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Category: Digital Content

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“Volun-peers” Help Liberate Smithsonian Digital Collections

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

The Smithsonian Transcription Center creates indexed, searchable text by means of crowdsourcing…or as Meghan Ferriter, project coordinator at the TC describes it, “harnessing the endless curiosity and goodwill of the public.” As of the end of the current fiscal year, 7,060 volunteers at the TC have transcribed 208,659 pages. The scope, planning and execution of the …

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Data and Humanism Shape Library of Congress Conference

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

The presentations at the Library of Congress’ Collections As Data conference coalesced into two main themes: 1) digital collections are composed of data that can be acquired,  processed and displayed in countless scientific and creative ways and 2) we should always be aware and respectful that data is manipulated by — and derived from — people. …

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2016-2017 Class of National Digital Stewardship Residents Selected

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

Five new National Digital Stewardship Residents will be joining the Library in late September 2016. Selected from a competitive pool and representing five different library schools, the residents bring a range of skills and experience in working with digital and archival collections. The NDSR program offers recent graduates an opportunity to gain professional experience under …

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Carla Hayden: Harnessing the Power of Technology with the Resources at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

This is an excerpt from the inaugural speech by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress.Today, through the power of technology, thousands around the country are able to watch this ceremony live. This is the opportunity to build on the contributions of the Librarians who have come before, to realize a vision of a national library …

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Digital Collections and Data Science

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

Researchers, of varying technical abilities, are increasingly applying data science tools and methods to digital collections. As a result, new ways are emerging for processing and analyzing the digital collections’ raw material — the data. For example, instead of pondering one single digital item at a time – such as a news story, photo or …

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The Signal is Evolving

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

When The Signal debuted in 2011, its focus was exclusively on the challenge of digital preservation, which is why its URL was http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation. The Signal was a forum for news and information about digital preservation — unique problems and solutions, standards, collaborations and achievements. The Signal’s authors interviewed leaders in the field, profiled colleagues and …

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Congress.gov Nominated for Award

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

FedScoop, the Washington DC government tech media company, announced that Congress.gov is one of their nominees for the 2016 FedScoop 50 awards. Features on Congress.gov (which In Custodia Legis has been posting about throughout its development) include: Ability to narrow and refine search results Ability to simultaneously search all content across all available years Bill …

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The NEH “Chronicling America” Challenge: Using Big Data to Ask Big Questions

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

This is a guest post by Leah Weinryb Grohsgal of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Historic newspapers offer rich histories of American life, with glimpses into politics, sports, shopping, music, food, health, science, movies and everything in between.  The National Digital Newspaper Program, a joint effort between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the …