1. Collaborative Digital Archiving:
A Non-Custodial Approach
“Nuts and bolts for special collections”
Carolyn Palaima
LLILAS-Benson Program Manager
The University of Texas
SALALM 2012

2. The Basic Methodology
Case Study: Primeros Libros
http://primeroslibros.org

3. Methodology
Define the Collection

4. Primeros Libros
• First books printed in the New World
• Focus on the primeros libros printed in
Mexico before 1601
• Approximately 220 known titles, 136 exist
to present day
• Include as many exemplars of same work
as possible

5. Methodology
Identify Lead Partners
• Content
• Technical
• Digital Preservation

6. Primeros Libros
Project initiated by:
Texas A&M University
The University of Texas at Austin

7. Primeros Libros
Content (initial phase):
• Cushing Library at Texas A&M
• Biblioteca Lafragua at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma
de Puebla
• Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas
• Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla
• Biblioteca Franciscana in Cholula
• Biblioteca Histórica Marqués de Valdecilla of the
University Complutense of Madrid

8. Primeros Libros
Technical:
Scanning standards
• University of Texas Libraries
• Texas A&M University
Web-based access to complete collection (project
Website)
• University of Texas Libraries

9. Primeros Libros
Digital Preservation:
• TIFF images preserved in Texas Digital Libraries
Preservation Network
• Repositorio Digital Mexicano, REDIME
• Each partner institution entitled to complete
collection of TIFF and/or derivative images

10. Methodology
Documentation for Partnership
• Project Agreement
• Digitization Standards

11. Primeros Libros
Find both in one document at:
http://primeroslibros.org/about_project_agreement.html
or
http://primeroslibros.org/about_project_agreement.html

12. Methodology
Set up scanning stations
Train staff

13. Primeros Libros
• Scanning stations at UT Austin, Texas A&M,
and mobile station in Puebla
• Training of institutional staff provided by
UT Austin, Texas A&M, and Universidad
Autónoma de Puebla

14. Methodology
Bring on additional content partners
based on institutional holdings

15. Primeros Libros
Content partners added:
•Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Biblioteca Histórica
•Biblioteca Pública de la Universidad Michoacana de san Nicolás de
Hidalgo
•Biblioteca Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles
•Centro de Documentación Histórica Rafael Montejano y Aguiñaga
•Biblioteca Francisco de Burgos
•Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
•The John Carter Brown Library, Brown
•The Latin American Library, Tulane
•Houghton Library, Harvard

16. Methodology
Non-custodial:
• Materials do not have to be physically acquired
for centralized access
• Digital capture occurs on-site or within local
region
• Each partner entitled to complete collection of
TIFF and/or derivative images
• Flexible framework that can be adapted to the
needs of partners and collections

17. Collaborative Digital Non-Custodial Archiving
Outcomes:
• Multiple preservation sites
• Resource for academic research and instruction
• Demonstrated international collaboration
• Cultural and historical patrimony consolidated
from dispersed holdings

18. Collaborative Digital Non-Custodial Archiving
Other examples of non-custodial model used
by the University of Texas Libraries for
collaborative digital collections building:
•Human Rights Documentation Initiative
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/hrdi
•Guatemalan National Police Historical Archive
(AHPN) https://ahpn.lib.utexas.edu/

19. Contact:
Carolyn Palaima
LLILAS-Benson Program Manager
c.palaima@austin.utexas.edu
512 232-2408