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Best Practices Subcommittee Report
Tonia Graves, Jennifer Gunter, Bob Vay
May 9, 2003
The VHPTF is charged with selecting a digitization/preservation project. In an effort to help with the VHPTFÕs charge, the Best Practices Subcommittee has collected resources on best practices regarding digitization and preservation. The resources are grouped into the following categories: Information Gateways; Existing Best Practices; Toolboxes; Other Projects; Periodicals; Funding Bodies; Outsourcing; Miscellaneous; and International Programs. A possible digitization/preservation project to be undertaken by the VHPTF is digitizing the content of collections described in the existing VHP database. This would increase the value of a successful resource as well as fulfilling the VIVA Steering CommitteeÕs desire to see the VHPTF move forward with building a content database of digital images that link to finding aids. Recommendations for such a project include selecting a type of content to digitize such as text or images. There is no shortage of information available for digitizing text and image formats and many institutions may already have some of the equipment necessary. The resources collected by the subcommittee provide information on project planning and timelines; equipment needs and specifications for various material formats; funding; legal/copyright issues; access/metadata; and staff training that will be beneficial for any digitization project implemented by the VHPTF.
Comparison of Best Practice Image Acquisition Specifications for National Archives, Library of Congress, and Colorado Digitization Project
|
|
NARA |
Library of Congress |
CDP |
|
Master Image Format |
TIFF |
TIFF |
TIFF |
|
Master Pixel Depth (Grayscale) |
8-bit |
8-bit |
8-bit |
|
Master Pixel Depth (Color) |
24-bit |
24-bit |
24-bit |
|
Master Spatial Resolution |
3000 pixels longways |
3000-5000 pixels longways |
3000 pixels longways or 300 dpi |
|
Access Images Format |
GIF |
JPEG |
JPEG |
|
Access Pixel Depth (Grayscale) |
4-bit |
8-bit |
8-bit |
|
Access Pixel Depth (Color) |
8-bit |
24-bit |
24-bit |
|
Access Spatial Resolution |
600 pixels longways, resized to 640 x 480 72 dpi |
640 x 480, 72 dpi |
1200 Pixels longways, resized to 640 x 480 , 72 dpi |
|
Thumbnail Images Format |
GIF |
JPEG |
GIF |
|
Thumbnail Pixel Depth (Grayscale) |
4-bit |
8-bit |
4-bit |
|
Thumbnail Pixel Depth (Color) |
8-bit |
24-bit |
24-bit |
|
Thumbnail Spatial Resolution |
200 x 200, 72 dpi |
150 pixels longways, 72 dpi |
150-200 pixels longways , 72 dpi |
*When resizing, all three projects apply blur filter to the image at full size, reduce to desired size, then sharpen the smaller images.
The filesize for a color images at 5,000 pixels on the long side is appoximately 50 Megabytes for an archival master images. For greyscale images the file size is roughly 20 Mbytes.
Resources and Guidelines for Digital Projects and Initiatives
DIGITIZATION/PRESERVATION INFORMATION GATEWAYS
Digital Library Federation: Administered by CLIR-Council on Library and Information Resources. Offers information about developing digital collections and managing networked information for the benefit of scholarship, education, and cultural progress. The "Standards & Practices" section is noteworthy.
Digital Libraries Initiative Phase 2
The Incentive To Preserve Digital Materials: Roles, Scenarios and Economic Decision-Making: Identifies the key decision-making roles in the digital preservation process, characterizes a core set of organizational models under which decision-makers might undertake digital preservation,
EXISTING BEST PRACTICES
The NINCH Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials (Version 1.0 of the First Edition, first published October, 2002): If any resource is consulted, it should be this resource.
Indiana University-Digital imaging of photographic materials, archival documents, and printed texts: Includes a bibliography on standards and best practices.
Washington State Library:All sections are worthwhile especially the Project Checklist from the National Digital Library and the Funding section.
Colorado Digitization Project: Focuses on digitization of audio materials.
TOOLBOXES
Tools for Building the Digital Library
Colorado Digitization Program: This site has access and educational goals similar to the VHP. Funding may be from IMLS. Worthwhile sections are Questions Before You Begin in the Introduction; the Lafayette Handbook in the Project Handbook Section includes information for documenting local decisions and establishing project timelines; the Legal Issues section; and the Funding Section for examples of grant proposals and applications.
Digital Library Initiative, Library of Congress: Describes challenges associated with digital libraries and provides technical notes by type of material.
OTHER PROJECTS
American Memory from the Library of Congress: Focuses on photographs, motion pictures, maps, sound recordings and text. Technical practices and workflows are discussed at:
California Heritage Project: Sponsored by the NEH, the focus of this project is images. Click on the Digitizing the Collection link for noteworthy info.
Documenting the American South: Although this project uses TEI rather than EAD, helpful information can be found in the cataloging, scanning, encoding, imaging and outsourcing sections.
PERIODICALS
RLG DigiNews: A bimonthly web-based newsletter focusing on digital initiatives.
D-Lib Magazine:A monthly online magazine about digital libraries.
FUNDING BODIES
Digital Library Research (associated with CLIR)
Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)
Supporters of the National Digital Library Program
OUTSOURCING
OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources
Library of Congress RFP for Digital Images from Original Documents: The section of the RFP titled Description/Specification/Work Statement is noteworthy.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
PADI (Preserving Access to Digital Information) From the National Library of Australia: A subject gateway to digital preservation resources.
MISCELLANEOUS
URL: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/vhp/bestp.html
Site maintained by UVa Special Collections Department
mssbks@virginia.edu
