University of Miami Libraries, Cuban Heritage Collection

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1 Adam Beauchamp LIS 7410 Digital Libraries 10 February 2010 The Cuban Photographs Collection University of Miami Libraries, Cuban Heritage Collection Introduction Capitalizing on the University of Miami s long-standing connections to Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora, the University of Miami Libraries host a substantial collection of publications, manuscripts, photographs, and other archival materials documenting the history of the Cuban people on and off the island. The strength of materials relating to Cuba had long been an asset to the research community of the University of Miami, and due in large part to the efforts of university librarians and archivists, these materials were assembled in 1998 as the Cuban Heritage Collection, housed at the Roberto C. Goizueta Pavilion at the University of Miami. 1 Premier scholars in the field of Caribbean studies have already recognized the value of this collection, including F. W. Knight of Johns Hopkins University. 2 The Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) also features a large and diverse digital collection, providing access to resources in numerous formats to the extended community of students and scholars online. Several archival collections of personal papers and correspondence have been digitized, as well as an oral history project which includes transcripts and videos from interviews given by first-generation Cuban exiles. The digital collections also include a vast array of photographs, and our analysis here will focus on the Cuban Photographs Collection, an assemblage of over 5,000 photographs from several of the CHC s component collections. 3 Although we will only focus on the CPC here, it should be noted that the University of Miami Libraries are on the cutting edge of digital collection development. A Cuban Rafter Phenomenon: A Unique Sea Exodus, their multimedia, interactive collection of primary and secondary sources exploring the experience of exiles leaving Cuba en masse in 1994, has received some attention by researchers of human-computer interaction and digital libraries. 4 The Cuban Photographs Collection (CPC) was made possible by funding from the State of Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Arts Council with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 5 The collection includes items from the earliest days of photography in Cuba to photographs of modern Cuba and Cubans on the island and around the world. 1 University of Miami Libraries, Cuban Heritage Collection, Mission & History. Available at (accessed 8 February 2010). 2 F. W. Knight, Online Resources for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies from the Cuban Heritage Collection, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries 42, no. 1 (2004): University of Miami Libraries, Digital Collections: Cuban Heritage Collection. Available at (accessed 8 February 2010). 4 Maria Rita Coritcelli, New Challenges in Digital Collections: Human Computer Interaction and the Democratization of Information (M.S. thesis, Aberdeen, U. K.: Robert Gordon University, 2009), 5 University of Miami Libraries, The Cuban Photograph Collections & the Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscript Collection, Project Background. Available at (accessed 8 February 2010).

2 Beauchamp 2 Technical Specifications The CPC makes use of CONTENTdm software, a product of OCLC, to store and describe the images of the collection. According to the specifications provided on the project website, each image is scanned and stored in two formats: a TIFF file is created at 600 dots per inch (dpi) resolution and in 24- bit color for archival purposes, and a JPEG or JPEG2000 file of the same resolution and color depth is created for presentation on the website. 6 The use of two file formats is useful for meeting the dual purposes of a digital collection. First, the TIFF format is lossless, which means no information is lost or sacrificed in the scanning and digitization process. TIFF files tend to be large for this reason, but as file storage becomes increasingly cheaper, this becomes less important for archival purposes when fidelity to the original is valued most. However, for most users, some loss of detail can be tolerated, particularly when browsing a collection for the right objects, or in the initial search phases of research. When this is carried out via the Internet, and mediated by a web browser, a smaller file is desirable to speed up online transmission, and the greatest fidelity of the image is no longer needed since most browsers and personal computer screens have finite resolution capabilities. Thus, the JPEG file, a lossy format that compresses files into smaller packages, is best for web-based interfaces. Users needing a lossless image can make special requests once they have located the desired images, or perhaps consult the physical originals on site at the Cuban Heritage Collection. The CHC project website also describes the metadata used to describe the images of the digital collection. For photographs, the Dublin Core metadata scheme is employed, along with subject descriptors from the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials I: Subject Terms (TGM I). The collection also makes use of a locally developed controlled vocabulary of genre terms developed from 7 LCSH, TGMII and local terms, as well as Library of Congress Name Authority conventions. Metadata not only serves to record details about each image, such as its provenance or format, but also describes its content in order to assist users in executing subject searches within and across the several collections that comprise the greater CPC project. It should be noted, however, that the controlled vocabulary used to describe collection items is not made available to the user in a thesaurus or other listing. This prevents the user from tailoring searches to the specific subject terms used in the metadata, but could build an effective subject search from a known item with the desired subject descriptor. User Interface The CPC homepage presents an attractive introduction to the digital collection. The user is met with a clean, well-organized starting point from which the user has several search options. After a brief description of the collection, three options for exploring the collection are offered. Beneath the general description are both a search and a browse option. The former allows the user to enter search terms 6 University of Miami Libraries, The Cuban Photograph Collections & the Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscript Collection, Technical Specifications. Available at (accessed 8 February 2010). 7 University of Miami Libraries, The Cuban Photograph Collections & the Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscript Collection, Metadata Conventions. Available at (accessed 8 February 2010).

