Ria GroenewaldDepartment of Library ServicesUniversity of Pretoria

You cannot teach a man anything;you can only help him find it within himself

Galileo Galilei

Simplified definition of digitisationDigitisation is the managed conversion of analogue material to a digital format for ongoing access by electronic devices during the intended life cycle of the digital object

Kodak / Minolta Microfiche scanneri2S DigiBook book scannerNikon 9000 CoolscanUSB TurntableTapedeck - ripperEpson 1640X

Kodak / Minolta Microfiche scanner

i2S DigiBook bookscanner

Nikon 9000 Coolscan

iTTUSB Turntable

PlusDeck 2c

Epson A3 flatbed

1.2.3.4.5.6.

The library needs to use technology effectively in reaching out to users. In the academy, this means bringing innovation to our thinking

http://www.llrx.com/node/2177/printStuart Basefsky, 16 June 2009

Following benchmarks and best practices that are not a good fit for your [university] or its culture can be counterproductive. The most effective way of using benchmarks and best practices is as a creative mechanism for raising questions about your own [situation]. Following what others do is rarely a form of good leadership.

Leadership & The Role of Information: Making The Creatively Informed QuestionerBy Stuart Basefsky, Published on October 29, 2008http://www.llrx.com/features/leadershipandroleofinformation.htm

Identify a projectKnow your collectionswhat is valuablewhat others need to seecore business of institutionwhat is used oftenbenefit of such a project (collection as well as stakeholders)

As part of a digitisation project planning, youll have to decide on the scanning and format specifications such as the:

bit depth (bitonal, greyscale or 24-bit colour)scanning resolution (400 dpi, etc.)image manipulation options (deskewing, etc.)file format (TIFF, etc.)

Project planning

Hard to provide a general price range, variation in collections and requirements for digitisationDigitisation projects, services and costs can be as unique as the collections selected for digitisationProjects have fundamental similarities (dpi selection, derivative file creation, source material format, etc.) other characteristics can make apparently similar projects completely different

Cost

Institutions should be able to define and defend their choices related to digitisation in terms of their institutional mission of teaching and research, and to avoid the distraction of commercialising their products Policy making

Think dont tumble

Will digital assets increase access to information that is hard to obtain otherwise?

Will digital assets increase the information value of the physical material?

QuestionsDoes digitisation fit the organisations mission?

Is there a known potential audience for the materials that are planned to be digitised?

Will digitisation increase access, functionality or intellectual control?

QuestionsWill digitising these materials fill a need that is currently unmet?

Are the materials in the public domain or can proper rights be secured?

Is funding in place for the digitisation program?

WorkflowIdentify a projectSelection criteriaCopyrightBasic preservation on physical materialScanningManipulationWeb readySubmit or hand over

know the history and rationale behind selection of sourcesstart with collection items that are often usedembrittled material published between a certain time-linematerials have to be Africanalanguage limitationsforming part of a certain collectionmake sure no doubles are included

Selection criteria

Copyrightstay clear of copyrighttry to avoid material still in copyrightwhere necessary start with copyright clearance first may take long to sort outnote every step along the way keep the evidence

Physical preservationBasic cleaning of materialdusttears / broken cornersmouldremove selotype / glue / prittremove staplers, gem clips, anything that can cause rust marksstore in acid free containers if possible

UPSpace I R

QAQAQAQAScan directly to archival serverCopy from ASQuality Control Deskew/cleaning/ derivation/filterSafe web ready Final QC + Storage

Archival serverSend to submitters viaReviewerMetadata EditorUnique URI created for object email external hard drive DVD/CD/Flash drive baseline submissionQAQAUPSpace I R

13 Apr 2005

ScanningStart with the easy partphoto collectionblack and white documentsPhase itReward yourself when finished

Guidelines to digital imaging

Imaging requirementsPrinted text

ResolutionBit depthEnhancements allowed400-600 dpiBitonalSharpening, descreening, cropping, deskewing, and despeckling

Imaging requirementsRare/damaged printed text

ResolutionBit depthEnhancements allowed400-600 dpi8-gray or 24 colourContrast stretching Minimal adjustments for tone and colour

