Title: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center LSTA Digitization Grant Training Workshop January 11, 2005
1University of WisconsinDigital Collections
CenterLSTA Digitization Grant Training Workshop
January 11, 2005
- Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- Vicki Tobias, Digital Services Librarian
2Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- Survey holdings and evaluate collections
- are important to institution, users, community
- have value (historic, physical, monetary)
- are appropriate for digitization (intellectual
content, physical format)
- meets project goals and deliverables
- can be digitized within appropriated resources
- should / may / can be digitized
UW Digital Collections Center
3Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
- sufficient value and user demand to justify
project
What may be digitized?
- rights or permission to create and disseminate a
digital version
What can be digitized?
- necessary organization and descriptive information
- physical nature of materials
- preservation or security issues
UW Digital Collections Center
4Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
UW Digital Collections Center
5Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials that have value
- useful and accurate content
- important for understanding the relevant subject
area
- broad or deep coverage of the relevant subject
area
- information on subjects or groups otherwise
poorly documented
- enhance institutions collection strengths
UW Digital Collections Center
6Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials that have value
- Value and benefit derived from digital project
should justify resources required to complete
project.
- Content should have sufficient intrinsic value to
ensure ongoing use by a defined user group, for a
significant period of time.
UW Digital Collections Center
7Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials for which there is internal demand
- important for institutions mission / function /
collection policy
- support high priority activities
- advocacy for project among library staff and
administration
UW Digital Collections Center
8Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials for which there is external demand
- reasonable expectation that the end-project will
have utility for identified audiences
- an active current audience or realistic
expectation for attracting new users
UW Digital Collections Center
9Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials not already digitized and publicly
available
- no identical or similar digital project exists
that reasonably duplicates your project
deliverables
- Check Google, ARL and other federated databases
- Review professional organizations links to
digital resources (e.g. IMLS, Library of
Congress, etc.)
- Evaluate like institutions digital resources for
similarities
UW Digital Collections Center
10Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials for which digitization creates added
value
- create opportunity for new partnerships and
collaboration
- contribute to development of a "critical mass" of
digital materials in a subject area
- part of a collection physically housed among many
institutions, yet united online
UW Digital Collections Center
11Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should be digitized?
Materials for which digitization creates added
value
- Improved access and usability
- improved intellectual access creation of online
finding aids, links to bibliographic records, and
indices
- wider dissemination of local or unique collections
- increased access for heavy use materials
- improved quality for hard-to-use materials (e.g.,
poor legibility, hand-written documents, etc.)
UW Digital Collections Center
12Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which you have permission
- work or collection is in the public domain
- purpose for digitization lies within Fair Use
policies
- institution owns the right to create and publish
digital resource
- institution may acquire permission to create and
publish digital resource
- privacy issues can be adequately addressed
UW Digital Collections Center
13Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which appropriate intellectual
control exists or can be created for digital
version
- content organized and/or described in a way
suited to online use
- existing cataloging, processing or other
organizational work sufficient to create and use
digital version
- resources necessary to create metadata sufficient
to provide desired level of intellectual access
UW Digital Collections Center
14Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which it is technically possible to
capture, present, and store images in ways that
meet user needs
- degree to which digital version conveys original
content
- level of image and display quality required to
meet user needs
- user ability to access images from
institutionally-supported platforms and networked
environments (e.g. internet connection speed)
- staff and resources available for technical
support
UW Digital Collections Center
15Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which it is technically possible to
capture, present, and store images in ways that
meet user needs
- give special consideration to content
- requiring high-resolution
- requiring fidelity to original color
- oversized or three-dimensional items
UW Digital Collections Center
16Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which preservation and security
issues have been considered
- digitization does not in itself constitute
preservation
- preservation issues should be considered, both
for the original content and the digital
resources created
UW Digital Collections Center
17Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which preservation and security
issues have been considered
- weigh safety issues related to digitization
process
- condition of original content should allow for
safe digitization
- digitization may damage original materials (e.g.
disbinding, exposure to heat and light, and
persistent handling)
- cost / benefit of potential damage vs end product
UW Digital Collections Center
18Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which preservation and security
issues have been considered
- conservation work or re-housing may require
additional resources
- consider digitizing from second generation
materials (e.g. copy negatives, microfilm, etc.)
UW Digital Collections Center
19Content Selection for Digitization Projects
Materials for which preservation and security
issues have been considered
- creation and use of digital surrogate may impact
security and preservation
- reduce handling of older, more fragile materials
- provide access to materials at risk for theft or
mutilation
- provide greater access to rare or highly
valuable, non-circulating materials
UW Digital Collections Center
20Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- What should / may / can be digitized
- Choose carefully to maximize the value, demand,
access, use, preservation of original materials
- Consider audience, intellectual control,
intellectual property rights, technical criteria,
impact on institutional resources
- Use digitization to its greatest advantage
UW Digital Collections Center
21Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- Handbook for Digital Projects A Management Tool
for Preservation and Accesswww.nedcc.org/digital/
dighome.htm
- Columbia University Library Selection Criteria
for Digital Imagingwww.columbia.edu/cu/libraries
/digital/criteria.html
- University of California Selection Criteria for
Digitizationhttp//www.library.ucsb.edu/ucpag/dig
selec.html
UW Digital Collections Center
22University of WisconsinDigital Collections
CenterLSTA Digitization Grant Training Workshop
January 11, 2005
- Content Selection for Digitization Projects
- Vicki Tobias, Digital Services Librarian