Getting Started With Digitisation

GETTING STARTED WITH DIGITISATION 16 th June 2009 Nick Poole, Chief Executive, Collections Trust

Nick Poole Chief Executive of Collections Trust Adviser to UK Digitisation programmes Involved in Digitisation since 1998 Involved in issues of standards, copyright and use A Technology skeptic! INTRODUCTIONS

Who here is actively involved in a Digitisation project? Who uses technology at home? Are there any particular things we’d like to cover? INTRODUCTIONS

PROGRAMME FOR TODAY SESSION 1: WHAT IS DIGITISATION? SESSION 2: WHY DIGITISE? SESSION 3: PHOTOGRAPHING ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTON SESSION 4: SCANNING ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTION SESSION 5: MIGRATING ANALOGUE AUDIO/VIDEO TO DIGITAL FORMAT SESSION 6: THINKING ABOUT MONEY SESSION 7: THINKING ABOUT COPYRIGHT SESSION 8: SOURCES OF HELP AND ADVICE SESSION 7: Q & A

If anything isn’t clear, or needs more information, or you disagree, then stop me! QUESTIONS

What do you understand by the word ‘Digitisation’? What kind of activities does it involve? WHAT IS DIGITISATION?

There is no ‘one’ answer
For today...
Scanning items from your collection
Taking photographs of your collection
Migrating analogue audio/video to digital format
WHAT IS DIGITISATION?

Why do you want to Digitise your collection? What benefit are you hoping to achieve through Digitisation? WHY DIGITISE?

Many different reasons...
To provide online access to objects
To reduce risk through handling
To support Collections Management
‘ Opportunistic’ digitisation – eg. a move or loan
Developing content for a website, exhibition or catalogue
To provide resources for learning and teaching
WHY DIGITISE?

Digitising something is *exactly* the same as acquiring a new object into the collection;
It needs to be done properly, and you need to understand that you’re making a long-term commitment to looking after the digital file;
Just digitising something is pointless if you don’t know who wants it, what they want it for and how it’s going to be used.
A WORD OF WARNING

What criteria would you use when deciding what to Digitise? HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHAT TO DIGITISE?

Your decision will be informed by...
The condition of the objects
The importance of the material
The needs of your users
The need to cover specific parts of collections
The likely use
The relative complexity/difficulty
CHOOSING WHAT TO DIGITISE

Your approach will vary according to the type of material you are Digitising CHOOSING HOW TO DIGITISE

Material Hardware Resolution Letters & drawings (B/W) Flatbed Scanner OR Digital Camera 600dpi (8-bit greyscale) Illustrations and maps (colour, B/W) Flatbed Scanner OR Digital Camera 300dpi (8-bit greyscale/24-bit colour) Photographs (colour, B/W) Flatbed Scanner 300dpi (8-bit greyscale/24-bit colour) 35mm slides (colour. B/W) Slide Scanner OR adapted Flatbed 1200dpi (8-bit greyscale/24-bit colour) Objects Digital Camera 300dpi (8-bit greyscale/24-bit colour)

The resolution of the image is closely related to its size, which may be measured in terms of centimetres or pixels. The resolution depends on how many pixels are recorded by the capture device (camera or scanner) within a defined space – usually an inch. Hence ‘PPI’ stands for ‘pixels per inch’. DPI stands for ‘dots per inch’ and is essentially the same measure. In general terms, the higher the resolution of the image, the truer it will be to the original and the more detail will be captured. KEY TERM: RESOLUTION

ANY QUESTIONS?

