Ok, wormholes is a little extreme, but I've been watching some back episodes of the TV show Sliders about traveling to parallel dimensions and whatnot. That's kind of like clicking around in new tabs, following links, and getting lost in the interwebs, right? This post addresses some accessibility concerns with the TJLP database LibraryThing records.
With our TJLP LibraryThing catalog records, we're creating a rich, interactive bibliographic information-session for users. The records that I've been dealing with describing the Wythe bequest are especially complex - filled with lots of data to tell the story of the book coming into Jefferson's library, its representation there, and then its possible dispersal to Congress or somewhere else. The records are all formatted in the same way, which hopefully prevents confusion. But with this amount of information on one record there are other variables that influence access and user-friendliness. LibraryThing is a social environment, and the catalog record reinforces this by linking to information resources - other catalog records, transcriptions, manuscript images, author pages, etc. The potential for getting lost down rabbit holes is great. So how best to account for that? In code to open in new tabs or windows? In help/user guides explaining system search and retrieval? Also, we can't account for users' personal browser settings affecting some of these actions. And do users know better/prefer to user their back arrows or close new tabs/windows?
We've tried to present a lot of useful and enriched information in an organized manner in these records. Retrieving and navigating that information likewise needs to be an organized, efficient process in order to successfully convey information in this environment. Interesting quandaries...
Friday, April 16, 2010
New TJLP Site
It's been an exciting couple of weeks for the Thomas Jefferson's Libraries Project at Jefferson Library. The Project has a new website home that recently went live on Monticello's server. This allows TJLP to grow and add content in new ways and generally become a richer experience for users. Until recently, TJLP database records were managed in the third-party content management system PubMan by dataformat.com. Database searches from the new site retrieve LibraryThing records, reflecting the recent efforts to migrate the Thomas Jefferson's Libraries Project database content there, which is largely what I've been contributing to at Jefferson Library. The new site helps explain the complexity of the Project to users, the reasons Jefferson Library is attempting to identify the books Thomas Jefferson owned in his personal libraries throughout his life, and various ways that users might navigate the site and LibraryThing in order to satisfy their information needs. The site will be growing as more content is added; likewise will the database continue to grow with records and be more useful to a variety of users. Read all about the Project.
Take a look around, and give us some feedback here. The folks at Jefferson Library are anxious to know what users think of the site!
Take a look around, and give us some feedback here. The folks at Jefferson Library are anxious to know what users think of the site!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Assumptions, Variables, general Perplexities
Recently I had the benefit of a helpful 'information literacy' session at Jefferson Library. This wasn't a scheduled regular library event or anything. I've been keeping notes of problems or roadblocks I encounter in my LibraryThing project - basically things that stump me. My supervisor and I went through these notes the other day and it was an illuminating ordeal. I got to see the process through her eyes, and it further solidified for me that the Thomas Jefferson's Libraries Project that I'm contributing to is complex and meaningful work. Also, it seemed that the records that stumped me did so for pretty good reason, and that was satisfying, even if still perplexing.
For questions tracing provenance and accounting for titles I saw some new or different resources at play: the 1840 Library of Congress catalogue and the 1873 Leavitt auction catalogue. With the LibraryThing records I'm working on - the Wythe bequest to Jefferson in 1806 - we're trying to show users an awful lot, and there are lots of variables. There's the fact/assumption that the book came from Wythe in 1806. We have the newly discovered Wythe list showing these titles in Jefferson's hand. Then, we want to show these titles appearing in Jefferson's "master" list of 1783, so I search for them there. When the title appears written the same way as on the Wythe list, and in darker ink (suggesting a late entry ca. 1806), this suggests that it's Wythe's copy. Then we want to see if that title was sold to Congress, so we check a resource reconstructing Jefferson's list of books sold to them in 1815. If it's there, and still in the same nomenclature and size (4to, 8vo, etc.), presumably this is Wythe's copy that ended up at Congress. Lastly, we want to describe the item itself. To do this we rely on E. Milicent Sowerby's five volume Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (1952-59), which reconstructed TJ's library at Congress. Some of the works she described were not extant, having been destroyed in the library's 1851 fire or otherwise missing. If they do exist, we include a physical description in our LibraryThing record based on Sowerby's notes.
Whew! An interesting variable that often crops up is that Wythe's copy might duplicate one Jefferson already owned. TJ's 1783 master list entry for that title might be written over, rubbed out then written over, or have "2 copies" written out in the margin, or something to that effect. If that title appears at Congress, this complicates determining whether or not it was Wythe's copy Jefferson sold. Sometimes this plays out more easily: if Wythe's and TJ's copies are dissimilar in some way like publication or size. But sometimes it does not play out, and so we do what we can. Sometimes the title does not appear at Congress. Sometimes it appears but does not seem to be Wythe's entry - why? Sometimes it seems TJ kept one of two copies for himself, selling the other to Congress, but which one? We try to account for the titles on TJ's lists using the resources avaliable and determine what happened to them without making great assumptions.
Therein lies the rub. We're trying to make connections with these LibraryThing records, link lots of data together in meaningful and apparent ways. Sometimes it's hard to know how to straddle subjectivity and objectivity in that endeavor. This translates broadly in information management: in deciphering and disseminating access to recources we must be careful of our whims. I like it when these LT records present a clear story - Wythe bequethed this title to TJ in 1806; TJ sold it to Congress in 1815 where it still resides and looks like _this_. But I also like reminding myself and others that we can't know everything, and furthermore that we can't presume to know, and so some records reflect this.