3 Beauchamp 3 and retrieve photographs that meet the search criteria. The latter option retrieves thumbnails of all of the images in the collection that the user may then browse through. Finally, beneath the basic search options is a listing of individual collections that comprise the greater CPC project. The user may select and browse one of these discrete collections of photographs. Providing users of the Cuban Photograph Collection with these three access methods preserves the original structure of the collections as well as increases the accessibility of the entire collection for more advanced search needs. The ability to browse a discrete collection within the CPC project retains the original archival structure of these objects, and allows users to explore images of a specific provenance. The search and cross-collection browse features, on the other hand, enhance the accessibility of the entire collection and allow users to conduct subject-specific searches, or locate images based on other criteria independent of original archival provenance. For example, a researcher interested in automobile culture in Cuba might wish to analyze the Marcelino Amador Photograph Collection 8 as a whole, but then conduct a search for automobile to also retrieve images of cars and car-related events in other sub-collections. Selecting the Marcelino Amador Photograph Collection from the list of sub-collections brings the user to a page of thumbnails from which the user can either narrow the search by subject or date, or simply browse the entire collection of 60 items. 8 Marcelino Amador was a famous race car driver in Cuba in the early 20 th century.

4 Beauchamp 4 The basic search for the term automobile retrieves a similar collection of thumbnails from which the user can make individual selections for review. As in the following example, when the user selects an individual photograph to view in detail, she is provided with not only a larger image to view, but also the metadata describing that image. The title of the image is provided in both English and Spanish since the collections users are likely to include speakers of both languages, as well as information about the image s physical description, provenance, a summary, and descriptors.

5 Beauchamp 5 It should be noted that the basic search function retrieves images for which the search term appears in any field. In other words, the search for automobile will retrieve images in which the word automobile appears not only in the subject field, but also title, note, summary, and all other searchable fields. Advanced Search The CPC also provides an advanced search feature for more sophisticated search queries. Access to the advanced search is separated from the basic search options presented at the center of the home page; however, the user can locate quickly the advanced search among the menu options in the top right of the page, where one also finds other functions to assist the user in experiencing the digital library. The advanced search page provides the user with several options for more sophisticated searching. First, the user may conduct a Boolean search by using the natural language fields presented, including all of the words, the exact phrase, any of the words, or none of the words. These fields substitute for the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT and thus relieve the user from expectations to be knowledgeable in their proper (and somewhat counterintuitive) use. The user can also restrict searches to specific metadata fields, search by date, search terms in proximity to one another, and in all cases, customize the collections from which the user wishes to retrieve results.

6 Beauchamp 6 Other Features Users of the CPC will also find a help option on the home page menu. The help page includes valuable guides describing the various browse and search features, including labeled screen shots to assist in navigating the elements of each page. The CPC site also allows users to adjust the way retrieved items are displayed and organized. Another interesting feature for users is the My Favorites option. This allows the user to select items from anywhere in the digital collection of images and assemble them for direct, side-by-side comparison, or for saving and presenting as separate web pages or slideshow presentations. Once items are moved to the my favorites collection, they can be rearranged or removed as desired. These

7 Beauchamp 7 functions make the digital collection particularly useful for educational purposes; instructors and students can interact with the collection for enhanced learning as they create new knowledge from the resources available. Comparison One is hard pressed to find another university-based digital library of Latin American interest that compares with the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami. The Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin is another premier library and research facility for the study of Latin America, but its digital offering are few and underdeveloped. One example is the Abel Briquet Photograph Collection, which is comparable in size and quality of materials to several of the smaller component collections of the Cuban Photographs Collection. This beautiful set of photographs taken by Abel Briquet are believed to be among the first by a commercial photographer Mexico, dating from the 1870s through the early 20th century. After selecting this collection from the web page of digital collections available, the user is presented with a thorough history and description of the collection, but she may only browse thumbnail representations of each item and select them individually to enlarge for closer viewing. The images lack metadata (at least any viewable to the user), and there are no search functions to narrow the collection by subject or otherwise. While some other collections do provide limited metadata with the images, they all rely on browsing thumbnail images to navigate each collection.

8 Beauchamp 8 Summary The Cuban Photographs Collection at the University of Miami is a wonderful example of how digital library technologies can be harnessed to advance the goals of academic libraries. Taking advantage of their unique assets for the study of Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora, the CPC and other digital collections that make up the Cuban Heritage Collection provide students and scholars around the world with access to unique and valuable resources. While this digital library could be improved by making the controlled vocabulary more available and transparent, the thorough description of each item and the many search options available to users makes this collection approachable and useful for both novices and seasoned learners in the digital realm. The CPC may serve as a model for university libraries seeking to make their own archival treasures more accessible to local constituents and the broader research community.