Digital Workflow Management: Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music

Johns Hopkins University

• Sayeed Choudhury, Principal Investigator
• Cynthia Requardt, Co-Principal Investigator
  Digital Knowledge Center

This project will seek to enhance the use and usability of the Eisenhower Library’s Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music and similar collections located elsewhere. The Eisenhower Library previously digitized this collection of more than 29,000 pieces of American popular sheet music spanning the years 1780 to 1960. The sheet music in this collection provides a social commentary on American life and a distinctive record of their time.

The project will create sound renditions and enhanced search capabilities for the collection. Audio files and full-text lyrics are being created using optical music recognition software written by staff from the Peabody Conservatory at Hopkins. Workflow managing tools will be developed to reduce and focus human labor. The activities will result in a tested process, framework, and set of tools transferable for use with other large-scale digitization projects.