Slides from a half day workshop that I gave a couple of times in 2009. Better late than never I suppose. You need to read my blog post here: http://frommelbin.blogspot.com/2010/09/some-old-news-about-digitisation.html for an explanation about some slides and for references.

1. Managing DigitisationPrograms Workshop Sydney, 16 July 2009 Mal Booth – DERSU

2. My background?The Australian War Memorial’s Research Centre functions as a library and an archive. It develops, manages and provides public access to Australia’s official, personal, & published records of war.

4. Better DAMS & CMS software

5. Institutional & shared repositories

6. More audio & film

7. Collaboration

8. Shared collections (eg. Picture Australia)

9. Mass digitisation programs: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Open Content Alliance (OCA), Internet Archive

11. Preservation (as a benefit & obligation where necessary)

12. Playing

13. Management & planning

14. Compromise

16. Digitisation for Accessc90,000 ppper year

18. Alternative Format Service

20. Australian Digital Theses CollectionAccess & Preservation (data curation)

21. About one fifth of these images

22. What we will cover today 1. GETTING STARTED a. Why and what to digitise? b. How (preservation/access) & Principles c. Copyright and IP considerations (briefly) d. Resources needed; in-house or outsource? e. Process outline: from planning to long term maintenance (life-cycle) 2. METHODS, CONTENT & STORAGE a. Production: file formats & standards, scanners & cameras, software b. Output: indexing, access, search optimisation, delivery options c. Storage, ongoing maintenance & management requirements d. Just doing it, lessons learned & key issues

23. Why and what to digitise? WHY Increase & broaden access (remote & 24/7) Fragile, valuable &/or unique materials (loss or damage would be catastrophic) Support research & education Anticipating future use or re-use Improved search, retrieval & storage Promoting knowledge, understanding & recognition of collections Relationships to other collections Preservation of at-risk collections by risk reduction & conservation WHAT: popular collections; fragile/unique; at-risk; significant priorities; relationships (corporate or collaborative); & what you have the right to digitise!

24. How: some Principles* - Collections (organised groups of objects) Agreed collection development policy Sound description Lifecycle curation Broad access to all Respect for IP Evaluation for use & usefulness Interoperability Integration of staff & user workflows Sustainability & continued usability * NISO Framework of Guidance for the Building of Good Digital Collections

25. How: some Principles - Objects (digital assets) Production ensures collection priorities & maintains interoperability and re-use Preservability: persistence & accessibility over time; across evolving media, software & formats Meaningful outside its context: portable, reusable, interoperable Persistent identifiers: URLs or URIs Authentication: veracity, accuracy & authenticity Inclusion of associated metadata: descriptive, administrative & structural

26. How: some Principles - Metadata (selection and implementation of information about objects: descriptive; administrative; technical; structural; & preservation) Appropriate to materials, users and use Support for interoperability: mappings & crosswalks between schemes Use of authority control and content standards Includes a clear statement on conditions of use for the objects (eg. fair use) Support for long term management, eg. PREMIS Metadata records are treated as digital objects RUBRIC overview: http://cairss.caul.edu.au/packages/RUBRIC_Toolkit/docs/Metadata_lite.htm

27. How: some Principles - Initiatives (the creation & management of collections) A substantial design and planning component Appropriate staffing and expertise Best practice project management An evaluation plan A project report that documents the process & outcomes Consideration of the entire lifecycle (ongoing management)

28. Copyright & Intellectual Property (1) Concerns: What sort of items are protected by copyright? What is the duration of copyright protection? What sorts of activities infringe copyright? When is a copyright licence required? Understanding the “exceptions” to copyright infringement See: Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Short Guidelines for Digitisation by Emily Hudson and Andrew Kenyon & ACC’s Special case exception: education, libraries, collections(deals with the new section 200AB)

29. IFLA/IPA Statement on Orphaned Works

33. Resources required (1) Hardware – scanners, cameras, computers, monitors, digital storage, memory & processing power Software – scanning, OCR, office apps, image editing & management, DAM?, video/audio capture, metadata capture?, file conversion, calibration Furnishings – for staff, computers, scanners, storage Facility space – scanning, preparation & storage, QA Specialist staff – curatorial, cataloguers, IT/DBA, web, scanning, project management, conservators Training needs Conservation needs – archival supplies & consultancies Budget funds – salaries, hardware/software purchases & lease, licenses, running/ongoing costs, contingency Corporate support – context within corporate or other priorities and strategies

34. WW1 Diaries scanning facilities Approximately 200,000 high res. images per year

36. Less risk than working with external parties

37. Better ability to meet specific needs and deadlines?

38. Cheaper costs for oversized or non-standard materials?

39. QA may be more efficient

40. Saving on transport and insurance and less risk with onsite scanning

42. Choosing a bureau – check with reference sites

43. Range and scope of material - non-standard materials

44. Collaboration with others to achieve further economies of scale may be possible

45. QA can be a project killer

46. Metadata – what will the bureau record?

48. User pays – but will they?

49. Grants - eg. http://www.nla.gov.au/chg/

50. Donors or sponsors -from or associated with a web presence

51. Collection Depreciation – depends on valuation and an accounting standard

52. As a training activity – can be viable learning experience for a small team & project

54. The AWM Document Digitisation Process

58. JPEG

59. GIF

61. PNG

64. Map/plan scanners

65. Overhead scanners

66. Digital cameras

67. Book scanners

68. Book-edge scanners

70. Options : Adobe Photoshop CS3 (expensive/best) & Photoshop Elements (cheap); Gimp (free); + prop. software for RAW files

72. FedoraCommons object repository management system

73. ebXML e-business suite

74. Xena digital document preservation software (from NAA)

75. DSpace institutional repository system

76. DROID automated batch identification of file formats (from TNA UK)

80. Preservation metadata

82. Accessibility

83. Searchability

84. Easy navigation & download

85. Cost effectiveness

86. Good quality product

87. Text capture and search (OCR) where poss.

88. Integration

89. Scalability

90. Web interactivity

91. Simple solutions

92. Costs estimates escalate

93. Technology has limits, but is improving

94. You learn with new technology by doing

95. There is more to copyright than owning it

96. Anticipate needs & increasing expectations

97. $ hard to find for access (sponsorship?)

98. Better management & storage of assets

99. A need to educate managers & suppliers!

100. Keeping trained staff is a challenge

101. Costs/benefits of new technologies (risk?)

102. Importance of QA in projects!

103. Need for a strategic plan(s)

106. pick a few “winners” & lead by example

107. collaborate & network

108. get involved in your core business

109. don't leave it just to IT-staff (get involved)

110. learn to compromise (the 80:20 rule)‏

111. experiment