Imaging requirementsBook illustrations

ResolutionBit depthEnhancements allowed400 dpi -600 dpi with enhancement8-gray or 24 colour

Contrast stretching Minimal adjustments for tone and colour

Image manipulationLess is moredont fiddle just do the necessary amendmentsget it ready for web displayremember the technical metadatanote everything

RedactionIdentify material for redactionOnce redactions have been identified and agreed upon, decisions need to be recordedDo not remove a whole sentence or paragraph if only one or two words are non-disclosablebe consistent throughout the collection

StorageArchival imageeach image need its own unique identifierkeep apart do not work on archival image make a COPYsave the copy apart from archival imagenote every step in database

StorageMore is betterarchival imageat least one TIFF original on DVD/ hard disk / external hard diskat least one derivate copy on DVD/ hard disk/ external hard diskstore apart, if possible keep a copy in another building

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's outstanding manuscripts. Together with Codex Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest extant Bibles, containing the oldest complete New Testament. This treasured codex is indispensable for understanding the earliest text of the Greek Bible, the transmission of its text, the establishment of the Christian canon, and the history of the book. Over 400 leaves survive and are held across four institutions http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/project/digitisation.aspx

Through testing, the decision was made to opt for a compromise colour. A light brown background was chosen that was close enough to the colour of the parchment to give a sense of its warmth, while reducing the show-through to a point where it rarely makes reading the page difficult.Test image of a Codex Sinaiticus page on a black backgroundTest image of a Codex Sinaiticus page on a white backgroundhttp://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/project/digitisation.aspx

Measuring for scanner set-up

Quality Control on scanned images

Make a copy of the original scanned image to work with

File Renaming

BookRestorer - derivation process

Black and white compressed image

MR. GLADSTONE ON FAIR T: AD'. AND RUNT JUCPuctios-jTHE nkxt I.IIiKt.AI. LRADKk?LORD?AKIINOTON's NEW ATTITUDE AND WHATMR. CHAMBERLAIN THINKS OF IT?MR.RI.AINK AND LOUIS KOSSUTH?AX ANARCHIST CARDINALBISMARCK AND BROWNING??ART AND LITERA?RY NOT I 8.fBT CABLR TO THIS TRIBUNE.|

Optical Character Recognition

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1888-01-01/ed-1/seq-1/%3Bwords%3D/

PDF

Newspaper digitisation

Microfiche

Risk analysis for digital objectsHard drive failureURL error linked brokenStorage medium failureLoss of information/dataHuman error and memoryHackers

Evaluate the risks involvedthe probability that a risk will occur andthe impact that risk would have if it does occurMistakes in backups or storage purging routinesMedia damage due to material failure, aging, or a disasterUnavailability of functional hardware, software, or drivesDo you havea database with storage documentation/information available a policy for continued testing of information

Well known risks: (Kyk na Risk analysis methods for digital objects = Cornell University Library, OCLC, Stanford)

PreservationPreservation strategies should enable subsequent users to work with digital resources in the same way that they would be able to continue to work with older, analogue materials.

Can we afford to scan at a low resolution, or make other compromises in the digitisation life-cycle

Digital preservation

budget for a possible migration strategyconsider digital formats carefully metadata standards (technical and preservation)the organisation must be committed to the programfollow best practices and international standardsIT must adapt to long-term needs of digital preservationdevelop a technology infrastructure plan

Ria GroenewaldDigitization CoordinatorDepartment of Library ServicesUniversity of PretoriaEmail: ria.groenewald@up.ac.zaTel: 012 x 420-3792

60.psd

Evaluate the risks involvedthe probability that a risk will occur andthe impact that risk would have if it does occurMistakes in backups or storage purging routinesMedia damage due to material failure, aging, or a disasterUnavailability of functional hardware, software, or drivesDo you havea database with storage documentation/information available a policy for continued testing of information

Well known risks: (Kyk na Risk analysis methods for digital objects = Cornell University Library, OCLC, Stanford)