Creating VOTC

The Digitization and Interview Process

Digitization

This stage of VOTC was guided by the Digital Stewardship Lifecycle, an iterative process of digital curation that is focused on preparing, gathering, enhancing, saving, and sharing materials.

Prepare and Set Goals

We defined the scope of the project, identified materials to digitize, set clear goals, and set timelines. We also considered the long-term preservation and access needs of the project. During this stage, we spoke with numerous librarians who have helped immensely with the project.

Gather and Source Materials

We located and gathered physical materials to digitize, ensuring we had the necessary permissions and legal rights from Hennepin County Library.

During this stage, we also determined which materials would be of value and asked ourselves--Is it relevant? Does it help conceptualize the history and events of HCL? Are there any ethical issues to consider? Are we capable (time, skills, condition of materials) of digitizing the items?

Digitize and Enhance

Using scanning equipment at HCL, we digitized the materials to archival standards, and ran Optical Character Recognition (OCR). OCR helps materials be accessible to people who use screen readers. It also allows individuals to keyword search the digitized document. We organized files using a consistent naming convention and added metadata (such as title, creator, description, and subject headings) to improve searchability and context.

Save and Share

To access the digitized bulletins, follow this link to HCL's special collections: Hennepin County Library Bulletins

Interviewing

This process was informed by conversations with other librarians who have engaged in oral histories. It also involved researching a range of topics from audio editing software to creating consent forms.

Prepare and Set Goals

We attended oral history workshops, reviewed best practices for conducting interviews, and developed necessary documentation including consent forms. We also researched recording equipment, open source audio editing tools, and transcription methods to ensure the quality and accuracy of the interviews.

An important part of this set was deciding our approach to interviewing--would we keep it casual? Semi-structured? Structured and formal? Would we record just audio or audio and visual? Where would record? Would interviews only be in-person or virtual? How do we store the recordings? These are just a few questions we considered. Ultimately, after doing our research we decided to do semi-structured interviews at a location of the participants choosing. We also opted to only record audio.

Identify and Contact Participants

To identify potential participants, we used the library bulletins to gather names as well as speaking with Sandy Berman Head Cataloger at the time. We also reached out within the library community, including the Unabashed Librarians group, to obtain contact information. We began cold calling and emailing individuals to invite them to participate in the interviews.

Sandy Berman, Head Cataloger, at his retirement party, standing beside bagpiper Bill Gilchrist. May 12, 1999.

Interview Participants

This was the fun AND daunting part of the project! We got together with participants and asked questions to elicit personal stories and reflections that would help contextualize the importance of the catalog.

Audio Editing and Transcription

Following the interviews, the recordings were transcribed and audio was edited for clarity. This was the most time-consuming aspect of the project. It also required learning new skills. Upon completion, participants reviewed the interviews and transcripts. This gave them the opportunity to give feedback including the option to remove any content or add clarifying information.

Save and Share

While the interviews and transcripts are not yet available online, we invite you to check in later to hear about the work for HCL catalogers and other staff members!

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