ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 3 8 /C&RL News Historical ecology: LSU's electronic im aging laboratory By R ichard C on d rey, Faye P h illip s, an d T o n y P resti Preserving historical records in electronic fo rm A s society an d scientists w restle w ith u n ­ certainty over global climate change, a w ealth o f potentially valuable information lies largely unused an d deteriorating. These im por­ tant links w ith o u r historical ecology are the w ritten an d illustrated record. They are con­ tained in the rare an d unindexed first-hand ac­ counts o f o u r ancestors. While the record is diffuse and sometimes misleading, it is also rich and insightful. Because the current condition o f these works is an im pedim ent to their scientific study, a project is being com pleted to convert this record into a machine readable, searchable, and speak­ able form. Scientists and librarians at Louisiana State University (LSU), have successfully con­ verted B. F. French’s 1846, five volum e, Histori­ cal Collections o f Louisiana into an electronic text. Funding The electronic imaging of French’s volum es was accom plished through special funding. In 1991 th e Special Collections D ivision o f the LSU Libraries, received a grant o f $285,000 from the Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund (LEQSF) to establish an electronic imaging laboratory, a local area netw ork, and a disabled users ad ap ­ tive com puter center. Because the LEQSF funds only equipm ent purchases an d not staff, the project w as staffed principally by graduate as­ sistants funded from a variety of soft-money sources. Importance of the project F rench’s H istorical Collections o f Louisiana, printed betw een 1846 and 1853, w ere chosen for the pilot project because of the information they contain, the relative rarity o f the publica­ tion, and because the publication is in the public dom ain, no longer under copyright. French’s volum es contain early travel logs o f explorers to Louisiana and the Mississippi River in some o f the first transcriptions from the French and S p a n ish . C o -p rin cip al in v e s tig a to r fo r th e project, Richard Condrey, has used the publi­ cation extensively in his w ork o n the historical ecology o f Louisiana. The process The scanning and optical character recognition (O C R ) w a s a c c o m p lis h e d u s in g X e ro x ’s Kurzweil K5200 integrated system. 1. Each page w as carefully turned and placed face dow n on the system’s book-friendly scan­ ner 2. A TIF image file of the volum e w as cre­ ated at a rate o f about 45 seconds p e r page 3. After a volum e had b een scanned, a veri­ fication file was developed, w hich “taught” the m achine the correct identity of unclear charac­ ters (procedure took three to five hours) 4. With the OCR software a text file o f the im ages w as created 5. Text files w ere edited, using WordPerfect 5.1, in three steps: a. the text file w as run through the spell­ check utility o f WordPerfect, locating incorrect spellings. Because orthography in the original volum e is not standard, not all of the “errors” d etected by the spell-check program w ere ac­ tually scanning or OCR errors; each had to be cross-checked to the scanned image, a simple process o f toggling from the text to the image files o n the w orkstation. R ich a rd Condrey is associate professor, Coastal Fisheries Institute, Center f o r Coastal, Energy & E n viro n m en ta l Resources a n d Faye Phillips is head, Louisiana a n d Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, both a t Louisiana State University. Tony Presti is w ith K ey Systems Incorporated, B aton Rouge. September 1 9 9 3 /4 3 9 Pick a system. Any system. A t EBSCO we th in k one of th e most im portant decisions you’ll make for your library is th at of choosing quality subscription service. Equally im portant is choosing th e autom ated system th a t best fits your library’s needs. W hen you choose EBSCO for subscription ser­ vice, we respect your library autom ation decision and provide an array of electronic services th a t complements your system’s capabili­ ties. O ur services are compatible w ith most major systems — so you can have superior subscription service and your system of choice, too. Call us today to learn more about our independence-oriented library autom ation services. P.O. Box 1943 • Birmingham, AL 35201 (205) 991-6600 • Fax: (205) 995-1636 W here library autom ation is a liberating experience. 