For questions tracing provenance and accounting for titles I saw some new or different resources at play: the 1840 Library of Congress catalogue and the 1873 Leavitt auction catalogue. With the LibraryThing records I'm working on - the Wythe bequest to Jefferson in 1806 - we're trying to show users an awful lot, and there are lots of variables. There's the fact/assumption that the book came from Wythe in 1806. We have the newly discovered Wythe list showing these titles in Jefferson's hand. Then, we want to show these titles appearing in Jefferson's "master" list of 1783, so I search for them there. When the title appears written the same way as on the Wythe list, and in darker ink (suggesting a late entry ca. 1806), this suggests that it's Wythe's copy. Then we want to see if that title was sold to Congress, so we check a resource reconstructing Jefferson's list of books sold to them in 1815. If it's there, and still in the same nomenclature and size (4to, 8vo, etc.), presumably this is Wythe's copy that ended up at Congress. Lastly, we want to describe the item itself. To do this we rely on E. Milicent Sowerby's five volume Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (1952-59), which reconstructed TJ's library at Congress. Some of the works she described were not extant, having been destroyed in the library's 1851 fire or otherwise missing. If they do exist, we include a physical description in our LibraryThing record based on Sowerby's notes.
Whew! An interesting variable that often crops up is that Wythe's copy might duplicate one Jefferson already owned. TJ's 1783 master list entry for that title might be written over, rubbed out then written over, or have "2 copies" written out in the margin, or something to that effect. If that title appears at Congress, this complicates determining whether or not it was Wythe's copy Jefferson sold. Sometimes this plays out more easily: if Wythe's and TJ's copies are dissimilar in some way like publication or size. But sometimes it does not play out, and so we do what we can. Sometimes the title does not appear at Congress. Sometimes it appears but does not seem to be Wythe's entry - why? Sometimes it seems TJ kept one of two copies for himself, selling the other to Congress, but which one? We try to account for the titles on TJ's lists using the resources avaliable and determine what happened to them without making great assumptions.
Therein lies the rub. We're trying to make connections with these LibraryThing records, link lots of data together in meaningful and apparent ways. Sometimes it's hard to know how to straddle subjectivity and objectivity in that endeavor. This translates broadly in information management: in deciphering and disseminating access to recources we must be careful of our whims. I like it when these LT records present a clear story - Wythe bequethed this title to TJ in 1806; TJ sold it to Congress in 1815 where it still resides and looks like _this_. But I also like reminding myself and others that we can't know everything, and furthermore that we can't presume to know, and so some records reflect this.
Standin' in the Reading Room
On March 18, I attended a Virginia Festival of the Book event held at Jefferson Library. The library's reading room was standing-room only to hear Boston Globe reporter Michael Kranish discuss his new book Flight from Monticello : Thomas Jefferson at war. The event was interesting to me for several reasons. First, Kranish was a delightful speaker. His talk touched on a few major points of the book illustrating Jefferson's westward retreat from Richmond and eventually Monticello during the Revolution. He also talked a bit about diaries and British Naval logs and other resources. As a library school student and from an intern's perspective, I was interested in the event for other reasons. It was fascinating to watch the library space quickly transform to accommodate the event and book signing afterward. I understand that Monticello's Thomas Jefferson Foundation is planning to build a conference center near the library which will better accommodate such large events. This probably has benefits and drawbacks for the library. This particular event was very crowded and it was hard to hear where I was standing in the back, and library work was obviously interrupted for the duration of the event. On the other hand, the event took place in the library's reading room, among the stacks, clearly illustrating the library's function in the scholarship being discussed. Furthering this point, Kranish had been a visiting research fellow at the International Center for Jefferson Studies, where Jefferson Library is housed, and had done much of his research for Flight from Monticello in the very reading room in which he spoke. He made these points to the crowd. The reading room remained set up for another event the next day when I wanted to check something in the stacks but couldn't because the large tables were still being stashed away; I didn't think it appropriate to crawl all over them... Moving such events to a more generic conference space might allow for more focused library events and disrupt staff work less, and create more events in general, but I hope that it does not separate in people's minds the library's resources and services from the wonderful work that goes on there.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Ex Libris...
This article about bookplates in the Yale Alumni Magazine was linked from Library Stuff recently. It's an interesting read, even if it gets a bit tough on ereaders toward the end (somebody has to, I suppose...). I rarely wrote in any of my many books growing up, and certainly wouldn't now. Working in a seconds/hurts book store for many years I saw lots of bookplates and inscriptions, and I see them here and there in yard sale and junk shop finds. On some level I suppose it's an interesting bit of metadata - these stamps instantly humanize an item, force you to realize its experiences prior to or outside of your own.
