1

Introduction

With a gift from Ameritech, the Library of Congress issponsoring an open competition to enable public, re-search, and academic libraries, museums, historical soci-eties and archival institutions (except federal institu-tions) to create digital collections of primary resourcematerial for distribution on the Internet in a mannerthat will augment the collections of the National DigitalLibrary Program at the Library of Congress. The Na-tional Digital Library is conceived as a distributed collec-tion of converted library materials and digital originalsto which many American institutions will contribute.The Library of Congress’s contribution to this WorldWide Web-based virtual library is called American Memoryand is created by the Library’s National Digital LibraryProgram.

In the 1996-97 competition, applications will be limited tocollections of textual and graphic materials that illuminatethe period 1850-1920 and that complement and enhance theAmerican Memory collections already mounted in the Na-tional Digital Library. The deadline for applications is No-vember 1, 1996 (postmark).

Awards will range from $50,000 to $75,000 forprojects that can be accomplished in twelve to eighteenmonths. Repositories in the United States with collec-tions of primary resource material that are significantfor education and research in United States history andculture are encouraged to apply.

The intention of the competition is to encourage ap-plications from a variety of institutions, large and small,public and private. In the final selection among merito-rious projects some consideration will be given to thetype and size of institution and its geographical location,but the principal criteria will be:

■ The historical significance of the collection’s content,as well as its breadth of interest and utility to studentsand the general public

■ The availability and usability of aids to intellectualaccess

■ The technical and administrative viability of theproject’s plan of work

In the first five years of its American Memory projectthe Library of Congress has deliberately experimentedwith digitizing a variety of materials focused on the po-litical and social history of the United States, with con-siderable emphasis on images and searchable text. Sincestandards for the treatment of digital images and textare relatively well-developed, and images have great po-tential as resources for education and research, applica-tions in the 1996-97 competition will be limited to col-lections of textual and graphic materials. The guidelinesset out for this competition are drawn from the Library’sexperience with the creation of digital collections.

While the Library of Congress is aware that a numberof critical activities are necessary to prepare a collectionfor digitization and to ensure the quality and futuremaintenance of digital files, awards from this competi-tion may be used only for the process of digitization (seepage 6). The Library has designed the competition toprovide an impetus to projects that will enhance the col-lections of a distributed National Digital Library, whilerealizing that there will be a substantial contribution onthe part of institutions that receive awards. The detailedrequirements concerning the procedure for applicationand the standards to be adopted for the implementationof projects are set forth below.

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The National Digital Library Programat the Library of Congress

The historical collections program at the Library ofCongress moved from pilot to operational status in1994, when Internet access to American Memory collec-tions was provided for the first time. The purpose of thiseffort was to enrich the educational process and encour-age critical thinking by making available in classrooms,libraries, and homes primary documents of Americanhistory. The following is a summary of AmericanMemory collections that illuminate the period 1850-1920.

Now (August 1996) online at http://www.loc.gov/

■ African-American Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. MurrayCollection, 1818-1920 (351 pamphlets offering insightinto attitudes and ideas of African-Americans be-tween Reconstruction and the First World War)

■ Selected Civil War Photographs from the Library of Con-gress, 1861-1865 (1,118 images of Civil War encamp-ments, battlefields, and portraits captured by MathewBrady and his staff of photographers)

■ The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920(hundreds of items in a multiformat collection ofphotographs, printed works, and manuscripts docu-menting the conservation movement in the UnitedStates)

■ Daguerreotypes, 1842-1862 (approximately 600 portraitdaguerreotypes, plus a few architectural views andoutdoor scenes, by the Mathew Brady studio)

■ Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920 (approximately 25,000 postcard photographs ofturn-of-the-century America)

■ Early Motion Pictures, 1897-1916 (99 titles from the ear-liest period of the medium in three groupings: Presi-

dent William McKinley and the Pan-American Exposi-tion, New York City, and San Francisco before andafter the great earthquake and fire)

■ The Nation’s Forum Sound Recordings, 1918-1920(59 political speeches by American leaders duringWorld War I and the presidential election of 1920)

■ Walt Whitman Notebooks, 1847-1860s (four notebookscontaining drafts of poetry and prose and personalnotes)

■ The National American Woman Suffrage Association Col-lection, 1848-1921 (a selection of 167 books, pam-phlets, and other artifacts documenting the cam-paign for suffrage for women)

■ World’s Transportation Commission Photographs, 1894-1896 (more than 800 images made by American pho-tographer William Henry Jackson documenting for-eign countries and their indigenous forms oftransportation)

■ Life History Manuscripts from the Folklore Project, WPAFederal Writers’ Project, 1936-1940 (approximately 2,900typescript interviews from the Federal Writers’ Folk-lore Project offering the recollections of Americansfrom many walks of life)

2. Selected collections planned for scanning, 1996-2000

■ American Broadsides (tens of thousands of printedadvertising pieces, political handbills, theater pro-grams, leaflets, unbound papers and pamphlets, play-bills, song sheets, and other non-print material andephemera, many from the late 19th and early 20thcenturies)

■ American Political Prints, 1766-1876 (more than 700political cartoons, many later than 1850)

■ The American Variety Stage, ca. 1870-1920 (hundreds ofmaterials in many formats illustrating popular enter-tainment)

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■ “California as I Saw It”: First-Person Narratives ofCalifornia’s Early Years, 1849-1900 (191 books that tellthe story of life and travel in California during thefirst fifty years of statehood)

■ Folk Music from Northern California, recorded 1938-1940(more than 800 musical selections performed by Eu-ropean immigrants, together with photographs andother ethnographic documentation recorded for aWPA project)

■ Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin: First-Person Narra-tives and Local History Reference Sources from the UpperMidwest (about 100 books that describe communitylife, occupation, and biography in the late 19th andearly 20th centuries)

■ Paper Print Films of the Westinghouse Factory in Action,1904 (about 20 early films documenting the opera-tion of Westinghouse Air Brake and Electric MotorCompany)

■ Panoramic Photographs, ca. 1851-1991 (more than4,000 large panoramic views of American cities, land-scapes, and events)

■ Photographs by Arnold Genthe, ca. 1897-1942 (thousandsof images: views of San Francisco’s Chinatown beforethe 1906 earthquake, travel photographs, images ofmodern dance, and portraits of artists and celebri-ties)

■ Panoramic Maps, most from 1860-1890 (1,117 birds-eyeviews of American cities)

The Evaluation Process

The Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Li-brary competition project team will review each applica-tion and verify that the following objective criteria foreligibility have been met:

■ The application comes from a United States institu-tion that is not federal.

