completed training in the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO)
    • Completed training and joined the PA Digital Metadata Review team.

Patron Stories

  • Feedback from PA Digital Metadata Anonymous workshop
    • "The session about OpenRefine was excellent."
    • "I don't usually like to learn new software in a workshop setting, but the OpenRefine session was designed well (installation prior to workshop, instructions and handouts, and organization), so I was able to leave with a better understanding of how to use the software in my work."
    • "Great workshop - I learned a lot, both during and between the sessions (from talking with presenters/attendees). Thanks!" 
  • We received anecdotal feedback throughout the year for both the PA Digital program as well as our Digital Collections. For example, we heard from an educator at the PA Museums conference who uses all of the PA Digital primary source sets, a Lyft driver who is using our digital collections to research the Ambler campus, and comments online from people who are using Temple’s digitized yearbooks to attempt to identify people in the 1957 Gay Wedding Photo Mystery. These stories exemplify the impact that our staff’s digitization and digital project work has on everyday Philadelphians and beyond.