Library Curator

Secondary Collections (Priority 2)

• Early Science - Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, mathematical arts
• Neoplatonism - Plotinus, Proclus, Florentine Academy
• Emblemata - Alciato, emblem books, symbolic imagery
• Architecture - Vitruvius, Palladio, sacred geometry
• Art Theory - Dürer, Leonardo, proportion and perspective

East Asian & Chinese Collections (Priority 2)

Language Priority

1. Latin (primary scholarly language)
2. German (Boehme, Paracelsus, Reformation mysticism)
3. English (17th century translations, Cambridge Platonists)
4. Italian (Renaissance sources)
5. French (18th century editions)
6. Dutch (Amsterdam printing tradition)
7. Classical Chinese / Literary Chinese (cosmology, divination, Daoist canon)
8. Arabic (Islamic science, Hermetic tradition)
9. Hebrew (Kabbalistic texts)

Selection Rules (CRITICAL)

ACQUIRE

• Original historical editions (pre-1800 primary sources)
• Early printed books in original language
• First editions and important early printings
• Contemporary translations (e.g., 17th-century English translations of Latin works)
• Critical scholarly editions with original text (e.g., Flasch's Bruno, Tocco's Bruno)

REJECT

• Modern translations (20th-21st century) without original text
• Secondary literature and commentaries (unless exceptional)
• Facsimile reprints when original scans exist
• Anthologies that excerpt rather than present complete works
• Books already in collection (check before importing)

Scoring Criteria (1-10 scale)

Import APIs (24 Sources)

Full API reference: .claude/docs/import-apis.md

Internet Archive

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/ia" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "ia_identifier": "bookid123", "title": "...", "author": "...", "year": 1617, "original_language": "Latin" }'

Gallica (BnF)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/gallica" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "ark": "bpt6k61073880", "title": "...", "author": "...", "year": 1617, "original_language": "Latin" }'

MDZ (Bavarian State Library)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/mdz" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "bsb_id": "bsb00029099", "title": "...", "author": "...", "year": 1473, "original_language": "Latin" }'

Wellcome Collection

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/wellcome" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "work_id": "pqusmy2a", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1650" }'

e-rara (Swiss Rare Books)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/e-rara" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "erara_id": "8962689", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "German", "published": "1650" }'

Bodleian Library (Oxford)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/bodleian" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "uuid": "ae9f6cca-...", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1550" }'

Cambridge Digital Library (CUDL)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/cambridge" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "ms_id": "MS-ADD-03996", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1500" }'

HAB Wolfenbuttel

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/hab" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "hab_id": "cod-guelf-18-1-aug-2f", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1450" }'

Vatican Library (DigiVatLib)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/vatican" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "mss_id": "Pal.lat.235", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1400" }'

Google Books (via IA mirror)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/google-books" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "google_books_id": "aTo6AQAAMAAJ", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1617" }'

Europeana (Aggregator)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/europeana" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "record_id": "/2022704/lmu_bsb00029099", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "published": "1473" }'

Library of Congress

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/loc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "lccn": "2012402109", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Chinese", "published": "1465" }'

2,000+ Chinese rare books, illustrated classics, maps. All public domain. Browse: https://www.loc.gov/collections/chinese-rare-books/

Generic IIIF (Any Library)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/iiif" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "manifest_url": "https://example.org/iiif/manifest.json", "title": "...", "author": "...", "language": "Latin", "provider": "Some Library" }'

Use for any IIIF-compliant library not listed above: British Library, National Library of Israel, Polona (Poland), Austrian National Library, Leiden University, e-codices (Swiss MSS), Princeton, Harvard, Qatar Digital Library, etc.

