Pitts Library Digitization Initiatives

Planning and Managing the Digitization of Library and Archives Materials
A Multi-model
Approach
Facilitators:
Kim Abrams
Pat Graham
John Weaver

Objectives
This workshop will enable you to
Identify different models and methods for digitizing library and archival materials
Identify the relative advantages and disadvantages of these models
Define and evaluate a potential digitization project at your library
• Identify key considerations in planning and funding a digitization project
Identify and develop management and production processes for different types of digitization projects.
Discover additional, relevant resources for planning and managing digitization projects

Topics
I. Overview of Projects at Pitts
II. Strategic Decision Making
III. Guidelines and Applications

Part 1: Overview of Digital Projects at Pitts Theology Library

1.1. The Digital Image Archive
Overview:

http://www.pitts.emory.edu/dia/woodcuts.htm

1.2. DigiBooks: Scans of Embrittled, pre-1923 Circulating Collection
Overview:

1.3. SCILLA(SPECIAL Collections ILL Access)
Overview:

1.4. KIRTAS Mass Digitization Project @ Emory
Overview:

Kirtas Technologies Inc.
To increase accessibility to aging materials, and ensure their preservation, Emory purchased a Kirtas robotic book scanner, which can digitize as many as 50 books per day, transforming the pages from each volume into an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

Volumes Scanned in FY 2008

Amazon BookSurge
BookSurge is an Amazon Group and is a leader in Print on Demand services
BookSurge is a partner with Kirtas to make rare books available through different venues

Reflections for Discussion:
These examples are illustrative of digital collections at Pitts, see also:
Thomas Merton Red Diary http://beck.library.emory.edu/merton/index
Thanksgiving Day Sermons
http://www.library.emory.edu/uhtbin/KW/Joint%20CDRI%20project
These projects illustrate both good practices, and not-so-good practices.
These examples invite comparison to past/current digitization projects at your library.

Part 2: Strategic Decision Making

2.1. Selecting Materials for Digitization
Decision Making:
“Collections Principle 1: A good digital collection is created according to an explicit collection development policy that has been agreed upon and documented before building the collection begins.”
-- NISO, A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections, (2007). http://framework.niso.org/node/9.

NISO/IMLS Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections
9 Collection Principles

What should we digitize? And why?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87581328@N00/115858002/

Criteria for Selection
Rebecca L. Mugridge, Managing Digitization Activities. ARL Spec Kit 294. (Washington D.C.: ARL, 2006), 48.

Rebecca L. Mugridge, Managing Digitization Activities. ARL Spec Kit 294. (Washington D.C.: ARL, 2006), 48.

Library of Congress Selection Criteria http://www.loc.gov/preserv/prd/presdig/presselection.html
Harvard Decision Making Matrix
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/hazen/matrix.html

Workshop Exercise:
Describe at least one potential digitization project in your library and score it/them (see handout: “Scorecard for ranking”)

2.2. Example: Selecting Materials for Kirtas

Content Requirements
Directly supports faculty and student teaching and research
Provides materials for funded library or faculty digital projects and programs
Adds to Emory collections through acquisition of digital copies of materials held by other repositories
Creates preservation copies of significant works that would be damaged through continued research use

Copyright Requirements
All works must be in the public domain which includes:
Works published in the U.S. before 1923
Works published in countries other than the U.S. before 1909
U.S. government documents not containing materials otherwise under copyright
The proposal will also be reviewed if Emory owns the copyright, or has obtained the appropriate licenses.

Size Qualifications
For the Kirtas machine all items must pass the following physical qualifications
Page Dimension: 4.5” x 7”-11”-14”
Paper Thickness: 13 lbs.-80 lbs.
Binding Thickness: Up to 4”

Condition Assessment
Items may be deselected for the following condition reasons:
Brittle
More than a few pages are falling-out
Pages are uncut
Cover is detached from the text block
Binding is mutilated
Binding is oversewn

Part 3: Digitizing Collections

3.1. Project Planning and Funding
Digitizing Collections

What was the source of the funds for digitization activities?
Source: Rebecca L. Mugridge, Managing Digitization Activities. ARL Spec Kit 294. (Washington D.C.: ARL, 2006), 40. Cf. Primary Research Group. International Survey of Library & Museum Digitization Projects. New York: Primary Research Group, 2008.