Staff and skills
Choosing a camera
Other equipment
Workflow
Handling the objects
Location
File format
TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR COLLECTION

Do you have enough people to carry out the Digitisation?
Do people have the relevant skills or do you need to provide training?
Volunteers often have useful skills, but may need training in object preparation and handling.
STAFF AND SKILLS

A general interest in Digitisation!
Some experience of working with cameras/scanners
More general organisational, time & project management skills
Experience working with databases and Collections Management Systems
Experience working with image software (eg. Photoshop)
Experience of working with fragile or museum objects
SKILLS TO LOOK OUT FOR

There are lots of people who will provide basic training
Think about talking to someone else in the area (eg. a school or college) who is already running a Digitisation project
Don’t just train the person running the project – their line-manager needs to know what they’re talking about, the Director needs to know why money is being allocated to it, volunteers need to understand the other issues such as rights and metadata
In sector terms, JISC Digital Media are excellent, cheap and experienced.
THINKING ABOUT TRAINING

Have you already selected a camera? What type did you get? What research did you do? CHOOSING A CAMERA

Your choice has to reflect what you want to do...
Standard consumer compact cameras (£50 - £500) are not really suited to digitisation but can be useful where resolution is less of an issue (except for the higher-end models which allow for greater control of shutter speed and focus)
Digital SLR (£400 - £1500) will cover a broader range of mid-to-high resolution applications
Studio or overhead-mounted camera will cover most high resolution applications
CHOOSING A CAMERA

Tip: think about sharing the cost of a higher-level camera with several other institutions
Don’t just look at the resolution – the features, software and other bits of functionality will also have an effect on the end result
Don’t forget to buy a decent memory card (or you’ll be making endless trips back to your computer!)
If in doubt, buy a magazine!
CHOOSING A CAMERA

A computer with a high enough specification to handle the job
Sufficient memory to store large image files (eg. an external hard drive)
Optical drive to create archival copies of image files
Digitisation software
Image optimisation software
OTHER EQUIPMENT

What is your process for selecting, moving, preparing, photographing and returning items from the collection?
The more you can standardise your process, the faster (and hence cheaper) your digitisation will be.
Have you written your workflow down?
Have staff been trained in it and does everyone understand their role?
Have you made provision for Quality Control?
WORKFLOW

EXAMPLE WORKFLOW MOVE ITEM FROM STORE PREPARE ITEM CHECK DOCUMENTATION COMPLETE METADATA RECORD PHOTOGRAPH ITEM MOVE ITEM INTO STUDIO CHECK QUALITY OF IMAGE COLOUR BALANCING RETURN ITEM TO STORE

Tip: give it a go first
Pilot your workflow with 10 objects
What works, what doesn’t? What are the risks?
WORKFLOW

If the objects are fragile, it may be preferable to bring the Digitisation studio to them.
If working with external agencies, contractors and photographers, ensure that they receive some basic training in object handling.
Objects are at greatest risk when being moved, so always ensure that you have thought about the risks and plan for them.
HANDLING THE OBJECTS

Do you have a suitable room?
Can you restrict daylight to reduce glare and colour imbalance?
Can you locate the computer near the scanning/photography equipment?
Does the workspace reflect your workflow?
Can more than one process be happening at the same time?
Can more than one person work at the same time?
Have you completed a Health & Safety Risk Assessment?
If storing objects there, is it at least as secure as your store?
LOCATION

LOCATION

You can always scale down from a high-quality image (compression), but never up from a low-quality one (interpolation)...
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) and RAW are the highest quality formats and suitable for archiving
JPG (JPEG) and GIF are both prone to loss of detail because of compression
PNG format is only suited to ‘graphic’ images or illustrations
Don’t go mad – you don’t need terabytes of RAW files for your website
Always check that your camera can support your chosen file type
FILE FORMAT

BREAK!

Key points to consider:
The same issues as photography
Choosing a scanner
Metadata
Preservation
SCANNING ITEMS FROM YOUR COLLECTION

Have you used a scanner before? What kinds of scanner do you know about? What is important to think about when selecting a scanner? CHOOSING A SCANNER

Flatbed scanner (not always suitable for high-quality work)
Rotary (or ‘drum’) scanners used in commercial applications
Book scanners used to manage the administration of book loans
Slide scanners provide hi-resolution images of slides
TYPES OF SCANNER

