Charity School of Nursing Digital Library Project

Project Proposal Form

Jude Morrissey & Aimee Fairchild

Digital Library Project Mission

The mission of the Charity School of Nursing Digital Library Project is to digitally
preserve items of historical interest and/or importance currently kept at the Charity School of
Nursing library.

Digital Library Project Objectives

The digitization of this material will serve several purposes:

1. To preserve print and photographic materials.

2. To make materials available for public use and/or academic research.
3. To represent Charity Nursing School’s presence and involvement in the life of the
city of New Orleans.

History of Charity School of Nursing

The Charity School of Nursing in New Orleans has a long history. Charity Hospital was
founded in 1736 as a hospital for the poor. In 1834, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de
Paul came to serve at the hospital. Later, philanthropists such as Isaac Delgado and John Dibert
became benefactors of the hospital, too. In 1894, the Charity School of Nursing was
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established, offering a two-year program. In 1990, the Charity School of Nursing merged with
Delgado Community College, and began offering an Associate of Science Degree. 1
Quite a bit of material has been collected and kept at the Charity School of Nursing
library over the years. Much of it has become fragile. In addition, the devastating effects of
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 made it obvious how vulnerable the collection was. Some of the
materials – including group photographs of varying graduating classes and the style of the pins
they received upon completing their studies – are of interest to those who attended the school,
as well as their families. Other materials, such as class lecture notes and medical guidelines
from the early 1900’s, will be of interest to those researching the history of nursing education.
While the physical items should be protected and preserved at the library, the library also
wishes to provide access for personal and/or academic use. Digitizing the materials serves to
meet both requirements.

Materials for Digitization

The materials earmarked for digitization fall into four categories:

1. Class/Lecture notes
2. Charity School of Nursing memorabilia
3. Medical/Nursing Guidelines
4. Photographs

The class/lecture notes will consist of notes from the instructors and notes taken by
students. The Charity School of Nursing memorabilia will include photographs of the various
uniform and pin styles, copies of diplomas, and other such materials exclusive to the Charity
School of Nursing. The medical/nursing guidelines will be digitized copies of old guidelines used

1
“Charity School of Nursing RN History.” Delgado Community College.
http://www.dcc.edu/campus/charity/rnprog/rnhistory/index.html (accessed April 15, 2012).
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at the hospital and in nursing education. The photographs digitized will be of student activities,
graduating classes, and student life at the nursing school.

Permissions, Copyrights, and Access to Originals

The materials earmarked for digitization are generally old enough to be considered
public domain. In those instances where identifying information is shown on the original for
living persons, permission will be sought from those persons or the information will be
distorted or “blacked out” on the digitized copy. All materials will be cleared with the head
librarian and the Charity School of Nursing administration before digitization.
Although the digital collection will be available freely to the public for viewing, Charity
School of Nursing will not allow unrestricted use of the materials. Permission to use the images
for any reason will need to be granted by the school. Requests to use the images will need to be
submitted in writing.
Access to the physical materials will likewise be restricted. Requests to view the
materials will need to be submitted in writing. Generally speaking, use of the digital images will
be granted, so long as proper attributions are given, but access to the physical materials will be
given only for purposes of academic research.

Handling of the Materials

The materials earmarked for inclusion in the digital collection are generally in good
condition. Some have been on display – in glass-top tables, glass-fronted cabinets, or in frames.
Other materials managed to make their way to the restricted-access periodicals room, where
old and/or rare books are also kept; although records for these materials were lost during
Hurricane Katrina, measures to re-catalog them have been taken. Some of the items are torn,
but the climate-controlled conditions of the room were good for preventing mildew or mold
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damage, and the restricted access prevented damage from frequent (and frequently careless)
human handling.
Care will be taken during the digitization process, with the oversight of the head
librarian of the Charity School of Nursing library.
Those materials that are not or will not be displayed will be stored in archival envelopes
or in other appropriate storage containers, to prevent further loss or degradation of the items,
and returned to the restricted-access periodicals room. Each item will be appropriately
cataloged, as thoroughly as possible (given the loss of records and other identifying
information). As information becomes available, records will be updated.

Structure of the Digital Collection

The structure of the digital collection will include a home page, an index page, and
individual item records.

Presentation and Organization of the Digital Collection

The home page will give a brief overview of Charity School of Nursing, an explanation for
the collection’s existence, a link to the Charity School of Nursing library’s home page, a link to
the digital collection’s index page, a use of the digital and access to the original materials
statement, and a request for those who can fill in gaps in the records to contact the Charity
School of Nursing library. The index page will provide thumbnails of the collection items,
organized according to the four groups mentioned previously (see “Materials for Digitization”).
Each thumbnail will be a link to the item’s individual record, and a description of each will be
presented to the side. There will also be a link from the index page to the home page and at the
end of each section to the top of the index page.
Rather than using a program such as CONTENTdm, the site will be done using hand-
coded HTML.
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Metadata

Each image will have its own unique metadata record. The metadata will be recorded
according to the Dublin Core metadata scheme. The elements that will be used, as they are
available and appropriate, are:

Title
Subject
Description
Type
Coverage
Creator
Publisher
Contributor
Rights
Date
Format
Identifier
Language
Rights Holder

Because information regarding many of these items has been lost, the metadata records
will not be as complete as they ought to be. The hope is that those who view the collection and
who have missing information will contact the library with that information. Once the
information is verified, the records can be updated.
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Bibliography

“Charity School of Nursing RN History.” Delgado Community College.

http://www.dcc.edu/campus/charity/rnprog/rnhistory/index.html.