If there is a dedicated budget, please estimate the % allocated to each:
Rebecca L. Mugridge, Managing Digitization Activities. ARL Spec Kit 294. (Washington D.C.: ARL, 2006), 41-42.

Recent Grants for Digitization at Pitts
ATLA/Luce Foundation
http://www.atla.com/cdri_ob/
The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation
http://erlbcarpenterfoundation.org/
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
https://www.thrivent.com/

Resources for Funding Digitization
OCLC, Grants Writing and Funding Resources. http://www.oclc.org/digitalpreservation/resources/default.htm
California Digital Library, Sources for Funding Digitization Projects http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/resources/onres_dig_funding.html

3.2. Managing a Digitization Project
Digitizing Collections

Managing A Digitization Project
Project Planning
Managing the Digitization Process
Equipment
Images: Technical Details
Formats and Technology Standards
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Metadata
Preservation of Digital Assets

3.3. The Digital Image Archive
Practices:

Project Planning

Managing the Digitization Process
Staffing and human resources
Project management
Selection, evaluation, preparation of originals
Digitization activities
Technical support
Post-digitization activities (e.g., evaluation, delivery, and marketing)
Long term management of digital resources

Organizational Chart for Pitts Theology Library
Dean of Candler School of Theology
Director of Pitts Theology Library
Head of Public Services & Reference Librarian
Curator of Archives & Manuscripts
Head of Cataloging
Senior Desktop Consultant
Reference Librarian
Catalog Librarian
Periodicals & Reference Librarian
Financial Manager
Circulation Specialist
Web Development Specialist
Special Collections
Reference Assistant
Catalog Librarian
Interlibrary Loan Specialist
Department Computing Specialist
Acquisitions Assistant
Cataloging Assistant
Pubic Services Assistant
Scanning Technician
Reserves & Circulation Specialist
Library Volunteers
Circulation Students
Archives Student Assistant
Cataloging Students
MLIS Interns
Director’s Student

Monitoring

Reporting

Equipment
Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner
($500-700)
6400 x 9600 dpi
PowerMac G5
1.8 GhZ; Dual Core
2 GB RAM
250 GB Hardrive
$2400
Epson Expression 1640XL
1600 x 3200 dpi hardware resolution
Large-format scanning capability
ColorTrue II Imaging System and 42-bit color depth ; ~$2,500

IBM ThinkCentre S50,
1 Gig RAM
Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner
($500-700)
6400 x 9600 dpi

Resources for Selection of Equipment
Hardware and Software Reviews, Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)
<http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/Hardware_Software/index.html>
Available 2009-06-10.
JISC Digital Media, Still Image Capture: Hardware and Software <http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/stillimages/advice/still-image-capture-hardware-and-software/)>
Available 2009-06-10

Images: Technical Details
Especially helpful resources for recommended file formats and image specifications.
MinervaEC, Technical Guidelines for Digital Content Creation Programmes. Version 2.0 (2008) http://www.minervaeurope.org/publications/MINERVA%20TG%202.0.pdf
Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Archival Materials for Electronic: Creation of Production Master Files--Raster Images. Washington, D.C: Digital Library Federation, 2005.
Standards for DIA:
TIFF images scanned at 1200 dots per inch (dpi) for 8-bit greyscale images and 600 dpi for 24-bit color.

Metadata
“In order to facilitate potential exchange and interoperability between services, projects should be able to provide item level descriptions in the form of simple, unqualified Dublin Core metadata records.”
Source: MinervaEC, Technical Guidelines for Digital Content Creation Programmes. Version 2.0 (2008) http://www.minervaeurope.org/publications/MINERVA%20TG%202.0.pdf

15 Elements of the Dublin Core
Contributor
Coverage
Creator
Date
Description
Format
Identifier
Language
Publisher
Relation
Rights
Source
Subject
Title
Type
Source: http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/
Cf: http://dublincore.org/documents/usageguide/

