This presentation outlines the processes involved with converting the historic Daily Racing Form into a keyword searchable archive.

1. Partnering to Preserve Racing’s Rich History The Preservation Project

2. The 21st century DRF

3. Used by turf writers, horseplayers, researchers

4. And by casual historians whose enthusiasm cannot be curbed.

5. 1896: Vol. 2

6. 1906: Note change in size

7. 1941: more complex layout

8. 1976

9. Past Performance Charts: the fractions are the quality spec: they must be readable.

10. Pilot project focused on Triple Crown coverage

11. The beginning: bound volumes

12. Tight inner margins. Text sewn into binding.

13. 1953: very aggressively bound

14. How we make the DRF online Remove cover Remove glue Separate into sections Separate into pages Microfilm the pages Convert the film to digital images Perform optical character recognition Create issue level metadata Divide into articles Back up on portable hard drives Re-house the DRF pages in archival boxes Go live: http://kdl.kyvl.org/drf

17. Separate into Sections

18. Trimming ragged edges

19. Microfilm the pages

20. Microfilm scanning

21. Single page image

22. Each page is cropped to show page edges.

23. Optical Character Recognition makes the text searchable

24. Divide into columns to identify articles and charts

25. Article Types Articles Advertisements Masthead Past performances Other charts Comics

26. Daily Racing Form Online Archive

27. Powered by and available on the Kentuckiana Digital Library

28. Two copies of microfilm stored in different storage vaults

29. Images and metadata backed up on portable hard drives

30. DRF pages housed in archival folders and boxes

31. May the Horse Be With You** Harvey Pack