Descriptive Metadata for Digitization of Maps in Books: A British Library Project

Abstract

Hidden special collections are increasingly being made visible and accessible by small digitization projects. In the project described in this paper, the British Library employed existing library standards and systems to accomplish key functions of a project to digitize a selection of maps contained within rare books. The integrated library system, using the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) and Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) format, acted as a lynchpin, linking directly bibliographic descriptions of both the original and the digital copies of the map, the book containing the map, the digital image, and preservation data and strategy, making the items widely searchable and visible while uniting them with the broader collections.