■ The application has been postmarked by the applica-tion deadline (November 1, 1996).

■ An original and eleven copies of the application havebeen submitted.

■ All required information has been entered on thecover sheet and budget form.

■ The requested award does not exceed $75,000.

■ The application conforms to the subject, chronologi-cal, and format specifications announced for the1996-97 competition (United States culture and his-tory, 1850-1920, textual or graphic primary re-sources).

The Library of Congress will acknowledge the receiptof each application no later than December 1, 1996.

Applications will be evaluated in a three-stage processby independent reviewers external to the Library ofCongress. They will first be reviewed for the historicalsignificance of the collection’s content, as well as itsbreadth of interest and utility to students and the gen-eral public. The second stage of review will be directedto the bibliographic, technical, and administrative viabil-ity of the project’s plan of work. Evaluators for these twophases of the competition will be convened by the Divi-sion of Preservation and Access of the National Endow-ment for the Humanities. The third stage of the reviewwill consist of a final panel convened by Dr. DeannaMarcum that will evaluate the most highly recom-mended projects and make a final selection.

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Preparing an Application

The elements of the application should be assembled inthe order specified on the verso of the front cover.

1. Application Cover SheetUse the form supplied in these instructions. If thecover sheet is prepared using word-processing soft-ware, replicate the layout of the form. Do not omitany category of information. The “Brief descriptionof project” should not exceed the space provided (orten lines, if word-processed.) It may be best to com-plete the cover sheet last, after all other parts of theapplication have been prepared.

2. Executive SummaryA one-page précis of the project.

3. Table of ContentsList and supply continuous page numbers for thevarious parts of the application, including any appen-dices.

4. The NarrativeThe narrative should be concise and written in such away that it is comprehensible to a general reader. Dis-cussion of technical issues should reflect the under-standing of the applicant, and not merely incorporatethe language of vendor literature. If an element islacking in the application, its absence should be ex-plained (e.g., the institution “cannot provide evi-dence of the use of the collection because it is un-processed”). The narrative should not exceed tenpages, and should address the following points:

4a. The Collection

■ Describe the collection that is to be digitized in thecourse of the project.

■ Describe the extent of the collection in commonly ac-cepted measures (e.g., number of titles or items, lin-ear or cubic feet).

■ Discuss its significance for both education and re-search in the history and culture of the United Statesduring the period 1850-1920.

■ Give evidence of use of and public interest in the col-lection in its current format, whether original or asurrogate (such as microfilm or transcription).

■ Explain how conversion into electronic format willenhance use of the collection both in the World WideWeb and in other contexts (e.g., scholarly exchangeof texts or the use of photographs by publishers).

■ Explain the ways in which the collection comple-ments or augments those already mounted in Ameri-can Memory/National Digital Library.

■ Describe any other collections already mounted onthe Internet that are similar or related to the pro-posed project.

■ Describe the condition of the material and the im-pact of the process of digitization on the originals.

■ Explain any physical treatment that will be necessaryto prepare the material for digitization.

■ Explain the provisions for care of the collection (andfor any film intermediates created in the course ofthe project) following digitization.

■ Identify any privacy or other property rights restric-tions attached to the collection and indicate how theyhave been or will be resolved. (Note: Collections thatare digitized as a result of LC/Ameritech awards mustbe distributable on the Internet.)

4b. Intellectual Access

Digital files cannot be used without appropriate aids toaccess. Access to documents or images can be facilitatedthrough catalog records or a finding aid, while textualmaterials may be converted to a form that allows search-ing for words within the text. An essential aspect of theapplication is an explanation of the linkage between in-tellectual access aids and digital images or texts. All ap-plications should include a discussion of the followingissues, which have been derived by the Library of Con-gress from its experience in digitizing its own collec-tions.

■ Explain how intellectual access to the content of thedigital collection will be provided. Describe the for-mat to be used for catalog records or a finding aid(archival register). For reproductions in the form ofsearchable texts, discuss whether the information usu-ally contained in a bibliographic record will be pro-vided in structured headers for the text files or inseparate catalog records. If some other approach orformat is to be employed, explain.

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■ If catalog records or finding aids currently exist forthe material to be digitized, describe them and ex-plain what procedures will be necessary to modifythem to support access to the digital reproductions.

■ Describe the summary or introductory materials(such as a scope or content note, a bibliography,chronological or biographical information, or a pre-sentation about a particular aspect of the collection)that will be prepared in Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) to provide an intellectual context for thecollection.

■ Explain the identifier system that will be used to linkthe catalog record or finding aid to the digital repro-ductions. Describe the elements in the catalog recordor finding aid that refer to the names of the digitalreproductions and support links via the World WideWeb to files that contain the corresponding images ortexts.

■ Explain the level of description to be employed; eachlink of the description should point to a single digitalresource, addressable by a single Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) for the World Wide Web. The digitalresource may represent a multipart item (such as amanuscript folder or a map reproduced in seg-ments), or a grouping of closely related objectstreated as an item (such as a set of photographs ofthe same subject). If some other approach is to beemployed, explain.

■ Explain the method and level of subject access. Em-ploy commonly accepted subject thesauri such asLCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings), AAT (Artand Architecture Thesaurus), or TGM (Thesaurus forGraphic Materials). If some other method of providingsubject access is to be used, describe and explain themethod.

■ Describe how a bibliographic record supporting ac-cess to the digital collection will be made availablethrough a national bibliographic utility.

■ Describe the experience of staff in providing intellec-tual access to comparable materials. If project staffare to be hired, describe the required qualificationsand indicate the experience of existing staff in super-vising such work.