4 4 0 /C& RL News More Information, More Value— A nd A Brand New Look! W ilson Library B ulletin—a m u st for every librarian. With lively, engaging commentary on the developments, events, products, and trends that affect today's professional environment, WLB gives you more information and more value. N ew in 1 9 9 3 ! • "Brazen Overtures," GraceAnne DeCandido’s editorials on library and literary issues • Lee Ratzan in "The Internet Cafe" • "Coda," a closing essay on titles of topical interest. Plus... WLB continues with Jim Rettig's reviews of reference titles, Patty Campbell's reviews of books from the independent press, Norman Steven’s wry approach to "Our Profession," and the other WLB columnists whose words you rely on. For m ore inform ation call Toll-Free 8 0 0 - 3 6 7 - 6 7 7 0 . Outside of the U.S. and Canada, call 7 1 8 - 5 8 8 - 8 4 0 0 . Fax 7 1 8 -5 9 0 - 1 6 1 7 . September 1 9 9 3 /4 4 1 b. the text file was read, to search for cor­ rectly spelled but incorrect words, italics were added as needed and French and Spanish words w ere verified, c. a draft was produced and cross-checked against the original text. The product The text is stored on erasable 1.0 gigabyte op­ tical cartridges. These w ere used throughout the editing process. W hen the final edited ver­ sion of the French volumes is completed, the master file will be stored on 940MB WORM (w rite-o n ce-read -m an y ) o p tical cartridges. Electronic Im ag ing Laboratory Equipment Notes 1 KSI ScanStation II 80386-33 ISA buss computers, configured with 8MB RAM, 211MB SCSI-2 hard disk and 1.44MB and 1.2MB floppy drives in a super tower enclosure with a 400 watt power supply; bundled with Windows 3-1, DOS 5.0, mouse and enhanced keyboard; internal 1.0 GB multifunction optical drive, supporting the 650MB ISO 5.25" standard WORM format and 650MB and 1GB 5.25" erasable formats; storage subsystems interfaced via a SCSI-2 buss master controller with a 5 7MB per second transfer speed; a 19" 120 dpi monochrome monitor with glare reduction and 16 grey scale support provided by the matched high resolution controller. 1 KSI ImageStation II identical to the above, except for addition of image coprocessor with 8MB RAM and videolink card. 1 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet III printer 1 Fujitsu VM2200 printer 1 Kurzweil K5000 Windows Document Reader: with a book friendly edge on the scanner. 1 Kurzweil K6200 Windows Document Reader subsystem with a flatbed optical scanner. 1 KSI ImageScan II scanner with 400 dpi resolution 1 KSI ImagePrint printer 1 Kurzweil K5200 with Optical Character Recognition interface. 1 Portable 80386-40 CPU with 4MB RAM, 105MB hard disk, 1.44MB floppy and a KSI internal 1.0GB multifunction optical drive, an 800 by 600 VGA backlit flat panel LCK with 32 grey scales and external VGA port, enhanced keyboard, Windows 3 1 , DOS 5 0 and mouse, Logitec hand scan­ ner and autostitch software. These master files will be utilized as “archival” backups and as technology changes the data on the cartridges can be transferred to the next generation of storage medium whatever that might be. The final product to be produced will be a CD-ROM containing parallel text and image files for all five volumes of the B. F. French. The CD-ROM will contain the navigational software necessary to operate the disk on standard CD- ROM drives. IBM BookManager BUILD utility will provide the necessary software capability for using the CD-ROM. Because the French volumes were never indexed, having a key­ w o r d o r f r e e - te x t searchable text file will make the publication a m uch more usable research tool. Pages may b e p rin te d out from the edited ver­ sion or from the image version, or both. The CD-ROM edition will b e available in D e­ cem ber 1993 for ap ­ proximately $40. Process costs C o m b in e d tim e for scanning, editing, and correcting ran between 23 to 34 minutes per page. Personnel costs for scanning, editing, and correcting a 250- page volume were ap­ proximately $1,925. Copyright To date all projects planned for the EIL at LSU involve only those publications and mate­ rials in the public do­ main. Institutions must remain aware of copy­ right laws and comply w ith those applicable to their research prod­ ucts. As w e investigate the electronic publica­ tio n o f co p y rig h te d