Why am I rambling about this? I'm consistently making bookplate notes in the LibraryThing records I'm creating for Jefferson Library - mostly about George Wythe's and the Library of Congress 1815 bookplates. Thomas Jefferson initialed his books' signatures, from what I understand usually at signatures I and T, for 'T'homas 'J'efferson (there being no 'J' in Latin). Interestingly, as I'm making my way through the 1806 Wythe bequest to Jefferson, very few books seem to be initialed by TJ. Some have posited that he did not have the time to initial the books while on leave from the presidency. My supervisor at Jefferson Library, Endrina, suggests that perhaps it was more out of deference to his mentor and law tutor that TJ opted not to initial the books he kept from Wythe. I like that theory. He kept only a fraction of the titles, and judging by his proclivity for list-making and note-taking that even I've picked up on in my short time interning at Jefferson Library, I find it hard to believe that Jefferson simply fell short of time to initial those books.
So anyway, do you adorn your favorite titles with 'Ex Libris ______', sign at the sigs, or, I suppose nowadays, drop a DOI (digital object identifier)?
Why am I rambling about this? I'm consistently making bookplate notes in the LibraryThing records I'm creating for Jefferson Library - mostly about George Wythe's and the Library of Congress 1815 bookplates. Thomas Jefferson initialed his books' signatures, from what I understand usually at signatures I and T, for 'T'homas 'J'efferson (there being no 'J' in Latin). Interestingly, as I'm making my way through the 1806 Wythe bequest to Jefferson, very few books seem to be initialed by TJ. Some have posited that he did not have the time to initial the books while on leave from the presidency. My supervisor at Jefferson Library, Endrina, suggests that perhaps it was more out of deference to his mentor and law tutor that TJ opted not to initial the books he kept from Wythe. I like that theory. He kept only a fraction of the titles, and judging by his proclivity for list-making and note-taking that even I've picked up on in my short time interning at Jefferson Library, I find it hard to believe that Jefferson simply fell short of time to initial those books.
So anyway, do you adorn your favorite titles with 'Ex Libris ______', sign at the sigs, or, I suppose nowadays, drop a DOI (digital object identifier)?
TJ & Readers' Advisory
Lately I've worked on some more book list Web pages similar1 to this one for Jefferson Library: book recommendations from Jefferson to John Garland Jefferson, 1790; William Munford, 1798; Samuel R. Demaree, 1809; and John Wyche, 1809. An interesting portrait of Jefferson-as-librarian emerges from this exercise. These individuals sought his advice on law titles and general good reading to better their community. On the latter matter TJ really shines in readers' advisory (RA). John Wyche writes TJ in March 1809 asking for advice on titles to aid the 'Westward Mill Library Society' in their desires to establish and develop a collection. Jefferson complies, suggesting titles in the categories of History, Natural Philosophy, Agriculture, and General; and TJ's list offers collection development foresight: it is long enough with enough titles in each category that the Society can pick and choose what they can find/afford to start add then build their collection over the years referencing the list. Pretty smart! (On several counts, as the Society wouldn't need to bug TJ again - presumably by the time they exhausted his list they'd have caught on to collection development; teach a man to fish...) In a May 19 1809 letter to Wyche, Jefferson has some interesting stuff to say about libraries:
How's that for advocacy? ALA should make t-shirts or something. We talk in library school about Franklin and Carnegie (disclosure: I haven't taken any history of libraries courses, just what I got in Intro, so maybe they know all about this) but it was fun to run across this tidbit in a TJ letter.
Jefferson's instructions to budding lawyers are a little less sentimental. He tells cousin John Garland Jefferson, "All that is necessary for a student is access to a library, and directions in what order the books are to be read."3 Or, you know, Get to it! Jefferson splits his recommended titles across three columns, the first to be read until noon, the second from noon to 2pm, and the third in the evening. This leaves the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which TJ deems "more necessary" than reading, "because health is worth more than learning."4 Interesting. But remember there's no rest for a weary body - after calisthenics it's back to 'Burke's George III' or some such by candlelight.
All of these recommended reading lists, and particularly TJ's quip to John Garland Jefferson, have me thinking about St. John's College and their Great Books program. I was accepted to St. John's and wanted to go but couldn't afford it, but thought reading Pythagoras and all that sounded like the bees knees. I think I'm glad my path winded its way, let's say. And looking over TJ's book lists, I'm not sure how quickly I want to leap into the 17 vol. 'King of Prussia's works'. On the other hand, he recommended this to John Wyche, it looks awesome, and I plan to read it when I get some time.
1 They're not live yet
2 Papers of Thomas Jefferson Retirement Series 1:205
3 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 16:480
4 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 16:481
I always hear with pleasure of institutions for the promotion of knolege among my countrymen. the people of every country are the only safe guardians of their own rights, and are the only instruments which can be used for their destruction. and certainly they would never consent to be so used were they not decieved. to avoid this they should be instructed to a certain degree. I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expence than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county to consist of a few well chosen books, to be lent to the people of the county under such regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.2
How's that for advocacy? ALA should make t-shirts or something. We talk in library school about Franklin and Carnegie (disclosure: I haven't taken any history of libraries courses, just what I got in Intro, so maybe they know all about this) but it was fun to run across this tidbit in a TJ letter.
Jefferson's instructions to budding lawyers are a little less sentimental. He tells cousin John Garland Jefferson, "All that is necessary for a student is access to a library, and directions in what order the books are to be read."3 Or, you know, Get to it! Jefferson splits his recommended titles across three columns, the first to be read until noon, the second from noon to 2pm, and the third in the evening. This leaves the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which TJ deems "more necessary" than reading, "because health is worth more than learning."4 Interesting. But remember there's no rest for a weary body - after calisthenics it's back to 'Burke's George III' or some such by candlelight.
