How do we move from discussing new technologies to actually implementing
them? This presentation will cover several applications of NLP (natural
language processing) for improving discovery of born-digital records in
special collections and archives, focusing on two NLP-centered projects at
the North Carolina State University Special Collections Research Center.
The first is the implementation of out-of-the-box software tools to enable
browsing collections by named entities in the reading room. The second
project is the integration of named entity recognition and topic modeling
into born-digital processing workflows in order to improve and automate
aggregate description of collections. The presentation evaluates the
success of these projects and describes possibilities for the future
extension of these tools vis-à-vis practical applications. This
presentation is framed in terms of working solutions that add value to the
researcher experience in the library, and works to fill the gap between
theoretical discussion of these tools and realized application.