Reports

In March read the books you've always meant to read

We write or commission reports when we need to know more. Perhaps they’ll be useful for you and your organization too!

The Humans in the Loop experiment and recommendations report present the outcomes of the latest LC Labs initiative to test approaches for scaling metadata creation. The experiment combined essential subject matter expertise and human quality assessment with machine learning methods to extract accurate information from a set of digitized historic telephone directories. The experiment gauged user attitudes about this work and yielded recommendations for how to blend machine and human expertise in ways that are ethical, useful, and engaging while mitigating potential harms and enhancing collection discovery.
Machine Learning + Libraries: A Report on the State of the Field LC Labs commissioned Ryan Cordell, Associate Professor of English at Northeastern University, to write this report on the “state of the ﬁeld in machine learning and libraries.” The goal was to provide a wide-ranging view into the current applications and practices of applying machine learning in libraries and other cultural heritage organizations. It draws on and references the report by the Project Aida team included below and on the outcomes from the Machine Learning + Libraries Summit hosted by LC Labs in September 2019.
Digital Libraries, Intelligent Data Analytics, and Augmented Description: Final Report This final report details several exploratory projects conducted by the Project Aida Team at the University of Nebraska Lincoln in collaboration with LC Labs. It also addresses social and technical challenges that are critical context for the development of machine learning in the cultural heritage sector, and makes several recommendations to the Library of Congress as it plans for future possibilities. For more information and additional resources about this experiment, including the appendices to this report, please visit its experiment page.
Machine Learning + Libraries Summit: Event Summary This event summary includes more detailed information about the Machine Learning + Libraries Summit hosted by LC Labs in September 2019. It broadly summarizes recurring themes of discussion and compiles the outputs of the small group activities. We hope it serves as a point of entry into broader conversations around the challenges, opportunities, and actionable items concerning machine learning in cultural heritage.
Digital Scholarship Working Group Report This report was authored by the Library of Congress Digital Scholarship Working Group. It offers recommendations on how to expand support for digital scholarship at the Library of Congress.
Open a GLAM Lab: Digital Cultural Heritage Innovation Labs . This book describes what an Innovation Lab is in the GLAM context, what its for and how to make one happen! It was produced during a book sprint hosted by the University College London, Qatar, University of Qatar, the British Library and Library of Congress. Over the course of five days, 16 participants created this work to articulate the notion and reality of Innovation Labs in libraries worldwide.
Recommendations for a Digital Scholarship Lab at the Library of Congress by Michelle Gallinger and Dan Chudnov. We asked Michelle Gallinger and Daniel Chudnov to study how libraries and other research centers have developed services that use computational analysis, design, and engagement to enable new kinds of discovery and outreach. This work resulted in concrete recommendations to the Library on how to approach setting up a Lab at the Library of Congress. These recommendations could also be helpful to other organizations who may be thinking of establishing their own centers for digital scholarship and engagement.

Read our interview with Dan and Michelle on The Signal
On A Collections as Data Imperative by Thomas Padilla. A series of frames and recommendations to help guide the Library of Congress and a broader library community as they consider how and where they might contribute to a collections as data imperative.
Digital Scholarship Resource Guide by Samantha Herron. As a 2017 Junior Fellow with our team, Sam created this fantastic primer on understanding digital scholarship. This guide is full of example projects, methodologies, and further resources to get readers up to speed quickly.
Digital Scholarship 101: Six tools to get you started by Eileen Jakeway. As a 2018 Junior Fellow, Eileen worked with fellows at the John W. Kluge Center to create a workshop and supporting resources for researchers interested in digital scholarship methodologies. This research guide is a way to get busy doing with six approachable tool tutorials.
Designing the Future Landscape Report by Aliza Leventhal. A report on the Architecture, Design and Engineering Summit organized by the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art and the Architect of the Capitol on November 16 & 17, 2017 at the Library of Congress to advance knowledge sharing, documentation, and promotion of best practices for long-term sustainability and interoperability of digital architecture, design and engineering (ADE) assets.