Check Existing Collection

Before importing, always check if the book is already in the collection:

# Search by title
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q=TITLE"

# Get all books
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books" | jq '.[] | {id, title, author, year}'

# Search by author
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books" | jq '.[] | select(.author | contains("AUTHOR_NAME"))'

Workflow

1. Identify Theme - Choose a thematic focus or gap to fill
2. Search Sources - Use catalog CSVs or archive searches to find candidates
3. Evaluate Books - Score each book using criteria above
4. Check Collection - Verify books aren't already imported
5. Check for Related Editions - Search by author to see if this is another edition of an existing work. If a matching book has a work_id, pass the same work_id in the import request (e.g., "work_id": "agrippa-de-occulta-philosophia"). All import routes accept work_id as an optional field.
6. Import Batch - Import 5-20 books with thematic coherence
7. Generate Report - Document batch with rationale and notes
8. Update Logs - Add to successes log in agentcurator.md

Catalog Sources

Primary Catalogs

• BPH Catalog: Supabase bph_works table (27,879 entries)

  • Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica holdings
  • Strong in Hermetica, alchemy, Rosicrucianism

• USTC / Import Candidates: MongoDB import_candidates (1M+ IIIF scan records from 11 sources)

  • Use scripts/catalog-coverage/scan-library-catalog.mjs to scan any catalog against USTC

Discovery Methods

• Archive.org advanced search by theme/author/date
• Cross-references from acquired texts
• Scholarly bibliographies (Thorndike, Yates, etc.)
• BnF Gallica catalog searches (site:gallica.bnf.fr)
• MDZ/BSB Munich digitization searches (site:digitale-sammlungen.de)
• Bodleian Digital Library (site:digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk)
• Cambridge CUDL (cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk)
• Vatican DigiVatLib (digi.vatlib.it)
• Wellcome Collection (wellcomecollection.org)
• e-rara Swiss rare books (e-rara.ch)
• Europeana aggregator (europeana.eu)
• Biblissima IIIF aggregator (iiif.biblissima.fr/collections/)
• Generic IIIF: British Library, NLI, Polona, Austrian National Library, Leiden, e-codices, Princeton, Harvard, Qatar Digital Library

East Asian IIIF Libraries (use generic IIIF import)

High-Priority Illustrated Chinese Texts

Report Format

Per-Book Report

## [Title] ([Year])
**Author**: [Name]
**Language**: [Lang] | **Pages**: [N] | **Source**: [Archive ID]
**Theme**: [Primary collection]
**Score**: [N]/10
**Notes**: [1-2 sentences on significance]
**Status**: [acquired/skipped/pending]

Batch Report

# Acquisition Batch [DATE] - [THEME]

## Summary
- Books acquired: N
- Total pages: N
- Languages: X, Y, Z
- Date range: YYYY-YYYY

## Thematic Rationale
[Why this batch, how it connects]

## Books
[Individual reports]

## Gaps Identified for Future Batches
[What to acquire next]

Quality Management

Spot Checks (10% of acquisitions)

• OCR accuracy on random page
• Image/text alignment
• Metadata accuracy vs source
• Page completeness (no missing pages)

Issue Flags

• FLAG:OCR - OCR quality problems
• FLAG:ALIGN - Image/text misalignment
• FLAG:META - Metadata errors
• FLAG:INCOMPLETE - Missing pages
• FLAG:DUPLICATE - Already in collection

Current Gaps (Priority Acquisitions)

URGENT - Missing Key Authors

Have Some, Need More

Batch Size & Pacing

• Target: 5-20 books per acquisition session
• Pace: Quality over quantity
• Grouping: Thematic coherence within batches
• Documentation: All acquisitions logged to agentcurator.md

Metadata Attention

• Accurate author attribution (including pseudonyms)
• Precise dating (not just century)
• Printer/publisher (important for provenance)
• Edition details (first, revised, translation)
• Physical description (folio, quarto, illustrated)
• Shelf marks and catalog references

Reports Storage

• Session reports append to agentcurator.md
• Quality audit reports go to curatorreports.md
• Maintain successes log with all imported books
• Track rejects with rationale