Institute of Museum and Library Services

Cuban Heritage Collection Digitizing Project
Directed Grant 2000
Grant #CL-00006

FOURTH INTERIM REPORT
April-September 2002

1. Introduction

This report covers the fourth six-month period of the IMLS Directed Grant # CL-00006, awarded to the University of Miami for the Cuban Heritage Collections Digitizing Project. Together with grant #LL-90160, this project forms the Cuban Heritage Digital Collection (CHDC), which aims to be the most comprehensive Web-based repository of digital materials on the culture and history of Cuba.

On 10 June 2002, we requested an extension for Grant #CL-00006, which was granted with a new end date of 30 September 2003.

2. Personnel

Project Manager Pedro A. Figueredo resigned his post in September 2002. We are currently re-evaluating the project’s staffing structure and will be eliminating the Project Manager position in favor of an Imaging and Technology Specialist position. This position is yet to be approved and filled.

María R. Estorino continues to serve as the Project Director/Archivist. Research assistants Eugenio A. Alonso and Alejandra A. Valencia have been transferred to this grant from grant #LL-90160.

3. Content

Grants #CL-00006 has been managed together with grant #LL-90160, which was completed on September 30, 2002. The product of these grants is the Cuban Heritage Digital Collection (CHDC), a web portal that provides access to online finding aids and to digital objects within each of the selected collections of the Cuban Heritage Collection. The CHDC website provides access to finding aids through two sections: “Collections” and “Finding Aids.” Browsing an online finding aid allows users to view selected digital images of the contents of the selected archival collections. Users can also access the finding aids through the University of Miami OPAC.

During the reporting period, we evaluated the current design of the CHDC Web site and developed a new structure. We will be implementing the new site organization during the next reporting period.
From April 2002 to September 2002, a total of four collections have been digitized and delivered online via the Cuban Heritage Digital Collection Web site:

• Gerardo Machado y Morales Collection (April 2002)
• The Truth About Cuba Committee, Inc. Records (June 2002)
• Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection (July 2002)
• Polita Grau y Agüero Collection (August 2002) (from grant #LL-90160)

The remaining collection to be digitized and delivered is the Lydia Cabrera Collection, originally under grant #LL-90160 and now being completed under grant #CL-00006. During the reporting period, we began processing the first series of the Lydia Cabrera Collection as well as selecting items for digitization. Because of the size of this collection (currently approximately 85 cubic feet) and the amount of material we anticipate digitizing, we will deliver this collection by series, with Series I and II planned for delivery during the next reporting period.

During this reporting period, 1,724 items were delivered online with a total of 5,199 digital images created for these items under both Grants #CL-00006 and #LL-90160. These represent 52% of all items currently delivered and 45% of all digital images available online.

The Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection was visited by more Web visitors than any other collection or the CHDC site as a whole before the posting of this collection. Since its publication on 16 July 2002 until 31 July 2002, this collection received over 18,000 hits, bringing the total hits to the all CHDC pages to 33,389 for the month of July 2002. This represents a considerable increase from the previous month when total site hits totaled approximately 9,000. We are currently analyzing the Web hits statistics for August and September 2002, which show an increase in visits to the Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection in August with a slight decrease in September.

The interest generated by the Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection suggests that there is a demand for digital images of photographs and other graphic materials delivered on the Web. This is an area that we intend to further explore and develop upon completion of the objectives of this grant.

We continue to publish a monthly primary sources newsletter, “Cuban Memories,” that highlights an artifact from each of the collections being digitized. Two issues were published during the reporting period: “El Plan de Miami = The Miami Plan,” by Eugenio A. Alonso (April 2002) and “American Colonies in Cuba,” by María R. Estorino (August 2002), both of which are included as attachments.

4. Technology

We continue to use a Microsoft Access database to manage the project. The database contains fields for descriptive as well as administrative metadata. We have begun to review other technological options for our database and have attended presentations about the Endeavor EnCompass and Luna Insight programs. We have mapped our database to begin reviewing and editing fields and are working to create a new sample database using MySQL.

We completed the set-up of our digital camera system. We tested the system using oversized and three-dimensional materials from the project collections and developed basic procedures for use of the digital camera.

5. Publicity

During the reporting period, we prepared and distributed four press releases announcing the availability of collections on the CHDC Web site. Articles about the collections were published in several issues of the University of Miami’s online news-brief publication, e-Veritas and the summer 2002 issue of the Society of American Archivists’ Manuscript Repositories Section Newsletter.

We also printed a postcard to help advertise the CHDC Web site. A sample is included as an attachment.

The Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection much attention after we posted it on our Web site on 16 July 2002. It was featured in the 19 July 2002 issue of The Scout Report (8:28), the 11-17 July 2002 issue of Research Buzz and the August 2002 issue of The Museum Computer Network’s eSpectra Featured News. As of 28 August 2002, 15 Web pages linked directly to the Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection on the CHDC Web site, while 52 sites linked to the CHDC home page or to other collections within the site. For a detailed list, please refer to the attachment entitled “CHDC Reverse Links.”

Project Director/Archivist María R. Estorino presented about the CHDC at the 32nd annual meeting of the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in May 2002.

6. Objectives for Next Phase

1. Complete processing, selecting, and digitizing Series II of the Lydia Cabrera Collection
2. Deliver online Series I and II of the Lydia Cabrera Collection
3. Implement the new design of the CHDC Web site

Principal Investigator: Jeff Barry

Report prepared by
María R. Estorino
Project Director/Archivist
November 2002

Attachments:

1. CHDC postcard
2. CHDC Reverse Links
3. Press release of April 29, 2002
4. Press release of June 3, 2002
5. Press release of July 16, 2002
6. Press release of August 30, 2002
7. “Cuban Memories” issue no. 6 (April 2002)
8. “Cuban Memories” issue no. 7 (August 2002)