[PADG:1070] LC National Digital Library Program announces 2nd release of the Bell Papers

[Tamara Swora-Gober <tswo@xxxxxxx>]

This message is being widely posted
********************************************

The Library of Congress National Digital Program and the Manuscript
Division announce the second release of digital images of the Alexander
Graham Bell Family Papers at the following url: 

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bellhtml/. 

National Digital Library staff continues to work on digital production
activities, and the completed version of this online collection will
ultimately represent a portion selected from the original Bell Papers
and comprise approximately 4700 items, totaling about 38,000 images.

The second release contains over 4500 items consisting of
correspondence, scientific notebooks, journals, blueprints, sketches,
and photographs documenting Bell's invention of the telephone and his
involvement in the first telephone company, his family life, his
interest in the education of the deaf, and his aeronautical and other
scientific research.  Included among Bell's papers are his first sketch
of the telephone and pages from an experimental notebook, dated March
10, 1876, that describe the first successful experiment with the
telephone, during which he spoke through the instrument to his
assistant, Thomas Watson, the famous words, "Mr. Watson-- Come here -- I
want to see you."  Also included in this update are Bell?s notes and
photographs of his aeronautical work and correspondence from such noted
individuals as Helen Keller, Marie Curie, Edward Gallaudet, Joseph
Henry, William James, and Guglielmo Marconi.

Digitizing the Collection

The selection of the Bell Papers was scanned as 300 dpi grayscale images
which were compressed using JPEG compression, producing images in the
JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF).  Typically, the National Digital
Library Program (NDLP) has used grayscale to digitize historical
manuscripts because of its ability to capture and display the diversity
of tones in manuscript papers and the varying nuances produced by
handwriting, pencil, and ink.  The grayscale format can also often
suppress the bleedthrough typical of handwritten documents in the Bell
Papers.  Because JPEG images require considerable time to download,
grayscale GIF images were created as well for convenient access using
the NDLP page-turner feature.  The materials were scanned onsite by the
NDLP paper scanning and text conversion contractor.  UMAX flatbed
scanners were used to digitize most of the manuscripts after this
procedure was approved by the Conservation Division, and an overhead
Phase I camera was used for bound and oversize materials.  A few items
were also digitized by staff from the Library's Information Technology
Services (ITS) Scan Lab. The Bell team, ITS Scan Lab, and Systems
Integration Group staff worked with the Library's conservators to ensure
proper handling of the manuscripts during the physical processing of the
collection and subsequent scanning. 

Because efforts were made to preserve the look of the original
documents, digital images reflect their original physical condition as
well.  Due to age and past handling, many of the original materials are
discolored, stained, or fragile.  Their digital images therefore may
show discolorations, heavy fold markings, and various tones in the
paper.  Those items made from unusually thin paper sometimes show
bleedthrough--where the ink or printing on the verso (back) of a page
can be seen on the recto (front)--which even the grayscale format could
not suppress.  Additionally, a few letters written on colored paper have
produced images darker than usual because they have been digitized in
grayscale format and not in color.  Some digital images of
correspondence appear to have light or faded text that might be
difficult to read.  This is often because either the handwriting strokes
are very thin or the ink or pencil has faded on the original materials. 
Finally, some of the photographs either have faded over time or were
originally dark and, consequently, their digital images may be dark as
well. 

Roughly half of the collection consists of original typescript letters
and documents, correspondence with transcripts, and other printed items.
These typescript materials were converted to machine-readable form at an
accuracy rate of 99.95 percent and encoded with Standard Generalized
Markup Language (SGML), according to the American Memory Document Type
Definition (DTD). This DTD is a markup scheme that conforms to the
guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), the work of a
consortium of scholarly institutions.  The text of the transcripts and
original typescripts has been translated to HTML for indexing and
viewing on the World Wide Web. 

This collection is being made available through the generous support of
the AT&T Foundation.

Please direct any questions about American Memory collections to NDLPCOLL@xxxxxxx