Collection Description
The EPFL Library’s collection of precious works consists of around 600 books (over 900 volumes), dating from the 15th to the 19th century. This precious collection was created to illustrate the fields of the history and philosophy of science, and more specifically, the scientific works of Swiss authors. It particularly highlights, through its humanistic perspective, the relationship between humans and scientific advancements. All documents in this collection are referenced in BEAST, the catalog of the EPFL Library.
The EPFL Library’s precious collection shines through three major qualities:
- Multilingualism: Besides works in Latin, the precious collection includes many books published in French, German, Italian, and English.
- Scientific Range: The collection represents various sciences and techniques, often by the best authors. Swiss scholars also hold their place here, from Jean-Pierre de Crousaz to Simon Lhuilier and from Loys de Chesaux to Develey, including the great mathematicians Daniel and Johann Bernoulli.
- Iconographic Richness: The EPFL collection is particularly rich in books on natural history, architecture and urban planning, military art and fortification, and civil and maritime engineering, with many and superb plates (often fold-outs) often in excellent condition.
Although this precious collection is relatively modest in size, the books within it hold undeniable value. The main goal of the EPFL Library is to qualitatively complement the digital heritage already available online and to justify the interest of digitization. The selection of documents for digitization is based on three main criteria:
- No accessible digitization of the concerned title exists;
- A digitization exists, but its quality is not optimal (missing image, truncated text, etc.);
- A digitization exists, but the contained texts have not been transcribed by OCR or, if they have been, the quality of the processing is unsatisfactory (OCR layer misalignment with the image).
PLUME aims to grow over time and to include new digitized works.
Technical Information
The EPFL Library focuses on reading comfort and offers its users the possibility to perform full-text searches in its documents, thanks to transcriptions obtained by optical character recognition (OCR). Navigation in the books is facilitated by the presence of dynamic tables of contents. Visitors can also enrich the documents through a collaborative annotation module.
Digitization Parameters for Original Documents
- The archival format is a TIFF file without compression, 300 DPI, 24 bits or 16 million colors in RGB, unrectified images, without alignment correction.
- Grayscale processing is applied to documents with transparency to improve OCR. Images are rectified in the reading direction.
- Original documents are digitized at actual size at a scale of 1:1.
- Digitization is single-page except in cases where a double-page view is needed if the image spans both pages, and if it is possible to lay the document flat.
- Framing leaves a 2 to 5 mm margin around the cover to preserve the shape of the document. In the case of "tight books" (where margins and text extend into the binding), image delivery is made with a negative margin of 2 to 3 mm.
- Digitization includes all elements of the document: cover, binding, blank page, flap.
Parameters for Uploading Digitized Documents
- The consultation format is an OCR provided in PDF/A hidden text, 300 DPI, PDF 30 (quality 70%), grayscale, images rectified in the reading direction, with alignment correction.
- Provision of images in JPEG 70 (quality 70%), 30% compression, 24 bits or 16 million colors (true colors) in RGB, images rectified in the reading direction, with alignment correction. This JPEG format is always produced from the TIFF file, 300 DPI, RGB, images rectified in the reading direction with alignment correction.
- Creation of internal structural metadata for documents, such as pagination, foliation, or intellectual structure (chapters or sections, for example).
PLUME Data is Interoperable
Legal Mentions
Terms of Use
Every user agrees to comply with the following terms of use.
1. Digitized Content
- PLUME contains reproductions of public domain works, the physical copies of which are the property of the EPFL Library.
- The digitized documents available on the platform can be used without restriction. The documents bear the Public Domain Mark. They may be used freely for scientific, private, non-commercial, and commercial purposes. The EPFL Library upholds the principle that digitization of a heritage work does not compromise the integrity of the public domain.
- Any reuse, including commercial use, is free and unrestricted provided the source mention is maintained: PLUME or the provision of a permanent identifier in a visible and easily accessible manner (e.g., https://plume.epfl.ch/idurl/1/1375).
- Regarding the digitized documents, the user is free to:
- reproduce, copy them
- adapt, modify, extract, and transform them to create "derivative information", products, or services
- communicate, disseminate, redistribute, publish, and transmit them
- exploit them commercially, for example by combining them with other information or including them in their own product or application.
- In the case of reuse of files in any format, the user is required to respect the moral right which grants the author, inalienably and perpetually, the right to respect their name, quality, and work.
- Creating hyperlinks to the site is allowed only if they do not harm the interests of the EPFL Library, and more generally of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
The EPFL Library invites visitors to its digital library to report any reuse of its files for informational purposes.
For ordering high-definition files (reusable under the same conditions) and any additional requests regarding data reuse, please contact: library@epfl.ch.
2. Descriptive Metadata of the Digital Library Documents
The descriptive metadata for the documents in PLUME are available in Dublin Core format, via the OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) data exchange protocol. The use of this protocol is free, as are its specifications: www.openarchives.org.
The format of the descriptive metadata is unqualified Dublin Core (or Simple Dublin Core). This format, designed to describe internet-accessible documentary resources simply but unambiguously, consists of fifteen descriptive elements.
Records, retrievable via the OAI-PMH protocol, are exposed in the OAI repository at the following address: https://plume.epfl.ch/oai?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc
The OAI repository is updated regularly. The use of these metadata is free and without charge, provided the source mention PLUME is maintained.
The user is authorized to:
- reproduce and redistribute these metadata, provided the exact source mention is maintained, worldwide and without time limitation, for commercial or non-commercial purposes;
- process, include, or exploit these contents and metadata, provided the meaning and accuracy are not distorted and that no third parties are misled regarding the content or source of this information.
Data Protection
This data protection statement applies to the PLUME platform. The EPFL Library does not assume any responsibility for compliance with data protection provisions on external websites linked to PLUME and from which there are links on the PLUME platform.
Use of Information – Matomo
Users can visit the platform without providing personal information. Usage data, such as IP address, last page visited, browser software used, date, time, etc., are collected anonymously to highlight trends and improve the EPFL Library’s online offerings.
This site uses Matomo, a free and open-source web analytics software. The measurement data collected is not shared with third-party services.
