Cornell University Library, Cornell Information Technologies, and Xerox
Corporation, with the support of the Commission on Preservation and
Access, and Sun Microsystems, Inc., have been collaborating in a project
to test a prototype system for recording brittle books as digital images
and producing, on demand, high-quality archival paper replacements. The
project goes beyond that, however, to investigate some of the issues
surrounding scanning, storing, retrieving, and providing access to
digital images in a network environment.
The Joint Study in Digital Preservation began in January 1990. Xerox
provided the College Library Access and Storage System (CLASS) software,
a prototype 600-dots-per-inch (dpi) scanner, and the hardware necessary
to support network printing on the DocuTech printer housed in Cornell's
Computing and Communications Center (CCC).
The Cornell staff using the hardware and software became an integral part
of the development and testing process for enhancements to the CLASS
software system. The collaborative nature of this relationship is
resulting in a system that is specifically tailored to the preservation
application.
A digital library of 1,000 volumes (or approximately 300,000 images) has
been created and is stored on an optical jukebox that resides in CCC.
The library includes a collection of select mathematics monographs that
provides mathematics faculty with an opportunity to use the electronic
library. The remaining volumes were chosen for the library to test the
various capabilities of the scanning system.
One project objective is to provide users of the Cornell library and the
library staff with the ability to request facsimiles of digitized images
or to retrieve the actual electronic image for browsing. A prototype
viewing workstation has been created by Xerox, with input into the design
by a committee of Cornell librarians and computer professionals. This
will allow us to experiment with patron access to the images that make up
the digital library. The viewing station provides search, retrieval, and
(ultimately) printing functions with enhancements to facilitate
navigation through multiple documents.
Cornell currently is working to extend access to the digital library to
readers using workstations from their offices. This year is devoted to
the development of a network resident image conversion and delivery
server, and client software that will support readers who use Apple
Macintosh computers, IBM windows platforms, and Sun workstations.
Equipment for this development was provided by Sun Microsystems with
support from the Commission on Preservation and Access.
During the show-and-tell session of the Workshop on Electronic Texts, a
prototype view station will be demonstrated. In addition, a display of
original library books that have been digitized will be available for
review with associated printed copies for comparison. The fifteen-minute
overview of the project will include a slide presentation that
constitutes a "tour" of the preservation digitizing process.
The final network-connected version of the viewing station will provide
library users with another mechanism for accessing the digital library,
and will also provide the capability of viewing images directly. This
will not require special software, although a powerful computer with good
graphics will be needed.
The Joint Study in Digital Preservation has generated a great deal of
interest in the library community. Unfortunately, or perhaps
fortunately, this project serves to raise a vast number of other issues
surrounding the use of digital technology for the preservation and use of
deteriorating library materials, which subsequent projects will need to
examine. Much work remains.