All of these recommended reading lists, and particularly TJ's quip to John Garland Jefferson, have me thinking about St. John's College and their Great Books program. I was accepted to St. John's and wanted to go but couldn't afford it, but thought reading Pythagoras and all that sounded like the bees knees. I think I'm glad my path winded its way, let's say. And looking over TJ's book lists, I'm not sure how quickly I want to leap into the 17 vol. 'King of Prussia's works'. On the other hand, he recommended this to John Wyche, it looks awesome, and I plan to read it when I get some time.
1 They're not live yet
2 Papers of Thomas Jefferson Retirement Series 1:205
3 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 16:480
4 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 16:481
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
TJ Portals
I haven't talked much here about all that Monticello and Jefferson Library offers users remotely in addition to their many in-house offerings. Jefferson Library conveniently organizes this information on a page entitled Monticello's Online Resources. Some of my favorites so far are:
Podcasts Organized into three categories: International Center for Jefferson Studies Podcasts, Monticello Podcasts, and Speakers Forum. RSS them so you won't miss anything TJ! A recent addition to Monticello Podcasts is Alan Alda's talk from 1995 drawing connections between Jefferson and a Chinese scientist seeking to produce a high-yield strain of rice; it's delightful.
Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia - This TJ wiki offers "Trustworthy information on Thomas Jefferson and his world by Monticello researchers and respected Jefferson scholars." Browse categories or search the wiki to discover interesting tidbits or trace primary source references. A reader here recently wondered about Jefferson's poultry: a search of 'poultry' on the wiki retrieves these references.
Monticello Explorer - Explore the plantation, house, gardens, and domestic life at Monticello via interactive maps, 3-D tours, and more.
Thomas Jefferson Portal - Jefferson Library's online catalog.
Family Letters Digital Archive - Full text searchable transcriptions of correspondence between Jefferson's immediate and extended family, many authored by women and providing insight into 19th century Virginia domestic life.
Take a look around, download some podcasts, enjoy!
Podcasts Organized into three categories: International Center for Jefferson Studies Podcasts, Monticello Podcasts, and Speakers Forum. RSS them so you won't miss anything TJ! A recent addition to Monticello Podcasts is Alan Alda's talk from 1995 drawing connections between Jefferson and a Chinese scientist seeking to produce a high-yield strain of rice; it's delightful.
Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia - This TJ wiki offers "Trustworthy information on Thomas Jefferson and his world by Monticello researchers and respected Jefferson scholars." Browse categories or search the wiki to discover interesting tidbits or trace primary source references. A reader here recently wondered about Jefferson's poultry: a search of 'poultry' on the wiki retrieves these references.
Monticello Explorer - Explore the plantation, house, gardens, and domestic life at Monticello via interactive maps, 3-D tours, and more.
Thomas Jefferson Portal - Jefferson Library's online catalog.
Family Letters Digital Archive - Full text searchable transcriptions of correspondence between Jefferson's immediate and extended family, many authored by women and providing insight into 19th century Virginia domestic life.
Take a look around, download some podcasts, enjoy!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Mad Catalogers
In case you missed it in the L.A. Times or ALA's American Libraries Direct, a happening library event went down recently concerning a Washington DC library, and not the Library of Congress. A group of LibraryThing members, including founder Tim Spalding, cataloged the White House library's 1749 items overnight in what is known in LT as a 'flash mob cataloging' event. They got the job done, and WHLibrary1963 is up as a LibraryThing Legacy Library. The story is interesting: a conservative blogger's ire was stoked when he toured the White House recently and noticed books on socialism in its library. Logic dictated nefarious plotting by the Obamas1. (Imagine what he might've seen on a tour of our nation's library - gasp!) Actually, the library's been around since Teddy Roosevelt, and was fleshed out in the 1960s at the behest of Jacqueline Kennedy by Yale's University Librarian. Read all about the 'flash mob cataloging' event and the library on Tim Spalding's LibraryThing blog post.
This interests me for several reasons. At Jefferson Library, I'm cataloging in an LT Legacy Library. I think it's a great concept that shows another way LibraryThing is useful to libraries-- specifically academic/research libraries and archives. The flash mob cataloging concept fascinates me too. It sounds a bit like happenings from the 50s-60s, albeit purposeful, and no one chasing you with a lawn mower2. I imagine worker ants hefting AACR2s on their backs, loaded on sugar, lots of spiked hair and blasting 80s pop from antiquated boom boxes (surely catalogers embrace their analog magnetic mixtapes?), but this is likely not the case.... It seems that what's important here is that this small group of dedicated folks gets the job done: the data is there, LT's 2.0 portal/wiki modus-operandi continues.
1 That's a bit unfair. Port's post is unclear about whether or not he misunderstood a WH guide describing the library. Still, quite the leap.
This interests me for several reasons. At Jefferson Library, I'm cataloging in an LT Legacy Library. I think it's a great concept that shows another way LibraryThing is useful to libraries-- specifically academic/research libraries and archives. The flash mob cataloging concept fascinates me too. It sounds a bit like happenings from the 50s-60s, albeit purposeful, and no one chasing you with a lawn mower2. I imagine worker ants hefting AACR2s on their backs, loaded on sugar, lots of spiked hair and blasting 80s pop from antiquated boom boxes (surely catalogers embrace their analog magnetic mixtapes?), but this is likely not the case.... It seems that what's important here is that this small group of dedicated folks gets the job done: the data is there, LT's 2.0 portal/wiki modus-operandi continues.