Further discussion of many of these topics may be foundin the Technical Notes on Interoperability and AccessAids (pages 11-14).

4c. Digital Conversion Methodology

Describe the overall production process, including pro-duction management, estimated throughput, and track-ing procedures, as well as the method for carrying outquality review. Production approaches may include thedirect capture of original items by means of a scanner orcamera, or capture from photographic intermediates,including microfilm, and the conversion of text materi-als.

■ Specify the format or formats for digital reproduc-tions, including the level of resolution and com-pression for images, and markup schemes forsearchable text. Select formats that are in commonuse and that can be deployed over the World WideWeb. Depending on the class of material, how itwill be used, and the need for tonality or color, itmay be appropriate to produce images at moderateand/or high resolution. For further discussion ofdigital formats in use at the Library of Congressand some factors that may influence the choice offormat, see the Technical Notes on Formats forDigital Reproductions (pages 8-10).

■ If a consultant is to be employed using award funds(non-ARL institution only), discuss the criteria usedto select the consultant.

■ If an outside vendor is to be used to perform the digi-tal conversion, explain the criteria that will be (orhave been) used to select a vendor and monitor thevendor’s performance.

■ If digital conversion is to be performed in-house, de-scribe the hardware and software to be used (or thecriteria to be used in their selection). Discuss theprior experience of staff members in their use.

4d. Provision for Delivery and Network Access

Ongoing World Wide Web access for the general publicto the digital reproductions may be provided by the ap-plicant or by the Library of Congress. If the applicantprovides access, the collection must be structured so asto permit the Library to integrate the catalog records orfinding aid into American Memory in a way that will ap-pear seamless to the user.

■ If the Library of Congress is to assemble and mountthe collection, describe the format and medium fordelivery (e.g., write-once CD-ROM) of the catalogrecords or finding aid, introductory material, and thereproductions. Estimate the disk space required tostore the digitized materials.

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■ If the institution plans to assemble and mount thecollection on its own system, explain how it will pro-vide individual addresses for the reproductions thatcan be resolved via the World Wide Web, using thenames imbedded in the catalog records or findingaid; describe the format and medium for delivery ofthe catalog records or finding aid and introductorymaterials to the Library of Congress. Describe thecurrent or proposed facilities of the applicant for sup-porting World Wide Web access and the prior experi-ence of staff in such projects.

■ Explain how the information will be maintainedand made accessible into the future. Describe theinstitution’s current capabilities to carry out theseactivities.

■ If the institution has previously mounted materials orinformation on the Internet, provide a Uniform Re-source Locator (URL) or instructions for access tothis corpus.

4e. Plan of Work

■ Provide a plan of work in tabular and/or narrativeform that describes the tasks and benchmarks of theproject in six-month segments. All project activitiesmust take place within an 18-month period.

■ Include all elements of the plan of work necessary tothe implementation of the project, not just those tobe supported by Library of Congress/Ameritech com-petition funds.

■ Make clear which project staff will be involved in eachtask and the time commitment of each.

■ Discuss how any costs of the project that would not besupported by a Library of Congress/Ameritech awardwould be met.

5. BudgetAwards will not exceed $75,000. Only costs directly asso-ciated with digital conversion may be included in the re-quest (e.g., scanning, modification of cataloging or find-ing aids to link to digital reproductions, quality controlof digital images). Equipment may not be purchasedwith award funds. Those institutions that do not possessthe requisite equipment may use award funds for a ven-dor to supply scanning services. The institution will beexpected to bear costs of administrative overhead,preparation of original materials for digitizing, provi-sion of intellectual access to or preservation of the origi-nal materials, and future maintenance of digital materi-als. Institutions that are not members of the Associationof Research Libraries (ARL) may include the costs of aconsultant who will assist in the process of digital con-version.

All of the items listed in the budget, whether sup-ported by award funds or cost-sharing contributions,must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish the objec-tives of the project, auditable, and incurred during theaward period. A complete itemization of the projectedcosts of any third-party contractor should be attached.

Use the budget form supplied in these instructions. Ifthe budget is generated by word-processing or spread-sheet software, follow the layout of the form as closely aspossible.

If the applicant is considering using the LC/Ameritech award to match federal funds from anotheragency, consult the appropriate official of that agency todetermine whether such a match will be permitted.

6. AppendicesAppendices should be attached that contain clearly ex-plained relevant material, such as brief (two-page)résumés describing related experience and qualifica-tions of project staff, job descriptions for project hires,or requests for proposals from vendors. Samples of pre-vious work or of planned access aids may be attached.Indicate the nature of a consultant’s responsibilities, ifone is used; attach a brief résumé.

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Administration of the Award

It will be the understanding governing the award thatcatalog records and finding aids for new collections willcontain certain elements in common with AmericanMemory catalog records and finding aids being created atthe Library of Congress. Since these practices may con-tinue to evolve, the Library will work closely withawardees to determine specific details (see TechnicalNotes, pages 8-14).

If funding is awarded, the applicant organization willbe responsible for ensuring that the award is adminis-tered in accord with the following provisions:

Project activities must commence within the fiscalyear in which the award is made (i.e., before October 1,1997.) Over the period of award activity, an awardee willprovide status reports at six-month intervals that de-scribe the accomplishments to date and indicate howsuccessful the awardee has been in meeting the goals de-scribed in the project’s plan of work. The final cumula-tive report on the project will be due within threemonths after the end of the award period.

The award will be made in two payments: 90% of theaward will be given at the outset and 10% when the finalreport is accepted.

Significant changes in the scope, focus, and objec-tives of the project require prior approval by the Libraryof Congress. The replacement of the project director orother key staff members who are specifically named inthe proposal also requires prior approval by the Library.

Adequate documentation of the time spent by allproject personnel on those aspects of the projectfunded by the award must be maintained by the awardeeinstitution.

When project work will be subcontracted with a third-party vendor, the awardee must develop a contract withthe vendor that confirms the costs of the subcontractedactivity over the period of the award. The contractshould also contain production benchmarks and qualitycontrol review procedures.