You are most likely to be buying a flatbed scanner
Flatbed scanners are contact scanners – this may not be appropriate for your objects
Write down your requirements before you go shopping
Size matters – scanning maps, tithe deeds or non-standard docs may require an A3 footprint
Scan speed, resolution, colour balancing all matter
If in doubt, buy a magazine or talk to some companies
CHOOSING A SCANNER

What do you understand by the word ‘metadata’ Why is it important? METADATA

Metadata is all around us
Your supermarket receipt is metadata about your weekly shop:
What you bought
When you bought it
Where you bought it
How much it cost
How you paid
It is basically a set of facts about the real world which help you remember the details
METADATA

You’ve been on holiday and come back with a camera full of pictures
You want to email Jim the one of him falling in the pool
You open the folder and see ‘DSC0001, DSC0002, DSC0003, DSC0004, DSC0005....’
How are you going to find the picture of Jim without opening every single one?
WHY METADATA MATTERS

The problem is that creating metadata is intensely boring
A lot of it is repetitive (eg. 500 pictures may have the same copyright)
It requires both expertise and consistency
People are more careful when they understand that metadata makes the difference between a useful picture and digital landfill
The processes of metadata and documentation are very closely linked – use the opportunity to update your object records (or use the same system where possible!)
PRACTICAL METADATA

STEP 1 Decide what information is useful to you STEP 2 Decide where you’re going to store your pictures STEP 3 Decide where you’re going to store your metadata STEP 4 Decide how you’re going to link the picture and the object (eg. by Accession number) STEP 5 Include metadata in your workflow STEP 6 Quality control your metadata at reasonable intervals (eg. every 25, 50 or 100 pictures) 6 STEPS TO METADATA HEAVEN

What do you understand by Digital Preservation? Why is it important to think about this? DIGITAL PRESERVATION

In some ways ‘Digital Preservation’ is the wrong term
It’s partly about archiving
It’s much more about making sure that what you photograph this week is still being actively used and enjoyed in 10, 20, 50 years time
So, Digital Preservation is really about persistent accessibility and re-use
DIGITAL PRESERVATION

Some things to consider:
How usable your content is in 50 years will depend on how good a job you do now
If you do the best job you can, to the best current standards, with the best kit you can afford, this will significantly enhance your chances
Loss happens for two main reasons:
Failures in process, metadata and quality control during Digitisation
Big organisational moments like a move or a change in staff

Don’t
Worry too much about format shifting or obsolescence
Do
Curate your digital objects as you would your collections
Include digital material in your disaster plan
Invest in the best storage media (CD, DVD, solid state) you can afford
Think about lodging a copy of your data somewhere else

ANY QUESTIONS?

Is anyone doing this already? When might you want to do this? MIGRATING ANALOGUE MEDIA TO DIGITAL

Degradation of storage media
Consolidation eg. of oral history recordings
Improving access
Provision of resources for projects, schools etc.
MIGRATING FROM ANALOGUE MEDIA TO DIGITAL

Equipment
Location
Format
Delivery
Accessibility
THINGS TO CONSIDER

A high-quality analogue source
Good quality connectors
A high-speed digital recording interface (ie. USB2, Firewire)
Appropriate capture and encoding software
A high-quality computer
Appropriate storage medium
Digital Asset Management software
EQUIPMENT

Quiet
Away from electromagnetic interference
LOCATION

The format you choose will depend on:
The intended delivery platform
The intended use
The type of audio material
The level of quality
The amount of storage you can provide
CHOOSING MEDIA FORMATS

Common Audio formats include:
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) format is the most popular format for delivery, but quality can suffer from heavy compression
AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) is a high-quality uncompressed format suitable for archiving (but file sizes can be huge)
AAC (Apple Audio Compression) is Apple’s proprietary format, used in podcasts and other media
WAV (Wave Format) is Microsoft’s compression format, commonly used in PC applications
AUDIO FORMATS

A common approach:
Record in high-quality AIFF or WAV at between 44-48 kilohertz per second
Archive this copy as a master copy
Use it to generate lower-quality delivery formats as MP3, WAV or AIFF files at 22khz
CAPTURING AUDIO