1 That's a bit unfair. Port's post is unclear about whether or not he misunderstood a WH guide describing the library. Still, quite the leap.
2 A drama prof at UR described just such a happening from his avant-garde youth. He failed to surmise its artfulness.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Jammin' at JL
Today after my internship hours I stuck around Jefferson Library to attend a performance and talk by Calvin Earl. Earl discussed African American spirtuals in various contexts: slave/personal/communal narrative, linguistic code on the underground railroad, and the distinctly American art form born of enslavement, performing examples along the way. I was interested to see Jefferson Library transformed: the normally austere reading room's tables slid comfortably into the stacks on its wings to make way for seating, and there we were. The snow had cancelled Earl's performance earlier in Feb. but the public was clearly still interested in the event, which was free. This was a signature event for Monticello's celebration of Black History Month, and it was great to see the library serving the public in this manner. Jefferson Library hosts a number of events, and clearly not always lectures about TJ's tomatoes!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Look at them Tree Sheep!
I may have mentioned in earlier posts some of the newfound old terms I'm racking up interning at Jefferson Library. Do you rebind your old volumes in half red morocco? Do you dream at night of electric tree sheep? Do you fold your own folios? While reading up on some of this stuff online, I ran across two particularly helpful resources. The first - dbnl - was linked from Wikipedia's entry about book size (also a good read) and illustrates impositions and folding schemes of several sizes of books: folios, quartos, octavos, etc. 'Imposition' refers to the layout/arrangement of the pages in the form. It helped clarify visually (and simply) how these pages were folded, and then would be stacked together in signatures and bound as books. It's really cool! How about fold-your-own-quartos for craft day? Another helpful resource I ran across is the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of ACRL. They offer thesauri for rare book and special collections cataloging, including: binding terms, genre terms, paper terms, printing & publishing evidence, provenance evidence, and type evidence. I located some other basic vocabulary lists to help define terms as I run across them. I'm still not sure about the etymology of 'tree' in the description of tree sheep binding.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
TJ's "Great Library"
In my last post I talked about some aspects of my LibraryThing project becoming clearer, or at least some interesting "particulars" I'm discovering en-route. One of these discoveries that I find enjoyable has to do with the manuscript of Jefferson's 1783 book list. Jefferson Library denotes this list the "Great Library" while Massachusetts Historical Society calls it the "1783 Catalog of Books." It is a list representing Thomas Jefferson's personal library, both books he owned and those he wished to purchase, during the years ca. 1770s-1812. For some clarification, insight into Jefferson's classification scheme, and to browse the Catalog itself, check out Massachusetts Historical Society online. If I've piqued your interest about all these book lists and Jefferson's various libraries, here is some further description of the "Great Library" as well as other period-specific TJ libraries Jefferson Library is working to identify. The manuscript is a fascinating, intimate glimpse into a mind that captivates so many. Jefferson had various notations-- checks, periods, strikethroughs, etc.-- for ordering his lists. Some titles appear to have been rubbed out, others written over.
It is the latter matter that concerns me with my Wythe List project. George Wythe bequethed his books to Thomas Jefferson in his will in 1806. As I link users to books Jefferson inherited from Wythe in the 1783 list, it's fun to note their darker ink appearance compared to other, presumably earlier, titles on the list. A Wythe title might be a folio where Jefferson owned already the quarto (4to) edition. For example, see this Bracton entry in LT. It's listed as 'Bracton. fol.' in the Wythe List, but 'Bracton. 4to. id folio.' in the 1783 Catalog, page 102 (about 2/3 down). Further, 'id folio' appears in darker ink, suggesting it was written later than the 4to entry. Jefferson's acquisition of Wythe's library in 1806 supports this assumption. Sleuthing this involves two sources I'm using to check Jefferson titles at the Library of Congress: the Trist List and the Sowerby catalogue, both of which describe only a 'Bracton 4to'. This suggests that Jefferson kept Wythe's folio but sold his 4to to the Library of Congress in the 1815 sale. Perhaps Wythe's fol. was in better shape than Jefferson's 4to, or vice versa (which library deserved better, personal or national? Also, Congress paid TJ, so why not the larger fol to them?). Wythe titles are squeezed in here and there too, between existing lines: see 'Perkins 12mo id. p.f.' near the bottom of the Bracton page. The backbone structure of Jefferson's list is neat and orderly, yet it comprises many years, a work-in-progress. It is fascinating to witness its revisions all-at-once in this manner. I resist the urge to say, "Neat, huh?" as this is supposed to be academic space. But there you have it, I think it's great, and, well, neat!