All procurement transactions should be conducted ina manner that provides, to the maximum extent practi-cal, open and free competition.

Awardees should acknowledge the support of the Li-brary of Congress and Ameritech in all materials that re-sult from or publicize the project’s award activities. TheLibrary of Congress will publicize the contributions tothe National Digital Library of institutions receivingthese awards.

To comply with federal audit regulations, the awardeemust have a financial management system that recordsseparately and accurately within its general accountingsystem the receipt and disbursement of award funds andthat monitors all transactions related to the expenditureof these funds against the approved budget. The Libraryof Congress and its duly authorized representatives willhave the right during the awardee’s normal businesshours to audit and examine books of account andrecords with respect to the subject matter and terms ofthe award. The awardee will keep all books, accounts,and records available for at least three years after thecompletion of the work funded by the award.

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Introduction

The Library believes that the National Digital Librarymust support a variety of formats for digital reproduc-tions. Technological options are continually develop-ing. The choice of formats for the capture and presenta-tion of materials depends on the nature of thecollections and how they will be used. Several differentformats for reproducing text and images are in use forAmerican Memory collections released or in production in1996. They have been chosen to balance quality of re-production, convenient accessibility for the general pub-lic over the World Wide Web, likely longevity of format(using standard formats where possible and proprietaryformats only where widely deployed), and productioncost. Other institutions may weigh the factors differ-ently, and choose other formats. Other formats (or ap-proaches to dynamic generation of images) that provideeffective widespread access to the digital reproductionsover the World Wide Web are encouraged. Applicantsproposing other formats should be capable of providingaccess through their own facilities or guiding implemen-tation at the Library.

1. Pictorial materialsFor pictorial collections, the Library produces three im-age types:

ThumbnailA small GIF image presented with the bibliographicrecord, to allow users to judge whether they wish to takethe time to retrieve a higher quality image.

ReferenceThe “fetchable” higher quality JPEG image. In currentprojects, only one reference image is provided; futurecollections may offer two (or more) at varying levels ofresolution.

ArchivalAn uncompressed TIFF image provided for artifact-freereproduction or for future reprocessing as compressionstandards change. May be provided to end users as adownloadable file in the future.

Technical Notes onFormats for Digital Reproductions

Contents:

Introduction

Formats in use at the Library of Congressfor historical collections

1. Pictorial materials

2. Textual materials reproduced as searchable textand images

3. Textual materials reproduced as images only

4. Maps

Where to find more information

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Several other organizations have used the KodakPhotoCD (Image Pac) format for imaging projects. TheLibrary has not had extensive experience with PhotoCD.Applicants wishing to use the PhotoCD technologyshould either determine how direct access to those im-ages may be provided from their site to WWW clients orplan to reprocess the images to produce GIF and JFIF/JPEG images for mounting at the American Memory site.

2. Textual materials reproducedas searchable text and imagesTranscribed text can be a tremendous aid to a user seek-ing a particular word or phrase in textual work. Tran-scribed text can also facilitate the researcher’s naviga-tion of a longer document, especially when encodedwith a markup language. The cost of providing perfector near-perfect transcriptions is very high, however, and,for many researchers, proper understanding of a docu-ment may depend upon seeing a facsimile (and in somecases, the original). For these reasons, the Library hasexperimented with the presentation of manuscript andprinted matter items as combined page-images andsearchable text. In some pilot collections, separate im-ages of tables and illustrations were provided in additionto or in lieu of page-image sets.

The Library encodes its documents using StandardGeneralized Markup Language (SGML), using a docu-ment type definition (DTD) based on the guidelines ofthe Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). Applicants arestrongly encouraged to use a TEI-conformant DTD andmay choose to use the Library’s American Memory DTD.Since the Library always places SGML texts online to-gether with bibliographic records or some other accessaid, the headers within the documents contain minimalbibliographic information. Full-function SGML viewersfor the WWW are not yet available free or as shareware.For this reason, the Library derives an HTML version ofthe text from the SGML version and places both online.Both copies have active links to page images. The pageimages included in the searchable presentations employthe formats for tonal and bitonal images described inthe next section.

3. Textual materials reproduced as imagesThe Library has been experimenting with tonal (colorand grayscale) reproduction of manuscripts and olderprinted documents. Original items with a mixture oflighter and darker markings are often more successfullyreproduced in a tonal rather than a bitonal image. Ty-pography or line art, however, will often be successfullyreproduced in a bitonal image. Bitonal images may pro-vide better printed output. Thus, some collections maywarrant the production of both types of images.

3a. Tonal images of manuscripts and printed documentsAt this writing, the Library’s only online example oftonal document reproduction is the small collection ofWalt Whitman’s notebooks. As for pictorial materials,the Library produces tonal JPEG images for referenceand uncompressed TIFF images as archival versions. Ademonstration project to refine a tonal-image approacht�o manuscripts is under way with a portion of the Fed-eral Theater Project collection. In this latter project,the so-called archival version of the image is tonal andthe reference image is bitonal.

3b. Bitonal images of manuscripts and printed documentsThe use of the lossless CCITT (Group 4 FAX) compres-sion for bitonal images stored in TIFF format may meanthat one image will serve both reference and archivingneeds. For some items, however, higher resolution maybe desired for the archival version.

3c. The special problem of illustrationsin the form of printed halftonesPrinted halftones present special problems in reproduc-tion because of interference between the spatial fre-quency of the halftone dot pattern and the spatial fre-quency applied by scanning and/or output devices. Theinterference “waves” caused by the intersection of thetwo frequencies manifest themselves as aliasing (ormoiré pattern) that degrades the image.

There are a number of treatments that can mitigateor correct this degradation but not all are practical in aproduction-line environment. Possible treatments in-clude the following: descreening and rescreening; cap-

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ture at high enough resolution to reproduce the half-tone dots; grayscale reproduction; or “diffuse dither-ing,” a randomization of the dot pattern created by thescanner. Of these treatments, the Library has used onlythe last, capturing images at 300 dpi and applying thediffuse dithering treatment (at scan time for bitonal im-ages or as a second step for grayscale images). Thistreatment reduces but does not eliminate moiré pat-terns. The resulting PCX images print very nicely on alaser printer but do not rescale well for screen display.Archival versions have not been created for images fromprinted halftones.

