Library News

Downstate's Medical Research Library of Brooklyn's Archive collection is being scanned and deposited in SUNY's University Repository using a MIT Open Source software product called D-Space. The History of Medicine Collection and Dissertations are now being scanned at a rate of 800-1000 pages a week. Archivist Jack Termine has identified a number of collections to begin the digitization project. Ms. Violet Price then catalogs the items. Ms. Cheryl Perkins prepares the items for scanning and then checks the work and sends the scanned items to the University Repository. Mr. Gabriel Pimentel, Ms. Denise Badnock, and Mr. Douglas Blackeller scan the materials. Mr. Christopher Stewart is the Project Manager. Others involved in the workflow are Ms. Juanetta LeGree, Mr. Mohamed Hussain, and Mr. Donald Lemke.

The decision to digitize our Archival Collection was made after SUNYConnect, the University E-Resources Collection, recommended that SUNY Library's begin scanning unique items in their collections. Our History of Medicine Collection and Dissertations seemed to fit this criteria, so we began to study how best to do this. We used equipment available, piloted different approaches, discussed workflow, stumbled a bit now and then, and finally decided on D-Space, established standards, identified workflow, acquired new scanning equipment which would accomplish our standards and workflow requirements while also providing support for our new ILLiad University Borrowing System, and began to produce our digitized collection. The Digitization group did a great job of fixing the little things and moving our production from less than 60 pages a day to over 150 pages a day (we scan for two hours each day).

The results of this project can be found at https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/