It is the latter matter that concerns me with my Wythe List project. George Wythe bequethed his books to Thomas Jefferson in his will in 1806. As I link users to books Jefferson inherited from Wythe in the 1783 list, it's fun to note their darker ink appearance compared to other, presumably earlier, titles on the list. A Wythe title might be a folio where Jefferson owned already the quarto (4to) edition. For example, see this Bracton entry in LT. It's listed as 'Bracton. fol.' in the Wythe List, but 'Bracton. 4to. id folio.' in the 1783 Catalog, page 102 (about 2/3 down). Further, 'id folio' appears in darker ink, suggesting it was written later than the 4to entry. Jefferson's acquisition of Wythe's library in 1806 supports this assumption. Sleuthing this involves two sources I'm using to check Jefferson titles at the Library of Congress: the Trist List and the Sowerby catalogue, both of which describe only a 'Bracton 4to'. This suggests that Jefferson kept Wythe's folio but sold his 4to to the Library of Congress in the 1815 sale. Perhaps Wythe's fol. was in better shape than Jefferson's 4to, or vice versa (which library deserved better, personal or national? Also, Congress paid TJ, so why not the larger fol to them?). Wythe titles are squeezed in here and there too, between existing lines: see 'Perkins 12mo id. p.f.' near the bottom of the Bracton page. The backbone structure of Jefferson's list is neat and orderly, yet it comprises many years, a work-in-progress. It is fascinating to witness its revisions all-at-once in this manner. I resist the urge to say, "Neat, huh?" as this is supposed to be academic space. But there you have it, I think it's great, and, well, neat!
Back At It
Readers, I'm back, though a bit snow-covered. What a brutal February here in VA. I've never shoveled so much snow in my life.
Work continues in LibraryThing despite the best efforts of Mother Nature and her 'snowpocalypse' (I'll point out this is akin to 'snow-kingdom-on-earth' for Augusta Co., being round #2 here!). Monticello and Jefferson Library have been closed for quite a few days, but I've been able to work from home. A few details of this project require in-house completion, but for the most part I can access it from anywhere with internet connection, a boon to productivity, and these days, safety!
The more I work on the Wythe List project in Libraries of Early America, the clearer its overall nature becomes to me. There are lots of peculiarities with this project that were pretty overwhelming at first, and there are still some bumps I run into along the way that are a combination of overwhelming, interesting, and mildly frustrating. The project involves an interesting combination of data entry and historical sleuthing. The data entry gets my brain going in a certain gear: copying and pasting, looking closely at code and links, etc. It is easy in this mindset to lose sight of larger contextual questions, such as When, What, Where...? The other part of what I'm doing besides formatting data is figuring out whether or not Jefferson sold Wythe books to Congress as part of that 1815 transaction. Several factors complicate this: the 1851 Library of Congress fire; Wythe copies potentially duplicated existing Jefferson titles; my own difficulties (ok, ignorance) deciphering the world of provenance, extant copies, manuscript notations, and so on and so forth. But, as I stumble onto more and more questions with the particulars of this project, new insights arise and I appreciate and understand its scope better.
Work continues in LibraryThing despite the best efforts of Mother Nature and her 'snowpocalypse' (I'll point out this is akin to 'snow-kingdom-on-earth' for Augusta Co., being round #2 here!). Monticello and Jefferson Library have been closed for quite a few days, but I've been able to work from home. A few details of this project require in-house completion, but for the most part I can access it from anywhere with internet connection, a boon to productivity, and these days, safety!
The more I work on the Wythe List project in Libraries of Early America, the clearer its overall nature becomes to me. There are lots of peculiarities with this project that were pretty overwhelming at first, and there are still some bumps I run into along the way that are a combination of overwhelming, interesting, and mildly frustrating. The project involves an interesting combination of data entry and historical sleuthing. The data entry gets my brain going in a certain gear: copying and pasting, looking closely at code and links, etc. It is easy in this mindset to lose sight of larger contextual questions, such as When, What, Where...? The other part of what I'm doing besides formatting data is figuring out whether or not Jefferson sold Wythe books to Congress as part of that 1815 transaction. Several factors complicate this: the 1851 Library of Congress fire; Wythe copies potentially duplicated existing Jefferson titles; my own difficulties (ok, ignorance) deciphering the world of provenance, extant copies, manuscript notations, and so on and so forth. But, as I stumble onto more and more questions with the particulars of this project, new insights arise and I appreciate and understand its scope better.
Friday, January 29, 2010
As I'm making my way through some of Thomas Jefferson's books, I'm wishing a couple things: that Latin wasn't as long ago and far away as it was (ca. '97-'99), and that I'd taken that New Testament Greek class when I had the chance. I adored Intro to Biblical Hebrew, but so far TJ isn't reading anything right to left... Cataloging this stuff is interesting. It's sometimes hard to differentiate proper nouns in the Greek and Latin and also to know what punctuation marks were actually existing on the title pages in titles that might run on for several lines-- in other words, where titles end and subtitles begin. There are some resources I can use for double checking that information. There's WorldCat, but a resource I wasn't familiar with before starting my internship and have become fond of using is the English Short Title Catalogue, hosted by the British Library. It provides intuitive basic and advanced search interfaces and well-displayed results, and provides quick but ample insight into the 'chief sources of information' from yesteryear, showing publication data like 'Londini : impensis W. Innys ad Insignia Principis in Cœmeterio Divi Pauli, MDCCXXIX. [1729]'. Some Latin is coming back to me (with the aid of ye olde internet), as I run across terms, especially in the pub data, like 'impensis' for 'at the expense of' and 'typis' meaning 'of the type', presuming the typesetter. I recently ran across this handy, albeit dated, document, in case you're wanting to catch up on some other esoteric printing terms.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Conceptualizing Catalogs
I recently ran across the blog, Everybody's Libraries, wherein author John Mark Ockerbloom spends a few recent posts discussing his vision for the future of library catalogs as concept-oriented, that they'll continue to be more concept-driven. Catalogs will be souped-up, interactive portals of information discovery, supporting both known-item discovery and browsing in new ways by increased cross-reference and conceptualizing resource description that goes beyond MARC's added entries.