There are a huge variety of video encoding formats
Encoding video depends on the balance between quality and storage
A common approach is to encode using MPEG-2 at anything up to 5mb per second to generate a broadcast-quality archival master
This can be used to generate lower-quality delivery formats such as MPEG-4 running at 128kb per second (sufficient for web delivery)
VIDEO FORMATS

Three options:
Download audio and video files
Stream directly in a web browser
Embed your content in a 3 rd party service (eg. iTunes or YouTube)
Delivering digital media online is incredibly resource-intensive
The user expects a certain quality of experience
Where possible, use something like YouTube (but watch out for compression!)
DELIVERING AUDIO AND VIDEO ONLINE

Always provide an alternate format for people who can’t use video/audio content
Provide transcripts and/or captioning
Think about embedding sign language interpretation
Use a format which is supported by standard software (eg. Quicktime or Windows Media Player) which provides user controls
THINKING ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY

Dealing with audio and video is a skill
Poor quality or inconsistent production can be worse than nothing at all
If in doubt, think about working with a skilled partner or if you can afford it with an experienced Digitisation studio
It’s also expensive – prioritise, and think about how the media will be used and stored
MEDIA IS HARD

ANY QUESTIONS?

Digitisation is expensive and time-consuming
You will not be able to sell your pictures
There is a long-term cost associated with owing digital material
How will you sustain this investment from your core budget?
THINKING ABOUT MONEY

JISC Digitisation Programme
HLF ‘Your Heritage’ (only if clearly tied to user benefit)
Possibly regional grants
Your organisation
SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DIGITISATION

It is incredibly difficult to make money from Digitised collections
If you have one or two ‘star’ items, think about working with an established picture library such as the Bridgeman Art Library
Digitised images may be useful for developing products (plates, tea towels, mugs) but only if you secure and manage the appropriate commercial rights
THINKING ABOUT MONEY

If you let a photographer take a picture of a poster in your gallery, who owns the copyright? How confident do you feel in managing copyright material? THINKING ABOUT COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a layered right – one picture can have several different copyrights in it
It’s all about risk management – in general it is better to err on the side of inclusion than caution
Always start your project with copyright – before you do anything else – because it will inform what you digitise, how you digitise, how you budget and how you will manage your digital files
Forget about the law – think common sense: what would you want people to do with something you created & depended on for a living?
THINKING ABOUT COPYRIGHT

Think about how old something is, and how much it is likely to be affected
Check your Documentation for any information about Copyright
Try and trace the owner of the copyright and secure their permission
If you can’t trace them, or they don’t answer, keep a record of your efforts
When delivering the content, provide a link for people to alert you to new information about the Copyright status
Make sure you have a standard Copyright Statement on your website to inhibit secondary infringement
A SIMPLE APPROACH

Be polite!
Be specific (likely use of the image, format, quality)
Be ambitious (web rights, print rights, online, in-gallery)
Have a standard Agreement/Permission form
Be prepared to pay for higher-profile works
But do try and negotiate free licenses and permissions if you can
Always offer to acknowledge the Copyright holder and seek suitable wording (caption, credit, copyright)
SECURING PERMISSION

A combination of due diligence and a takedown policy will cover most eventualities
If in doubt talk to a lawyer
Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ – take more care of higher-profile items (such as those by well-known artists)
A MANAGED RISK

Collections Link www.collectionslink.org.uk/digitise_my_collection/digitise JISC Digital Media www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk Digital Services for the Culture Sector (DiSCS) www.discs-uk.info FURTHER SOURCES OF HELP AND ADVICE

ANY QUESTIONS?

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE HOME FROM TODAY?

THANK YOU! Collect – The Collections Management Trade Fair 26 th June 2009 Free! At the Commonwealth Club in London www.collectionslink.org.uk/collect

Getting Started With Digitisation

by Nicholas Poole on Sep 27, 2009

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Getting Started With Digitisation Presentation Transcript