3d. Paging through a multi-image setA number of devices may be employed to present to us-ers the many page images that may be linked to a singlereference. The simplest, albeit least elegant, is to createa table of contents or menu (see the current version ofthe American Memory Walt Whitman notebooks collec-tion). Here, an HTML file lists the pages by numberand links each one to its reproduction image. A propri-etary option that may be appropriate for short docu-ments is to incorporate several images into one file inAdobe’s PDF format.

Meanwhile, other organizations have developed sys-tems for their WWW servers that allow paging through adocument using sets of images that are displayed“inline” in any WWW browser. If applicants plan to de-velop such an approach to paging, or to join with the Li-brary as it develops its approach, the project must pro-duce images in the GIF format. This would usually be inaddition to higher-resolution images as discussed in thepreceding sections.

4. MapsThe Library’s Geography and Map Division is develop-ing its approach for digitizing map collections, with theadvice of the division’s Center for Geographic Informa-tion. For the historical maps selected for digitization,the preliminary finding is that good legibility will be af-forded for most through tonal images captured at 300dpi. Archival copies will be stored without compressionor with lossless compression. There are many chal-lenges associated with Internet transmission, display,and printing of very large images and the Library hasnot formulated plans for the presentation of maps inthe WWW environment.

Where to find more informationApplicants may wish to consult the WWW site for the Li-brary of Congress/Ameritech National Digital LibraryCompetition (at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/) for further details about formats in use at theLibrary, including spatial resolution and tonal depth forimages. The WWW site also has references to relatedmaterials elsewhere.

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Introduction

Interoperability will be an essential attribute for easyand effective use of materials in the National Digital Li-brary. While practice within digital libraries is evolvingcontinuously, applicants are expected to propose techni-cal approaches consistent with those in use in August1996. Alternatively, approaches consistent with stan-dards in advanced stages of development within a na-tional library, archival, or Internet association or com-munity may be proposed by institutions prepared toadapt as those standards take their final form. Elementsrequired for interoperability have been held to a mini-mum and the suggestions described below (with ex-amples on the competition’s WWW site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/) offer several options.

Each collection must be supported by one or moreaids to intellectual access, usually through catalogrecords, a finding aid (archival register), or the provi-sion of searchable reproductions of textual materials. Inthe networked, distributed environment envisaged forthe National Digital Library, each digital reproductionmust be identified in a way that permits retrieval acrossthe World Wide Web. This identifier serves the roleplayed by a “call number” in a traditional library. Theidentifier supports an active link between access aidsand the digital reproductions they describe. The exactlinking mechanism will depend on the form of the ac-cess aid.

To integrate the collections for which digitization isfunded through the LC/Ameritech competition and tofacilitate the interoperability of old and new collections,applicants must be prepared to use forms of access aidand linking mechanisms that are compatible with thoseused by the Library of Congress, usually through consis-tent use of certain fields or tags. Applicants may, butneed not, choose to follow current Library of Congresspractices exactly. In the weeks following the announce-ment of awards, awardee institutions will be expected towork closely with the Library of Congress to ensure thatthe details of their technical approach allow their mate-rials to be integrated effectively with other AmericanMemory collections.

Some suggestions for alternative approaches to iden-tifying items and forms of access aid follow.

Technical Notes onInteroperability and Access Aids

Contents:

Introduction

Identifiers for digital reproductions

Suggested formats for access aids

1. Bibliographic records that adhere to the MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) format

2. Simple bibliographic records, following the emergent“Dublin core” approach

3. Structured headers for searchable text reproductionsmarked up in SGML or HTML

4. Finding aid marked up in Standard GeneralizedMarkup Language (SGML), using the EncodedArchival Description (EAD) document type definition

5. Finding aid marked up in HyperText Markup Language(HTML)

Where to find more information

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Identifiers for digital reproductionsThe Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) used currentlyto identify resources on the Internet are unsatisfactoryas long-term identifiers, since they usually identify a par-ticular file on a particular computer. When the filemust be moved, perhaps when the computer is replaced,the URL will usually change. If URLs are imbedded di-rectly in bibliographic records or finding aids, those ac-cess aids must be modified (and the links tested) whenthe files are moved. Applicants should consider mecha-nisms that minimize the need for manual editing in thefuture.

There are currently several proposed schemes forlong-term identifiers known as Uniform ResourceNames (URNs), which would be resolved into physicallocators, such as URLs, when users follow links. The Li-brary of Congress offers to help awardees establishURNs for items in their collections using the “handle”service proposed as a URN scheme by the Corporationfor National Research Initiatives. Applicants from insti-tutions planning to make use of OCLC’s PURL (Persis-tent URL) system, might consider using PURLs as iden-tifiers. For more information on URLs, URNs, PURLs,and handles, see the competition’s WWW site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/.

Some institutions have taken a local approach to es-tablishing “persistent” URLs that might be feasible forapplicants from institutions already using appropriatesoftware. URLs for individual reproductions are actuallydatabase queries retrieving a single known item using aunique identifier. The databases being queried might bespecialized archives used to manage the digital contentor tables mapping identifiers or “logical” names to theURLs representing their “physical” location.

The Library of Congress will be installing a handle-server within the next few months to allow experimenta-tion with URNs. However, American Memory’s currentpractice eliminates the need to modify access aids by fol-lowing rigid rules for naming files and storing them in adirectory tree in a way that allows automatic derivationof names for different digital versions of the same biblio-graphic item. In effect, field 856 contains a “logical”name in fields $d and $f from which “physical” file loca-tors can be derived. If files are moved from one serverto another or to a different level of the file hierarchy,the derivation procedure must be changed, but not theindividual catalog records. Applicants wishing to followLibrary practices and use this approach will be expected

to work with the Library closely, after receiving anaward, to establish a naming and storage scheme. Gen-eral information about the storage/naming approach isavailable on the WWW site, but final details must beworked out after awards are made.