Several things come to mind reading these posts. The desire for intuitive search environments is strong. Google now personalizes search, so that when I search 'thomas jefferson' as a novice Jeffersonian compared to someone steeped in TJ research, our results won't look the same. The vertical search of social networks like Facebook and Twitter retrieve results from a 'catalog' of peers semantically suited to me: they get my lingo. Antiquated OPACs controlled by strict vocabulary aren't intuitive, but are we setting ourselves up to sacrifice specificity for browsability? I don't think so, as long as catalogs still function to retrieve known information: title, author, etc. But for bibliographic records to function as information gateways seems to me to reflect both the way we interact with information nowadays (no 'loop' is closed, we leave everything open for possible discovery), and the surfacing of information on the Web (the deep/invisible Web unlocking itself). Also, part of what's going on here is that we deal with items/intentions beyond the physical, and so perhaps this is a better way of thinking about how to describe/interact with items/information.
I'm interested in all of this because at Jefferson Library I'm creating records in LibraryThing, a social networking environment, and they seem to me to fit the, ahem, concept of concept-oriented catalogs. They're certainly interactive. A user comes to the entry for Mathew Dobson's A medical commentary on fixed air in Thomas Jefferson's library. The record not only tells, but shows, the user various information. For example, Jefferson inherited the book from George Wythe, so the user is linked to Wythe's LT entry for the title. Concepts quickly surface in this environment: the user follows links to transcribed and original manuscript images of Jefferson's book lists, allowing, simply from viewing the LibraryThing record, insight into Jefferson's classification system. That's a lot to derive from a bibliographic record, and perhaps I'm waxing hopeful that this is the case. But as Endrina has pointed out, we're putting an awful lot of data in front of people with this type of record, and in a visually interesting and conceptually striking manner. I think as catalogs evolve to be more user-oriented (as opposed to system-oriented) that data will be presented increasingly conceptually and socially, and that this bodes well for creators and users of bibliographic records.
Several things come to mind reading these posts. The desire for intuitive search environments is strong. Google now personalizes search, so that when I search 'thomas jefferson' as a novice Jeffersonian compared to someone steeped in TJ research, our results won't look the same. The vertical search of social networks like Facebook and Twitter retrieve results from a 'catalog' of peers semantically suited to me: they get my lingo. Antiquated OPACs controlled by strict vocabulary aren't intuitive, but are we setting ourselves up to sacrifice specificity for browsability? I don't think so, as long as catalogs still function to retrieve known information: title, author, etc. But for bibliographic records to function as information gateways seems to me to reflect both the way we interact with information nowadays (no 'loop' is closed, we leave everything open for possible discovery), and the surfacing of information on the Web (the deep/invisible Web unlocking itself). Also, part of what's going on here is that we deal with items/intentions beyond the physical, and so perhaps this is a better way of thinking about how to describe/interact with items/information.
I'm interested in all of this because at Jefferson Library I'm creating records in LibraryThing, a social networking environment, and they seem to me to fit the, ahem, concept of concept-oriented catalogs. They're certainly interactive. A user comes to the entry for Mathew Dobson's A medical commentary on fixed air in Thomas Jefferson's library. The record not only tells, but shows, the user various information. For example, Jefferson inherited the book from George Wythe, so the user is linked to Wythe's LT entry for the title. Concepts quickly surface in this environment: the user follows links to transcribed and original manuscript images of Jefferson's book lists, allowing, simply from viewing the LibraryThing record, insight into Jefferson's classification system. That's a lot to derive from a bibliographic record, and perhaps I'm waxing hopeful that this is the case. But as Endrina has pointed out, we're putting an awful lot of data in front of people with this type of record, and in a visually interesting and conceptually striking manner. I think as catalogs evolve to be more user-oriented (as opposed to system-oriented) that data will be presented increasingly conceptually and socially, and that this bodes well for creators and users of bibliographic records.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Back Over the Mountain
Augusta County has been hit hard with the weather recently-- an ice storm at the end of last week and then flash flooding to start this week. I'm ready for Spring! On account of the ice, last week I worked on the Libraries of Early America project from home on two days rather than drive over the mountain to Monticello. It went smoothly-- nearly everything I am doing is Web accessible, save for a few tasks I'll need to complete in-house upon returning to Jefferson Library. I quickly realized too that one of the print resources I consult for the project in Jefferson Library, I link to its online transcription, so I could simply read from it. My supervisor has photocopies of the book list manuscripts I'm dealing with to consult when there's a question about the actual spelling or transcription, but I'm linking to images of the manuscripts as well and was able to magnify them in my browser when I had questions. People are often fascinated by my entirely-distance MLIS program: "It's all on the computer?" The prospect of working on a project like this from anywhere with a computer with internet access might be equally puzzling, even in an age of Facebook and Hulu, where we're used to accessing the Web for more recreational purposes, but not necessarily for serious work.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Book Lists
