Emily Pfotenhauer, Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager, WiLS This is the first part of a two-part, full-day workshop introducing the core elements of creating digital collections of historic photographs, documents and other archival materials. Part 1 focuses on selecting materials to digitize and the basics of reformatting. We’ll start with some recommendations for planning a successful project and consider how your digital collections can fit into the statewide and national landscape of digital content. We’ll discuss copyright concerns in order to help you answer the question “CAN I put this online?” And we’ll explore the vocabulary of digital images, including pixels, resolution and bit depth as well as tools and best practices for scanning photographs and documents.

1. Digitization Basics
for Archives and Special Collections
Emily Pfotenhauer
Recollection Wisconsin Program Manger, WiLS
emily@wils.org
WiLSWorld Workshop July 22, 2015

2. Start with a plan
Issues to consider
 How does this project support our organization’s
mission/vision?
 What resources/skills/capacity do we already have? What do
we need to develop in-house? Outsource?
 What standards and best practices will we use?
 What is our timeline?
 Who will do the work?
 How will we document decisions and procedures?

3. Start with a plan
Resources for digital project planning & management
 FADGI Digitization Activities: Project Planning and
Management Outline
 http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/guidelines/DigActivities-
FADGI-v1-20091104.pdf
 Sustainable Heritage Network
 http://sustainableheritagenetwork.org/
 Digital NZ “Make it Digital”
 http://www.digitalnz.org/make-it-digital

4. Don’t scan a mess!
Resources for archives management & collections care
 Wisconsin Archives Mentoring Service
 http://www.uwosh.edu/archives/wams/
 Connecting to Collections
 http://www.connectingtocollections.org/
 Connecting to Collections in Wisconsin
http://rl3.dpi.wi.gov/svc_connecting_collections
 National Park Service Conserve-O-Grams
 http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/cons_toc.ht
ml

5. If I could do it all over again…
Tips from other digitizers
Start with a clearer plan
Take the time to organize and research the physical
collection before digitizing
Have firm deadlines to help stay on track
Tackle a smaller group of materials at first
Build a team (inside or outside your institution)

6. Finding funding
Potential grant opportunities
 Digitization of Library Historical Resources (LSTA grants from IMLS,
through DPI)
For public libraries and systems
Deadline September 4
http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_lsta
 Wisconsin Humanities Council
Mini-Grants (4 times/year)
Major Grants (3 times/year)
Projects that engage communities and involve humanities experts
http://www.wisconsinhumanities.org/grants

7. recollectionwisconsin.org
221,359 historical resources
219 Content Partners

8. DPLA Service Hub
Bringing Wisconsin’s digital collections to a
national stage

9. “The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together
the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums,
and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to
contain the full breadth of human expression, from the
written word, to works of art and culture, to records of
America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science.”

10. PONDS LAKES
OCEAN

13. Partner
Metadata OAI-PMH
OAI-PMH
Metadata
Aggregator

14. Participating in RW Service Hub & DPLA
Content Partner Responsibilities
Apply minimum required metadata for each
digital object
Ensure that digitized resources are freely
available to the public for personal, educational,
and research use
Make metadata available for harvesting through
OAI-PMH or an OAI Static Repository
Grant permission to share metadata through a
Creative Commons Zero declaration/public
domain dedication

15. Providing Access to Digital Content
WiLSWorld Workshop July 22, 2015

16. Considering software for access
 Skill level
 Support
 Hosted?
 Scalable
 Can I get my data and content out?
 OAI-PMH

17. CONTENTdm
 Avenues for implementation…
 Hosted by Milwaukee Public Library through Recollection
Wisconsin
 $200 one-time setup fee
 Annual hosting fees starting at $75 for 500 items
 Hosted by OCLC
 “Quick Start” version (up to 3,000 items) free for OCLC FirstSearch Base
Package subscribers
 Hosted on your own server
 Examples:
 InfoSoup Memory Project http://memory.infosoup.org
 UW-Milwaukee http://collections.lib.uwm.edu

18. ResCarta Toolkit
 Free and open source
 Host it yourself; or hosting available through Northern Micrographics
 ResCarta Foundation – based in Wisconsin
 http://rescarta.org
 Examples:
 UW-La Crosse http://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu
 Winding Rivers Library System ECHO Project http://www.wrlsweb.org/echo

19. Other access platforms (a few)
 Omeka
 Archon
 ArchivalWare
 Greenstone
 Collective Access
 PastPerfect Online
 Islandora