Suggested formats for access aids

1. Bibliographic records in MARC formatAll bibliographic records for current American Memorycollections are in MARC format. Applicants choosingto prepare catalog records in USMARC format need notcreate full-level records. In addition to the leader andrequired fixed fields, the MARC fields listed below mustbe present. No other fields are mandatory for integra-tion with American Memory, although the use of author,subject and note fields is strongly recommended to fa-cilitate access.

245 Title statement

856 Electronic accessThere is not yet consensus on how best to apply field856 when several versions of an item are available (suchas page-images and searchable text for a document ordifferent qualities of reproduction for an image) or onthe subfield to be used for a URN. See thecompetition’s WWW site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/ for examples of recommended ap-proaches.

985This LC local field is needed to keep track of the institu-tion supplying the records, a unique code to identify thedigital collection, and other administrative details. Thisfield will normally be identical for all records providedby an awardee for a single collection.

659This LC local field will hold a broad categorization oforiginal material type in a consistent form. For ex-amples, see the competition’s WWW site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/.

At this time, the Library is unable to accept recordsusing the new 774 (Constituent Item) field linked to856 fields as described in MARBI Proposal 96-4 andintegrated into the March 1996 update to the USMARCBibliographic Format.

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2. Bibliographic records followingthe Dublin Core approachIn March 1995, a “metadata” workshop organized byOCLC and the National Center for SupercomputingApplications was held in Dublin, Ohio. Librarians, archi-vists, publishers, computer and information scientists,and members of Internet Engineering Task Force work-ing groups approached the task of developing a shortlist of data elements that could be used by informationproviders to describe their own resources. The groupproposed a set of thirteen elements that is known as theDublin Core. The elements, designed to support accessand retrieval, are: Title, Subject, Author, Publisher,OtherAgent, Date, Identifier, Language, ObjectType,Coverage, Form, Relation, Source. For more detailedinformation about the Dublin Core proposal, and thefollowup meeting in April 1996 in Warwick, England,see http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july96/07weibel.html/.

This approach provides an alternative for catalogingthat requires less specialized software than the MARCformat. However, the Dublin Core concept is still underdevelopment and there is not yet an agreed communica-tions format for Dublin Core data. Among the decisionsmade at the Warwick meeting was that a record formatusing SGML would be developed for the Dublin Core el-ements. The Library will be prepared to accept recordsthat use the SGML tagging scheme (document type defi-nition or DTD) that emerges from this consensus-build-ing process. If no firm agreement has been reached on aDTD in the wider group by the time awards are madefor this competition, the Library will work with awardeesto establish a tagging scheme to be used by the awardeeschoosing to following this approach. For samplerecords using the format currently proposed, see thecompetition’s WWW site.

A second suggestion emerging from the Warwickmeeting was that the format should be extensible to al-low the inclusion of other sets of fields for specific appli-cations. The Library expects to extend the proposedDublin Core format to support Notes fields (which havebeen used extensively in the Library’s historical collec-tions). Another extension that the Library expects tomake, since it may be helpful for some applicants, is atagging scheme for links to multiple versions of thesame item (such as page-images and searchable text fora document or different qualities of reproduction for animage). Applicants should be aware that there is no

guarantee that such an extension will be adopted for useat other institutions or in other cooperative projects.

Requirements for interoperability will be similar tothose for MARC bibliographic records, with the follow-ing fields being mandatory. Details will be worked outin consultation with the Library after awards are made.

Title must be present

Identifier required, with details depending on ap-proach proposed for identifying digitalreproductions

ObjectType required to indicate a broad categoriza-tion of original material type

Relation required to support a link to the parentdigital collection

OtherAgent required to identify the institution pro-viding the record

The SGML syntax suggested for a communicationsformat for Dublin Core records is sufficiently simplethat special SGML authoring software should not benecessary. It should be feasible to prepare the SGMLrecords as “reports” from many commonly used data-base software packages. Alternatively, the tags could beadded manually using a word-processor or text-editingsoftware.

3. Structured headers insearchable text reproductionsThe library has chosen to prepare and manage biblio-graphic records separately from its searchable text re-productions. However, other institutions may choose toincorporate the bibliographic information usually foundin a catalog record into structured headers within thedigital texts.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to use SGMLdocument type definitions (DTDs) that conform to theguidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) whenpreparing searchable reproductions of textual materials.For more information on the TEI guidelines, whichhave been widely adopted for reproductions of histori-cal texts, see the WWW site at http://www.uic.edu:80/orgs/tei/.

A format has been proposed for holding the DublinCore descriptive elements (see the previous section) inthe header section of HTML documents. The proposal(described at http://www.oclc.org:5046 /~weibel/html-

14

meta.html) may be adopted as a standard, but not nec-essarily in exactly the form currently proposed. Appli-cants choosing this approach for cataloging and prepar-ing their digital reproductions should be prepared tomodify the headers of the converted texts when the stan-dard syntax is agreed upon.

For interoperability, there will be a few mandatory el-ements in headers for searchable texts. As for MARCrecords, a title, a unique identifier for the document, apointer to the parent digital collection, and an identifierfor the contributing institution must all be present. De-tails will be worked out in consultation with the Libraryafter awards are made. See the competition’s WWW siteat http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/ for sampledocument headers.

4. Finding aids following the proposedstandard for Encoded Archival DescriptionThis proposed standard for structured finding aidsmarked up in SGML is currently being tested at the Li-brary of Congress and a number of other institutions.The standard will be maintained at the Library of Con-gress and details are available on the WWW pages of theEAD maintenance agency at http://www.loc.gov/loc/standards/ead/. Because the development of the stan-dard has been supported by the Society of American Ar-chivists and has involved representation from two inter-national bibliographic utilities (OCLC and the ResearchLibraries Group), it is probable that collaborative onlinearchives of finding aids in the EAD format will be as-sembled in the future.

To provide links from the finding aid to the digital re-productions, the Library recommends the use of logicalidentifiers within the main document in conjunctionwith the SGML “entity” mechanism. Short logical iden-tifiers in the digital archival object element (<dao>) canbe resolved into full filenames in an associated entityfile. At some future stage, when SGML software recog-nizes URN identifiers, the entity file could be modifiedthrough a global change to use location-independentidentifiers rather than physical filenames.