I'm realizing that I don't know a whole lot about Thomas Jefferson, or, 'TJ' for short. One thing I am learning is that Jefferson kept a lot of lists. I've been introduced to several of Jefferson's book lists as well as later recreations of his lists in the course of my work so far at the Jefferson Library: the Wythe list, the 1783 list, the Trist list, and Sowerby's catalog. Something compelled Thomas Jefferson to begin to keep lists of the books he owned, including those he wanted to acquire. He organized titles by subject, influenced by Bacon's knowledge categories: Memory, Reason, and Imagination. Jefferson renamed these History, Philosophy, and Fine Arts. I'm not sure the ends to which Jefferson used his lists, and whether or not others accessed them, but clearly they would have been useful taxonomies for navigating his libraries. It is fascinating to view the manuscript images of some of these lists and witness the process of Jefferson's classification in his own hand-- items are struck through and written over, rubbed out and written anew, etc., and titles are accompanied by marks of various meaning. Jefferson's subject-based catalog accompanied his sale of books to the Library of Congress in 1815. Classification schemes lend order to things, help us navigate them, and let us derive meaning from them. I'm trying to let it all sink in at the moment with TJ and his lists without getting too hung up on needing to know everything.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Getting Started
After my first couple days at Jefferson Library, it is clear that there is a lot going on and a lot of work to do. It's exciting to feel that I can be a part of work that matters to people. It is also a little daunting. Getting started on projects is always a mixture of anticipation and trepidation for me as I settle into my own system for doing things. My first technical services task was to swap out text in some source code in order to make a book list available in Monticello's Thomas Jefferson's Libraries site. The 'Burwell list' contained Thomas Jefferson's suggestions to Nathaniel Burwell in 1818 of titles appropriate for female education. This task also involved cleaning up existing source code here and there. I don't have a lot of hands-on experience with HTML, but the more I work with it, the more I like it and take pleasure in understanding its operational functions. My supervisor, Endrina, has mentioned some of Jefferson Library's XML coding as well. We spent a good bit of time in J707 discussing XML markup, and it is great to hear its real-world applications in a specific context.
I am now beginning a more involved project of cataloging within LibraryThing. I will be cleaning up some existing records in Thomas Jefferson's library in order to get them up to the standards decided upon by the folks driving the Libraries of Early America project. Part of this task will also be to make sure there are links to help users navigate from LibraryThing (specifically George Wythe and Thomas Jefferson in LT) to manuscript images at Monticello, Massachussetts Historical Society (key players in LEA), and the Library of Congress. In J730, my cataloging course, we talked a little bit about 'cataloging 2.0' and what future tasks of the cataloger might be. I think this is a good example.
I am now beginning a more involved project of cataloging within LibraryThing. I will be cleaning up some existing records in Thomas Jefferson's library in order to get them up to the standards decided upon by the folks driving the Libraries of Early America project. Part of this task will also be to make sure there are links to help users navigate from LibraryThing (specifically George Wythe and Thomas Jefferson in LT) to manuscript images at Monticello, Massachussetts Historical Society (key players in LEA), and the Library of Congress. In J730, my cataloging course, we talked a little bit about 'cataloging 2.0' and what future tasks of the cataloger might be. I think this is a good example.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Welcome
Welcome, Reader. This semester I will be blogging my experiences as an intern at the Jefferson Library at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. I am excited to work with the Jefferson's technical services staff on a cooperative project called Libraries of Early America which is taking place online in LibraryThing. It seeks to present the libraries of individuals influential to early American history, such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
This project interests me for several reasons. It is a real-world application of abstract library school discussions concerning implementation and use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools. How might LibraryThing be useful for libraries? Instead of many projects existing in disparate locations, the Libraries of Early America centralizes information in an easy-to-use platform that is easily accessible on the internet. Likewise, this type of project bridges contexts to support information discovery by a variety of users. When I met with Endrina Tay, Associate Foundation Librarian for Technical Services at the Jefferson, she described the possibilities for LEA to aid scholarship. Bibliographies and tag clouds will allow scholars to quickly identify works and ideas that were relevant to the zeitgeist of this fledgling nation in new ways. Cataloging makes this information available in useful ways, and I look forward to contributing to the Libraries of Early America in this manner.
This semester is sure to be an adventure. I welcome the challenges and opportunities that will come with my internship at the Jefferson. Check back for weekly updates from Monticello.
This project interests me for several reasons. It is a real-world application of abstract library school discussions concerning implementation and use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools. How might LibraryThing be useful for libraries? Instead of many projects existing in disparate locations, the Libraries of Early America centralizes information in an easy-to-use platform that is easily accessible on the internet. Likewise, this type of project bridges contexts to support information discovery by a variety of users. When I met with Endrina Tay, Associate Foundation Librarian for Technical Services at the Jefferson, she described the possibilities for LEA to aid scholarship. Bibliographies and tag clouds will allow scholars to quickly identify works and ideas that were relevant to the zeitgeist of this fledgling nation in new ways. Cataloging makes this information available in useful ways, and I look forward to contributing to the Libraries of Early America in this manner.
This semester is sure to be an adventure. I welcome the challenges and opportunities that will come with my internship at the Jefferson. Check back for weekly updates from Monticello.
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