Research Libraries UK AGM 2010 Oxford. Camera Shy: special collections and digitisation

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Camera Shy? Special collections and digitisation John Scally University of Edinburgh RLUK AGM, Oxford, 21 April 2010

description

A presentation to the annual general meeting of Research Libraries UK on the challenges relating to systematically digitising special collections materials.

Transcript of Research Libraries UK AGM 2010 Oxford. Camera Shy: special collections and digitisation

Page 1: Research Libraries UK AGM 2010 Oxford. Camera Shy: special collections and digitisation

Camera Shy?

Special collections and digitisation

John ScallyUniversity of Edinburgh RLUK AGM, Oxford, 21 April

2010

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Camera Shy? Context – Special Collections & Digitisation Defining the activity What next? The ultimate success indicator?

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Special collections are a nexus where technology and content are meeting to advance scholarship in extraordinary new ways. We can see existing specialcollections being supplemented and expanded by digital representations of thephysical materials; tomorrow’s special collections will include a growing proportion of material that has always and only been digital.

Cliff Lynch, Executive Director, Coalition for Networked Information (Dec 2009)

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Four Strands

• Strand 1 Digitisation on Demand

• Strand 2 Digitisation for conservation & ‘the iconics’

• Strand 3. specialist, research driven, high quality. JISC, AHRC, Philanthropic, etc

• Strand 4. Mass in collaboration, traversing EEBO, ECCO, IA, Google, HATHI Trust.

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Under the camera or scanner p.a.3,000 high quality / 5,250 low quality

Offline Legacy5,000+ high quality200 full-text books (b&w)500+ images on CD

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Flirting with Mass Digitisation

EEBO: the really rare stuff

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Digital Imaging Unit Special Collections and University Archives

Lothian Health Services Archive

Conservation

Talbot Rice Gallery

EUCHMI Historic Musical Instruments

Fine Art Collection

Cockburn Geological Museum Natural History Collection & Museum School of Scottish Studies Archive Polish School of Medicine Collection Anatomy Collection

Museums Support

& Development Projects & Innovation

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What next?

• Steady as she goes –digitisation in the workflow, end to end.

• Presentation Online

• Research-driven projects (AHRC, JISC …)

• Metadata, not inventory, or listing.

• Getting to know the stuff.

• Impact

• Scalability

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Funding

• JISC – digitisation is now part of core activity‘HE and FE institutions in … Scotland … are not eligible to bid

…’

• AHRC etc – incidental expense, pay for research-impact

• Themed: Modern Genetics and its Foundation

• Commercial partner, Proquest … • Philanthropic• Us – internal budget line?

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RLUK Role

• What can we add from RLUK? COPAC, Archives Hub

• Technical architecture in RLUK institutions• RLUK as promoter of sources of funding,

partnerships (JISC), statistics on digitisation

• RLUK Digitisation Fund• RLUK as champion of Special

Collections

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The ultimate success indicator at Edinburgh

The Treasures Room

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John Scally, University of Edinburgh

[email protected]