Metadata Input Fields for DIA

DIA Microsoft SQL Database

DIA Storage on Servers
Images are scanned into .TIFF format then compressed to .ZIP and store on the server, 3.9 terabytes of storage. We used .ZIP because it is a loss-less data compression data algorithm that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data.
Our data are stored on a hot-swappable RAID-5 disk array (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). We also back the compressed files/folders to an off-site storage. We purchased the network storage through Emory’s Network Attached Storage team.
Server:
Apple X-server 10.5
Runs on two 80 GB hard drive and set up as RAID-1
Disk Array:
Apple X-RAID
Controller-1 has 7 hard drives (1.8 terabytes)--RAID-5
Controller-2 has 3 hard drives (2.1 terabytes) --RAID-5

Marketing the Digital Image Archive
Determine the primary audience
Production departments for publishers of religious and theological publications, especially Lutheran
Editors of Lutheran serials
Academics with a focus on the reformation and/or the art of the period
Create a press kit to inform the primary audience about the collection

3.4. Kirtas
Practices

Pre-Digitization Technical Services Workflow
Generate a pull list based on selection criteria
Stacks Team pulls circa 50-100 titles/week
Technical Services staff compares books pulled against bibliographic records and updates, if necessary, the date, place of publication, language and language.
Technical Services staff verifies that a book falls under public domain, putting aside questions for IP Rights staff
Technical Services enters the appropriate bibliographic fields

Creating a Pull List From an ILS
Technical Services generates a pull list based on selection criteria
Run an Excel compatible report through your library’s integrated library system

Updating Metadata
Technical Services staff compares books pulled against bibliographic records and updates, if necessary, the date, place of publication, and language.
If upon examination the work does not meet IP regulations then it is deselected at this stage.
The fixed fields are important because post-digitization they are elements necessary for automated public domain validation.

MARC Record Updates
The following fields will be updated in the MARC record, if appropriate:
Fixed field for date of publication
Fixed field for place of publication
Fixed field for language
041 for language code
260 for place and date of publication
590 for public note: The online edition of this book in the public domain, i.e., not protected by copyright, has been produced by the Emory University Digital Library Publications Program.

583 Field
If book is digitized:
583 1# $a digitized $c 2007 $2 pda $5 GEU $x public domain
If book is not digitized:
583 1# $a will not digitize $c 2007 $l in copyright $2 pda$5 GEU
583 1# $a will not digitize $c 2007 $l mutilated $2 pda$5 GEU
583 1# $a will not digitize $c 2007 $l brittle $2 pda$5 GEU
583 1# $a will not digitize $c 2007 $l oversize for APT BookScan $2 pda$5 GEU
583 1# $a will not digitize $c 2007 $l lacking data for pd decision $2 pda$5 GEU

Item Tracking
Planning Process
Determine what are the most important elements to track progress and keep data organized
Choose the appropriate program to track information such as Excel
Adopt ideas from other tracking systems, such as the Kirtas tracking software

Tracking Procedure

Individual Book Tracking Page

Rights Validation
Validation check of public domain status will be completed during ingest.
Year of publication (from fixed field)
Place of publication (from fixed field)
Year scanned (from 583 $c)
Copyright status (from 583 $x)
The automated rights check is the reason why the bibliographic fields are updated prior to digitization.

Access
Emory decided to allow for open access for all materials
Pitts has decided that images in the DIA are freely available for non-commercial purposes
What are the advantages and disadvantages of providing open access for materials that are costly to the library?

3.5. SCILLA(SPECIAL Collections ILL Access)
Practices:

Workflow

Equipment
Fujitsu fi-4220C2 Scanner
Fast, 25-ppm
600-dpi optical resolution

3.6. DigiBooks
Practices

Equipment
Canon
DR-5080C
Drum Scanner

Summary
Digital initiatives at Pitts are focused on Special Collections and out-of-copyright materials
Focused on images of text and illustration (not text encoding)
Maximize use of student assistants, library volunteers, and grant funded staff, distributing other responsibilities across regular staff.

Question: What other important principles and considerations should inform/reform the digitization practices at Pitts Library and/or your library?

Let’s talk now and later!
Pat Graham
libmpg@emory.edu
Kim Abrams
kabram@emory.edu
John Weaver
weaverjohnb@gmail.com
Marcus Taylor (Web-developer)
marcus.taylor@emory.edu

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Pitts Library Digitization Initiatives

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