items, reports will be issued. ( c o n ‘tp a g e 44 8 ) PHONEDISC® TAKES THE LEGWORK OUT O F PHONE BOOKS. The phone company’s tip to “Let references was never easier. your fingers do the walking' works just PhoneDisc® USA Residential and fine when you’re looking for someone PhoneDisc® USA Business are the in the same town. But this advice can most complete, accurate and economi­ get mighty frustrating when you’re cal telephone databases available looking through hundreds of phone today! And they’ll stay that way, books for your Great Aunt Emma in because they are updated quarterly. Iowa. Or when your fingers are skip­ Join the thousands of CD-ROM own­ ping across thousands of pages trying ers who have purchased PhoneDisc.® to find a business associate you lost Call Toll-Free and order today! Only track of after he relocated to some $99 for the each o r $159 for both. unknown state! Face it: Your finger­ You get full technical support, as well tips were simply not meant for cross­ PhoneDisc® USA Residential is a as an unconditional 30 day Money country travel. two-disc set (Eastern and Western Back Guarantee. Fortunately, there is an alternative. United States) containing listed resi­ If you need to search residential DDA’s PhoneDisc® USA Residential dential phone number in the country. listings by more than last name, and PhoneDisc® USA Business If the person you are looking for is in PhoneDisc® Reverse extends your CD-ROMs pack 80 million residential a telephone directory—PhoneDisc® search power! W ith PhoneDisc® names and addresses and 9.6 million can help you. It is invaluable for Reverse you get the same high quality business listings in less room than locating people who have moved— listings and powerful search software your local directory! That's more list­ like your former roommates, army as PhoneDisc® Residential and ings than any other comparably buddies or (let's admit it) yo ur old Business plus reverse indexes for resi­ priced telephone directory published sweethearts. To save time, o r elimi­ dences. Buy the entire U.S. on five on CD-ROM. nate duplicate names, you can lim it discs for $349. Buy one region on one Imagine: The equivalent of several your search to certain states, cities, disc for $129. tons of printed residential and busi­ zip codes or area codes. ness phone books-weighing just PhoneDisc® USA Business lists ounces-at your beck and call. large, medium, small and even tin y PhoneDisc® is a lot easier to use than businesses. In addition to looking up paper directories, too: Simply type in a company by name, its reverse the person's name, and the powerful indexes allow you to search by busi­ built-in search program w ill find ness type, SIC code, street, address or his/her address and phone number phone number. Finding a supplier, instantly! starting a job search or checking See your ne 1 ares -8 t Phon 0 eDis 0- c® de 2 aler o 84 r call to -8 order. TO ORDER CALL TOLL-FREE 353 4 4 2 / C&RL News A Better W \y To Search Databases W e started in 1985, database searchers committed to better search software design. We became the premier vendor of M edline, th e n e x p a n d e d o u r catalog to o th e r d a tab a ses. L ast year we w on Inform ation World Review’s PRODUCT O F T H E YEAR for faster, easier search software. But a better way means meeting the evolving needs - individual and campus wide - of today’s library users. Announcing OVID: a database interface so flexible it molds itself to your search environment. W ith O V ID y o u ’re fr e e to m ove fr o m on e operating system to a nother w ith o u t retraining. O V ID ’s C om m on User Interface assures identical functio n a lity in DOS, W in d o w s a n d U N IX. A haven f o r beginners, O V ID ’s Easy M ode has on screen prompts. T h e more experienced can pull-dow n m enus showing an array o f search options. Experts w ill f e e l at hom e using online syntax. Search w ith natural language i f yo u like. O V ID mapping cuts through the m ystery o f controlled vocabularies, hom ing in on precisely matching subject headings. There’s an unprecedented array o f search tools - indexes, thesauri, lim its a n d fie ld s - m any never before available in an interface. T h ey’re all standard O V ID features. H E L P f o r every search fu n ctio n is context-sensitive and on screen, never more than a k ey­ stroke or m ouse click away. OVID. A better way to search ERIC, Current