Planning and Managing
Digital Projects in
Special Collections
Laila Miletic-Vejzovic
Head, Special Collections & University Archives
University of Central Florida Libraries
October 2, 2009
lmiletic@mail.ucf.edu
Introductions and Outcomes
What do we hope to learn?
Digital project goals
Digitization criteria
Management of digital assets
Considerations
Type of projects
State of collections
Infrastructure
Staff training
Funding
Standards
Type of projects
Manuscripts collections
Visual images collections
Artifacts
State of Collections
Access and description, e.g. at item or folder level
Physical condition of items
Copyright status
Infrastructure
Production
Publication
In-house
In-house
Outsourced
Outsourced
CONTENTdm
Staff Training
Experience with technology
Whether the project can be done in-house
Outsourced
Professional vs. Volunteers
Standards and supervision
Funding
Cost-share
Equipment
Salaries
Outsourcing
Standards for Master Files
Follow the best practices and already
established standards
e.g. Tiff for images or jpeg2000
Guidelines freely available online
Metadata
Metadata is essential!
No digitization without metadata
Standards, e.g.:
Dublin Core (DC)
Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (METS)
Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS)
Visual Research Association Data Standards (VRA Core)
Why Digitize?
Provide better access
Added value to resources
Preserve fragile materials
Support educational and research activities
Fulfill strategic mission and goals of institution
Support collection management and preservation
Cont.
Make information and assets more readily
available
Provide material for educational programs and
address curriculum needs
Provide materials for curators and researchers
(internal and external)
Eliminate redundant work, and creation of
redundant assets (photographs, slides, digital
images, etc.)
Types of Digital Projects
Special and Archival collections
Reformatting content from other non-print
resources
Born digital projects
Digitization projects in a consortium
Digitization Selection
Criteria
Scarcity
Access relative to research availability
Physical condition and format
Intrinsic/monetary value
Informational value
Evidential value
Archival/historical/continuing/enduring value
Cost Effectiveness
Scanning and color mode
pdf versus .html for text documents
Text searching
Variety of formats
Identify projects
Copyright and other
Intellectual Rights
Who owns the copyright?
Is it in the public domain?
Has the copyright on the item expired?
Is it possible to obtain permission and publish it
with or without conditions/restrictions?
Administrative/Operational
Value
Library administrative archive useful for:
Public relations purposes
Historical or administrative support to the entity
with which is affiliated
Workflows
Is the collection ready to go?
Is there a finding-aid, e.g. HTML or Encoded Archival
Description (EAD)?
Does the material require any preservation/conservation
treatments?
Develop a Time Table
Streamline
Linear line fashion model vs. parallel tracks?
Scanning
Metadata creation
Quality control
Digitization – Rights
Management
Once published on the Internet, material can be
“misused”
Provide good quality image but not good enough
for publication use
Smaller size, and consider discrete watermarking
Provide hi-res images on demand
Important source of revenue
Essential to have:
The Reproduction Cost Form to include pricing
schedule
The Reproduction Request Form that states terms
of use
Impact on Public Services
Increased digital and web presence = increased
need for more staff to handle
questions/reproduction orders/permission
requests, etc.
Once your collections are online, they become
available globally
Have policies, reproductions costs, permission
request forms available online
Conclusion
Project plan
Goals & objectives to achieve
Selection
Preparation
Research
Digital image creation
Metadata creation
Public delivery
Promotion & assessment
Long-term preservation/sustainability
A Framework of Guidance for
Building Good Digital
rd
Collections, 3 ed., Dec 2007
http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/framework3.pdf
A NISO Recommended Practice, prepared by the
NISO WG with support from IMLS
A FRAMEWORK OF GUIDANCE FOR
BUILDING GOOD DIGITAL
COLLECTIONS
A digital collection consists of digital objects that
are selected and organized to facilitate their
discovery, access, and use. Objects, metadata,
and the user interface together create the user
experience of a collection. Principles that apply
to good digital collections are:
A good digital collection is created according to
an explicit collection development policy.
Cont.
Collections should be described so that a user
can discover characteristics of the collection,
including scope, format, restrictions on access,
ownership, and any information significant for
determining the collection’s authenticity,
integrity, and interpretation.
A good collection is curated, which is to say, its
resources are actively managed during their
entire life-cycle.
Cont.
A good collection is broadly available and avoids
unnecessary impediments to use. Collections
should be accessible to persons with disabilities,
and usable effectively in conjunction with
adaptive technologies.
A good collection respects intellectual property
rights.
A good collection has mechanisms to supply
usage data and other data that allows
standardized measures of usefulness to be
recorded.
Cont.
A good collection is interoperable.
A good collection integrates into the users own
workflow.
A good collection is sustainable over time.
Thank you for
your attention!
Questions?
For more information, please feel
free to contact me at:
lmiletic@mail.ucf.edu
Appendices
A number of excellent resources take a holistic
view of digitization projects, covering topics
ranging from selection, capture, and description
to preservation and long-term access. The
following are highly recommended:
•
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/gpg
•
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/
Cont.
Northeast Document Conservation Center, Handbook for
Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation &
Access (2000)
http://nedcc.org/oldnedccsite/digital/dighome.html
Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS), Guides to Good
Practice website
http://www.ahds.ac.uk/creating/guides/index.html
Washington State Library, Digital Best Practices website
http://digitalwa.statelib.wa.gov/newsite/best.htm
Susan Schreibman (editor), Best Practice Guidelines for
Digital Collections at University of Maryland Libraries, 2nd
ed. (2007)
http://www.lib.umd.edu/dcr/publications/best_practice.pdf
http://www.nedcc.org/home.php
http://www.archivists.org/
http://www.rbms.info/
http://www.arl.org/
http://www.archives.gov/
Some Metadata Standards:
http://dublincore.org/
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/
http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=1279
http://www.loc.gov/ead/
http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/ead/