The Library of Congress is currently preparing its

first EAD finding aid that has links to digital reproduc-tions. Sample finding aids describing non-digital collec-tions can be found through the EAD web pages. Be-cause there is currently no free or inexpensive SGMLviewer that is fully satisfactory for general use, the Li-brary expects to create HTML versions for browsing,generated automatically from the SGML versions, tosupport wider accessibility. The Library will be preparedto generate HTML versions of EAD finding aids pre-pared by awardees.

5. Finding aids marked up inHyperText Markup Language (HTML)The Library recognizes that some institutions may wishto describe collections in the form of a finding aid docu-ment, but prefer to use the simpler HTML standard.The HTML format provides a browsable document thatis simpler to prepare and accessible more widely todaythan a more complex SGML equivalent.

Since HTML primarily facilitates display rather thandescribing the detailed logical structure of documents, afinding aid marked up in HTML (rather than using theSGML EAD standard) is less capable of supporting re-finements in searching such as field qualification. Dur-ing a search, words in a scope and content note cannotbe distinguished from those in a container list.

To minimize the need for later modifications to thefinding aid, links to digital reproductions in HTML find-ing aids should make full and careful use of relativeURLs and the <BASE>tag.

Where to find more informationApplicants may wish to consult the WWW site for the Li-brary of Congress/Ameritech National Digital LibraryCompetition (at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/) for illustrative examples and to gain a deeperunderstanding of the issues relating to the creation ofand access to digital reproductions. The WWW site haspapers summarizing the Library’s experience and cur-rent practices as well as references to related materialselsewhere.

15

Certifications

Information on Certifications Requiredfrom Applicants and AwardeesGeneral Requirements

It is the Library of Congress’s policy to obtain from allapplicants certifications regarding federal debt statusand a drug-free workplace. Applicants must also certifythat they will comply with the nondiscrimination statutesand implementing regulations.

By signing and submitting an application, the autho-rizing official of the applicant institution provides theapplicable certifications set out below. When a prospec-tive applicant is unable to certify regarding the nondis-crimination statutes and implementing regulations for adrug-free workplace, that institution is not eligible to ap-ply for funding from the Library of Congress. When anapplicant is unable to certify regarding federal debt sta-tus, an explanation must be attached to the proposal.The explanation of why the certification cannot be sub-mitted will be considered in connection with the evalua-tors’ award determination. Failure to furnish a certifica-tion or an explanation shall disqualify the applicantfrom receiving funding from the Library of Congress.

The certifications are material representations of factupon which the evaluators will rely when they determinewhether to fund the application. If it is later determinedthat the applicant knowingly provided an erroneous cer-tification or did not comply with the requirements, inaddition to other remedies available to the federal gov-ernment, the Library of Congress may seek judicial en-forcement of the certification (nondiscrimination stat-utes); may terminate the award for cause or default(federal debt status); and may suspend payment or sus-pend or terminate the award (drug-free workplace).

The applicant shall provide immediate written noticeto the director of the National Digital Library if at anytime the applicant learns that its certifications were erro-neous when submitted or have become erroneous byreason of changed circumstances.

Certification of Nondiscrimination

This certification regarding nondiscrimination obligatesthe applicant for the period during which the award isgiven. This certification is binding on the applicant, itssuccessors, transferees, and assignees, and on the autho-rizing official whose signature appears on the applica-tion cover sheet for this proposal.

Certification text: The applicant certifies that it will comply with thefollowing nondiscrimination statutes and their implementing regula-tions: (a) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d etseq.) which provides that no person in the United States shall, on theground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participa-tion in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to dis-crimination under any program or activity for which the applicant re-ceived federal financial assistance; (b) the Americans with DisabilitiesAct of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), which prohibits discriminationon the basis of handicap in programs and activities receiving federalfinancial assistance; (c) Title IX of the Education Amendments of1972, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) which prohibits discrimi-nation on the basis of sex in education programs and activities receiv-ing federal financial assistance; and (d) the Age Discrimination Act of1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) which prohibits discrimi-nation on the basis of age in programs and activities receiving federalfinancial assistance, except that actions which reasonably take ageinto account as a factor necessary for the normal operation orachievement of any statutory objective of the project or activity shallnot violate this statute.

Federal Debt Status

If the applicant institution is unable to certify regardingfederal debt status, submit an explanation with the pro-posal.

Terms used in the federal debt status certification are definedas follows:

Federal Debt: The amount of money or property that has been deter-mined by an appropriate federal agency official to be owed to theUnited States by any organization or entity.

Delinquent: Represents the failure to pay an obligation or debt bythe date specified in a federal agency’s initial written notification orapplicable contractual agreement, unless other satisfactory paymentarrangements have been made by that date, or if at any time thereaf-ter, the debtor fails to satisfy the obligation under a payment agree-ment with the agency.

Certification text (OMB Circular A-129): The applicant certifies tothe best of its knowledge and belief, that it is not delinquent in therepayment of any federal debt.

Drug-Free Workplace

By signing and submitting an application for funding,the applicant institution agrees, among other things, toestablish an ongoing drug-free awareness program; topublish a statement notifying employees that the unlaw-ful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, oruse of a controlled substance is prohibited in theawardee’s workplace; and to give this statement to eachemployee to be engaged in the performance of theaward. The program and policy statement must be inplace within thirty days of the date the award is issued.

As an awardee, the applicant institution will be con-sidered in violation of the drug-free workplace require-ments if it falsely certifies, fails to carry out the require-ments of the certification, or fails to make a good-faitheffort to maintain a drug-free workplace.

In the application, the applicant must either identifythe place(s) where the award activities will be carriedout or must keep this information on file in its office sothat it is available for federal inspection. Workplaceidentification shall include the actual address of build-ings (or parts of buildings) or other sites where work un-der the award will take place. Failure to identify allknown workplaces constitutes a violation of theawardee’s drug-free workplace requirements.

