In March 2015, Princeton University acquired the personal library of Algerian-born French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). Of the roughly 16,000 published books and other items in the library, a significant number have been heavily annotated, and many bear personal dedications to Derrida from other philosophers and theorists. Princeton is creating linked data descriptions for a set of these items, which involves participating in the development of a Rare Materials Ontology Extension with an emphasis on modeling annotations, evaluating linked data creation tools, and making the resulting RDF data set available to scholars who are interested in studying Derrida’s social and intellectual networks. 

Princeton Project Proposal



  • Linked data descriptions of a set of annotated items from the Derrida Archive
  • Transform and convert MARC records into BIBFRAME for a representative selection of items in the Derrida collection
  • BIBFRAME extension ontology for original resource description of special collections materials



Transcribing dedications as a first step toward linked data creation



Joyce Bell (Director, Cataloging and Metadata Services)
Jennifer Baxmeyer (Leader, Electronic Resources Team)
Peter Green (Cataloging and Metadata Technology Specialist)
Lidia Santarelli (Metadata Librarian) (from Feb. 2017)
Timothy Thompson (Metadata Librarian) (until Mar. 2017)
Don Thornbury (Head, Technical Services for Special Collections)
Regine Heberlein (Principal Cataloger and Metadata Analyst)




Last updated Jul. 2017, to be updated again Oct. 2017

Phase 3 (Apr. 2017-Sep. 2017)

Logistics and Planning

  • Met with University Librarian Anne Jarvis to discuss next steps toward linked data initiatives at Princeton University Library

  • Met with Systems Application Development Team to discuss linked data related collaboration

Collaboration

  • Hosted LD4P ontology extension group April 3-4

  • Attended community and partner meetings at Stanford University April 24-28

  • Participated in Rare Materials / ArtFrame calls

  • Began working with vitrolib developer at Cornell

    • Provided example record / RDF description

    • Participated in usability testing

Data creation

  • Completed double-blind transcription of sample dedications

  • Completed reconciliation of both transcriber’s dedications

  • Completed first steps toward entification / data cleanup

Self-learning / Training

  • Completed Semantic Web for Working Ontologist in our linked data discussion / reading group

Outreach

  • Presentations

    • Linked Data at Princeton! Princeton University Library Dept. Heads

  • Articles

  • Other

    • Met with faculty stakeholder to discuss use cases and areas of overlap with digital humanities projects


Phase 2 (Oct. 2016-Mar. 2017)

Collaboration

  • Attended second LD4P All-Hands meeting in Washington D.C.

  • Met with the Princeton Digital Humanities Center’s Derrida project management team (regarding their separate but potentially related project)

  • Participated in brainstorming about a second LD4P grant

Data creation

  • Digitization

    • Arranged for digitization of the sample set of 500 objects

  • Transcription

    • Created MS Access data entry form

    • Hired student workers for double-blind data entry

    • Began transcription of dedications

    • Completed comparison and reconciliation of 235 transcriptions

Modelling

Self-learning / Training

Outreach

  • Articles

    • Timothy A. Thompson, et al. (2016). From Notes to Annotations: Deconstructing Dedications in the Library of Jacques Derrida at Princeton University, Journal of Library Metadata, 16(3-4), 146-165. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19386389.2016.1258908


Phase 1 (Apr.-Sept. 2016)

Logistics and Planning

  • Created private GitHub wiki for Princeton internal documentation

  • Scheduled bi-weekly LD4P workshops for the core group

  • Outlined plans for Oct.-Dec. 2016, the first half of Phase 2

Collaboration

  • Expanded core group to include local Rare Books staff

  • Consulted with library IT staff

  • Consulted with faculty stakeholder in French and Italian Dept.

    • Explored the possibility of coordination with related CDH Derrida project

  • Met with the LD4P Project Manager during on-site visit

Data creation

  • Created proposal for imaging relevant pages from a sample of ~500 annotated books

  • Selected 525 objects from Derrida's library for digitization

  • Initiated process of hiring student help for the transcription of annotations in Phase 2

Modelling

  • Participated in collaborative LD4P Rare Materials ontology calls

    • Contributed to the creation, categorization, and prioritization of use cases

  • Participated in LD4All Ontology Alignment Calls

  • Worked on modelling of annotations, seeking input from members of the Web Annotation Working Group

Self-learning

Outreach

  • Discussed idea of training a select group of staff in linked data concepts


Pre-project activities (prior to Apr. 2016)

  • Formed core group within Library Technical Services Dept. and scheduled weekly meetings
  • Did initial modelling for annotations, investigate applicability of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Annotation Data Model  
  • Manually created 45 sample annotations in turtle format
    • Prototyped an annotation creation tool
  • Consulted with Princeton University Center for Digital Humanities (CDH)
  • Presentation: