Selecting, Assessing, and Prioritizing Content

A planning document created by the Digital Contents Review Team
March 19, 2003

Selectors:  What are the guidelines for selecting content for the Digital Library (the permanent digital collection)?

• The content must fall within the Library’s stated copyright guidelines (currently under development)

• In addition, the content must be at least one of the following:
  • Unique to UVa
  • Offering a unique UVA perspective
  • Rare
  • Cross-disciplinary (supporting curriculum or academic research)
  • Specific use to faculty or department (supporting curriculum or academic research)
  • Part of a larger whole (will further strengthen a collection already in the DL)
  • Anticipated broad audience
  • Anticipated frequent usage
  • Gains added value by digitization
  • Preservation of access to analog material already in the stacks
  • A digital surrogate of material already in the stacks
  • In direct support of current Library Priorities

Technical Assessment: What will it take to create/acquire/migrate/program or otherwise prepare, archive, and deliver the selected content?

• The content must be:
  • Sustainable or can be made sustainable (meets minimum format and minimum metadata standards for the DL
• And the Library must have:
  • The staffing and skills to prepare, archive, and deliver the content
  • The infrastructure and technical resources needed to support this material long-term
    • Typical Infrastructure concerns are:
      • System CPU Resources (eg. do we have a computer system to run it on?)
      • Network bandwidth (eg. do we have a big enough pipe to send the data through)
      • The funding to purchase or develop any additional technical resources

Digital Contents Review Team:  How is selected content prioritized for entering the pipeline into the Digital Library?

• Consider the number of above selection criteria met
• Consider the findings of the Digital Content Request and Technical Assessment process
• Consider circulation and other usage statistics, if available
• Other criteria for consideration in prioritizing content for the DL pipeline:
  • Is the material already purchased but currently unavailable due to lack of staffing or other resources?
  • Is the work already underway? Have promises been made?
  • Is there something the Library needs to learn from working with this content r format type? Is it the right time to undertake it?
  • Is there a need to keep like-items together for convenient user access?
  • Is the material repository-ready, or close?
  • Does the material generate income for the Library?
  • Are there any grant requirements that influence the prioritizing of this material?
  • Are there other factors directly relating to current Library Priorities that influence the prioritizing of this material?