The terms used in the drug-free workplace certification are defined asfollows:

Controlled Substance: A controlled substance in schedules I throughV of the Controlled Substance Act (21 U.S.C. 812), and as further de-fined by regulation at 21 CFR 1308.11-1308.15.

Drug-free Workplace: A site for the performance of work done inconnection with a specific award at which employees of the awardeeare prohibited from engaging in the unlawful manufacture, distribu-tion, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance.

Employee: The employee of an awardee directly engaged in the per-formance of work under the award and all temporary personnel andconsultants who are directly engaged in the performance of work un-der the award and who are on the awardee’s payroll.

Applicant: An institution that applies for or receives an award directlyfrom the Library of Congress under the LC/Ameritech National Digi-tal Library competition.

Certification text (Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988):

(A) The applicant certifies that, if given an award under this pro-gram, it will continue to provide a drug-free workplace by

(a) publishing a statement notifying employees that the unlawfulmanufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession or use of a con-trolled substance is prohibited in the awardee’s workplace and speci-fying the actions that will be taken against employees for violation ofsuch prohibitions;

(b) establishing an ongoing drug-free awareness program to informemployees about (1) the dangers of drug abuse in the workplace; (2)the awardee’s policy of maintaining a drug-free workplace; (3) anyavailable drug counseling, rehabilitation, and employee assistanceprograms; and (4) the penalties that may be imposed on employeesfor drug abuse violations occurring in the workplace;

(c) making it a requirement that each employee to be engaged in theperformance of the project be given a copy of the statement requiredby paragraph (a);

(d) notifying the employee in the statement required by paragraph(a) that, as a condition of employment under the award, the em-ployee will (1) abide by the terms of the statement; and (2) notify theemployer in writing of his or her conviction for a violation of a crimi-nal drug statute occurring in the workplace not later than five calen-dar days after such conviction;

(e) notifying the Library of Congress in writing within ten calendardays after receiving notice under subparagraph (d)(2) from an em-ployee or otherwise receiving actual notice of such conviction.

(f) taking one of the following actions, within 30 calendar days of re-ceiving notice under subparagraph (d)(2), with respect to any em-ployee who is so convicted: (1) taking appropriate personnel actionagainst such an employee, up to and including termination consistentwith the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended;or (2) requiring such employee to participate satisfactorily in a drugabuse assistance or rehabilitation program approved for such pur-poses by a federal, state, or local health, law enforcement, or otherappropriate agency;

(g) making a good faith effort to continue to maintain a drug-freeworkplace through implementation of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d),(e), and (f).

B) The applicant shall either identify the site(s) for the performanceof work done in connection with the project in the application mate-rial or shall keep this information on file in its office so that it is avail-able for federal inspection. The street address, city, county, state, andzip code should be provided whenever possible.

16

Institution or Organization Project Director

Name Name

Address Tel. no.

E-mail address

(city) (state) (zip code)

Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library CompetitionApplication Cover Sheet

Authorizing official

Name Tel. no.

Title E-mail address

Address(street address) (city) (state) (zip code)

Employer identification number

Member of the Association of Research Libraries Yes No

Certification:

By signing and submitting this application, the authorizing official of the applicant institution is providing the applicable certifications regardingthe nondiscrimination statutes and implementing regulations, federal debt status, and a drug-free workplace, as set forth on pages 15-16 of theseguidelines.

(printed name) (signature) (date)

NOTE: Federal law provides criminal penalties of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, for knowingly providing false infor-mation to an agency of the U.S. government.

Descriptive title of project

Brief description of project (do not exceed space provided)

Applicant Institution

Project Director

Requested Grant Period

From tomo/yr mo/yr

Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library CompetitionBudget Form

The three-column budget has been developed for the convenience of those applicants who wish to identify the project costs thatwill be charged to LC/Ameritech funds and those that will be cost shared. FOR LC PURPOSES, THE ONLY COLUMN THATNEEDS TO BE COMPLETED IS COLUMN A. The method of cost computation should clearly indicate how the charge for eachbudget item was determined. If more space is needed for any budget category, please follow the budget format on a separatesheet of paper.

1. Salaries and Wages

Provide the names and titles of principal project personnel.

LC/Ameritechname/title or position method of cost computation Funds Cost Sharing Total

(a) (b) (c)

$ $ $

Subtotal $ $ $

2. Fringe Benefits

If more than one rate is used, list each rate and salary base

rate salary base (a) (b) (c)

% of $ $ $ $

% of $

Subtotal $ $ $

LC/Ameritech NDL Competition

Budget Form, p.2

3. Services

Include the cost of duplication and printing, long distance telephone, postage, consultant fees, and other services related toproject objectives. Provide an itemization of subcontract costs on this form or on an attachment.

item basis/method of cost computation (a) (b) (c)

$ $ $

Subtotal $ $ $

4. Other Costs

Include supplies and materials, equipment purchases, and other items not previously listed. Please note that “miscellaneous” and“contingency” are not acceptable budget categories.a

item basis/method of cost computation (a) (b) (c)

$ $ $

Subtotal $ $ $

5. Total Project Costs $ $ $

Application deadlineNovember 1, 1996 (postmark)

Award announcementMarch 31, 1997

Checklist of Application Elements

An application should contain the following elementsarranged in this sequence:

Application Cover Sheet

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Narrative

Budget

Appendices

Applicants should submit twelve copies of the com-pleted application. One copy should have an originalink signature. All pages of the application should beprinted single-sided, single-spaced, and numbered con-secutively. Applications should be stapled or clipped,but not enclosed in binders. The narrative of the appli-cation should not exceed ten pages. No extensions tothe deadline will be granted.

The Library of CongressWashington DC 20540-4860Telephone: (202) 707-1087Fax: (202) 707-3566E-mail: bpau@loc.govhttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

The Evaluation Process 3

Preparing an Application 4

Administration of the Award 7

Technical Notes

Formats for Digital Reproductions 8

Interoperability and Access Aids 11

Certifications 15

Forms

Application Cover Sheet 17

Budget form 18

L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S A M E R I T E C H␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣

NationalDigital LibraryCompetition1996 Guidelines and Application Instructions