Unanticipated Outcomes

Although the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online was not the Brooklyn Public Library's (BPL) first digital project, it has become a catalyst for change and future library initiatives. This is largely because of the richness of the content, the scope of the project, and the response from users.

Like many local history collections nationwide, BPL's Brooklyn Collection was eager to digitize materials for improved access, especially the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. In 2001, the library received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant to digitize the microfilm of the Eagle from 1841 to 1902. (For more technical information on the project, see "Nuts & Bolts," p. 31.)

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, founded in 1841, was Brooklyn's newspaper of record. During the Civil War it was the most widely read afternoon newspaper in the nation, gaining prestige as the century drew on. The vast repository contains vibrant reporting on local and national events through a period of enormous growth. It is also a rich resource for illustrations and photographs.

After the Eagle ceased publication in 1955, BPL received the paper's morgue and related files. Today, they are the centerpiece of the Brooklyn Collection, which also houses books, photographs from the Eagle and from other photographers, newspaper clipping files, and manuscripts, prints, and illustrations.

Several factors have limited access to the Eagle. It was only indexed between 1891 to 1902. Just a few libraries in the country have microform editions, and even fewer have substantial print runs. To access the paper, most users came to Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza Library to use the microfilm version or submitted a research request to look through the limited and fragile clippings in the morgue. Although articles in the morgue were often crossed-referenced, access cannot be compared with keyword searching.

The digitization initiative included the hiring of a librarian with a strong background in digitization, key to the project's success. She resolved a multitude of functionality problems, created a user-friendly web interface, managed the budget, and acted as a liaison with the vendor and other library departments.

Beta testing of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online (www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle) began in March 2003, when a select group of users, including genealogists, were invited to try it out. Despite limiting the number of initial users, word traveled fast, and during our first month of testing, usage surged to over 100,000 visits. From March 2003 to March 2004, the site attracted an average of 60,000 visits per month, with a visit defined as a session of 15 minutes or more. Most users come from the United States and Europe.

The most important outcome of the Eagle Online is an intended one: users of many backgrounds have found a treasury of long-sought or unexpected information. As one happy researcher wrote, "It sure beats the hell out of poring over reels and reels of microprint just to verify a reference. I kiss you all!"

We have received emails and hundreds of surveys from remote users and onsite patrons. Many of the respondents used the Eagle Online for genealogical research. Other reasons cited included historical research, academic or classroom use, and general interest.

The responses indicate a mix of experienced researchers and novices using the site. The most frequently asked question by far is when later issues will be made accessible.

The Brooklyn Collection has also experienced a significant increase in visitors who live outside of the New York metro area. These visitors typically learned about us through the Eagle Online and are eager to find out what other resources we have.

As reference work on 19th-century subjects becomes more rewarding thanks to enhanced access, it also requires librarians to give patrons assistance with searching. Librarians accustomed to both creating and accommodating change in the workplace have adapted well to this new emphasis.

Another interesting development is how content, once digitized, can be used by the library in a variety of ways. For example, another grant-funded project sought to provide primary documents, for K-12 students, on Brooklyn in the Civil War period. This effort has drawn heavily on the Eagle Online.

June Gaddy, Brooklyn Collection's CLASP (Connecting Libraries and Schools Program) librarian, used material from the online collection in her exhibit "A Stitch in Time." She presented hand-stitched dresses with appliquéd photographs that illustrate moments in African American women's history. In addition, articles on Brooklyn's free black enclave Weeksville, slavery, and Harriet Tubman's visit to Brooklyn were enlarged, colorized, applied to boards, and hung around the exhibit area. These articles provided primary documentation of events frequently not covered in other published sources.

Gaddy regularly delves into African American and neighborhood history as represented in the Eagle Onlineas she works with teachers and students on local history projects. Class visits introduce students to searching the Eagle Online, allowing them to access primary materials and to develop search techniques.

Not only has the Eagle Online opened up research, but it has also generated discussions within the institution about the role of the public library in the digital world. For example, the library has had several opportunities to generate revenue from the Eagle Online. One newspaper proposed advertising on the Eagle Onlinein exchange for a share of the income generated. The library has not acted on any proposals.

Owing to the large volume of public inquiry, project staff quickly recognized the need for separate conduits to receive reference requests, reports of difficulties experienced (functionality form), and general feedback (survey form). We have learned more about our users than ever before.

When the IMLS grant ended, the Brooklyn Collection lobbied to retain the Eagle Online's project coordinator to both manage and sustain the database and provide leadership to other digital initiatives. This resulted in a new position charged with exploring digitization initiatives, researching funding options, and executing digital library projects. In short, this project has compelled the library to create a comprehensive framework to sustain its digital assets and undertake new digital initiatives.

Like many public libraries, BPL has holdings that might provide significant benefit from digitization. In the case of less-publicized special collections, making digital surrogates may increase user interest. As was the case with the Brooklyn Eagle, access, storage, and conservation issues continue to bedevil some of these collections, and digital projects have the potential to jump-start fundraising for originals.

Naturally, the demand for digitizing 1902–55 of the Eagle is very high, since these recent years cover the lifetimes of many people's close ancestors. But several issues need to be resolved. First, web access to newspapers after 1923 presents copyright complications, which lawyers are now reviewing.

Also, digitizing and facilitating online access to the second half of the Eagle is more complex owing to the scale. The physical number of pages per newspaper issue vastly increased in the later years. If digitized using the same process, phase two will be nearly five times larger than the earlier collection, which will affect delivery of digital items and the infrastructure needed.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online has compelled us to look at developing technologies and claim a place at the forefront of a relatively new process. By focusing funding and attention on digital collections, this initiative has transformed how our administration and our colleagues see the role of digitization in the public library and ultimately the role of the public library itself.