Contents, PsycINFO®, Medline, Readers’ Guide Abstracts, EMBASE and more. CD PLUS Technologies N e w Y o r k 8 0 0 -9 5 0 -2 0 3 5 /2 1 2 -5 6 3 -3 0 0 6 L o n d o n 4 4 -(0 )8 1 -7 4 8 -3 7 7 7 A m s te rd a m 0 2 0 -6 7 2 -0 2 4 2 September 1 9 9 3 /4 4 3 4 4 8 / C&RL News Articles may include directions for reaching Russian and Eastern European sites by elec­ tronic mail, computer networks, databases, information technology, and the online indus­ try within this area. Newsletters Subscription requests for newsletters are gen­ erally sent to the individual responsible for its distribution. • CAROLINA@CSEARN, a weekly newsletter re­ porting on current events in the Czech Re­ public is published by the students of jour­ nalism at Charles University in Prague. Articles are in Czech or English. A number of newsletters describe current events in die countries comprising the former Yugoslavia. • Bosnet, p u b lish ed daily, covers new s of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Articles are mostly in English and languages spoken in Bosnia. Contact Hozo Iztok, HOZO@MATH.LSA.U MICH.EDU. • Croatian-News (English) / Hrvatski-Vjesnik (Croatian), offer news from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. News sources may include transcripts from Croatian and other newspapers. Croatian-News is avail­ able from CROATIAN-NEWSREQUESTØAN DREW.CMU.EDU and Hrvatski-Vjesnik can be o b ta in e d from HRVATSKI-VJESNIK-ZAM OLBE@ANDREW.CMU.EDU. • MILS-NEWS, published by the Macedonian Information and Liaison Service, is a digest of current events in Macedonia. It is issued daily in English and Macedonian via listserver MAK- NEWS@UTS.EDU.AU. • R okPress p re s e n ts new s from Slovenia. Slovene is the principal language but news from Croatian and Serbian sources may be included. Subscriptions can be requested from Igor Benko, IBENKO@MAVERICO.UWATER LOO.CA. • SII distributes news and discusses current events affecting Serbs. Contact OWNER@MOU MEE.CALSTATELA.EDU. • VND (Vreme News Digest) is an electronic English-language version of the weekly news­ paper, Vreme which serves all areas of former Yugoslavia. Selected articles from Vreme are translated into English. For subscriptions con­ tact D m itrije Stam enovic, DMITRIJE@BU ENGA.BU.EDU. Online Bibliographies ABSEES Online, an electronic version of the American Bibliography of Slavic and East Eu­ ropean Studies available at no charge via the Internet, is a source of citations for journal ar­ ticles, government and research reports, book chapters, and books published in the United States and Canada. Contact Aaron Trehub, Edi­ tor, ABSEES, absees@uxl.cso.uiuc.edu. ■ (Historical ecology co n 'tfro m p age 441) Future applications Future applications of this technology include the following: • a database of 90,000 scanned images of the historical photographs in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections searchable by patrons in the reading room on a WORM optical cartridge; access will be through hierar­ chical or key w ord modes. (The authority file for the index will be the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials.) • b ib lio g ra p h ic a l an d te x tu a l an alysis projects, such as enhancing the comparison of literary text both within editions and across editions • compilations of historical statistical data, which will be available both in simple tabular form and in datafiles suitable for manipulation by standard spreadsheet and database software • electronic publication of a number of jour­ nals in the public domain, such as the Fisheries Bulletin • access to other publications in the public domain, including a very large body of “grey” literature on the Gulf of Mexico (literature pu b ­ lished in unrefereed publications) • continue to serve as a Beta test site for new computer hardware and software devel­ oped by Key Systems Incorporated, a Baton Rouge company Summary The Electronic Imaging Laboratory has given the LSU Libraries an opportunity to make Spe­ cial Collections materials available to a wider audience and to develop projects that will pro­ vide more and easier to use research materials in the future. Documents relating the early his­ tory of Louisiana are also being preserved with electronic imaging. ■ MICH.EDU DREW.CMU.EDU mailto:OLBE@ANDREW.CMU.EDU NEWS%c3%98UTS.EDU.AU NEWS%c3%98UTS.EDU.AU MEE.CALSTATELA.EDU ENGA.BU.EDU mailto:absees@uxl.cso.uiuc.edu