This document provides an overview of the digitization process. It defines digitization as converting analog materials like text, photos, and voice recordings into digital formats. The document outlines the key steps in a digitization workflow, including identifying materials to digitize, addressing copyright and selection criteria, scanning and manipulating digital files, and making materials web accessible. The goal of digitization is to increase access and preserve collections for current and future use.

1. D I G I T I Z AT I O N I N T H E O R Y A N D
P R A C T I C E
W E B S I T E : w w w . h e l e n o k p a l a . c o m
E - M A I L : h e l e n . o k p a l a @ u n n . e d u . n g
Helen Nneka Okpala
Presentation done at University of Abuja Library Staff Training, 3rd May – 6th May, 2016.

2. WHAT IS DIGITIZATION?
• The process of converting analogue objects to digital
• The process of capturing analog materials as digital
images
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programs “read”
these images and convert them to text documents
which can be easily searched, copied, edited, or used
for computational text analysis methods.

3. DIGITIZATION CONTD…
• Conversion of analog information in any form (text,
photographs, voice, etc.) to digital form with suitable
electronic devices (such as a scanner or specialized
computer chips) so that the information can be
processed, stored, and transmitted through digital
circuits, equipment, and networks.
Read more:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/digitization.html
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4. OCR – OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION
• OCR programs process scanned documents (e.g.
books, newspapers) to extract text.
• The quality of the text extraction will depend on
the resolution of the scanned document, the
format and quality of the print materials, and how
well the OCR program deals with other languages
or diacritical marks.

5. BEFORE YOU DIGITIZE, DECIDE:
• Does digitization fit the organization's mission?
• Is there a known potential audience for the materials that
are planned to be digitized?
• Will digitization increase access?
• Will it serve a purpose?

6. WHY DIGITIZE?
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7. DIGITIZATION WORKFLOW
Identify a project
Selection criteria
(old, institutional)
Copyright
(OA; Restricted)
Manipulation
(GIMP; Photoshop)
File formats
(Jpeg; Tiff)
Scanning
Flatbed/ Robotic
Web Ready
(Adobe Acrobat Pro)
Submit
(IR – DSpace)
Database

8. IDENTIFY A PROJECT
• Know your collections
– what is valuable
– what others need to “see”
– core business of institution
– what is used often
– benefit of such a project

9. SELECTION CRITERIA
• Know the history and rationale behind selection of sources
• Start with items that are often used
• Special attention to brittle material
• Published between a certain time-line
• Language limitations
• Forming part of a certain collection
• Make sure no doubles are included or already online
available

10. COPYRIGHT
• Stay clear of copyright
• Try to avoid material still in CR and not owned by
institution
• Where necessary start with copyright clearance first –
may take long to sort out
• Note every step along the way – keep the evidence

11. PHYSICAL PRESERVATION
• Basic cleaning of material
– dust
– tears / broken corners
– mould
– remove selotype / glue / pritt
– remove staplers, gem clips, anything that can cause rust
marks
– store in acid free containers if possible

12. SCANNERS
i2S DigiBook bookscanner
PlusDeck 2c
Kodak/Minolta Microfiche scanner
Nikon 9000 Coolscan
Epson 1640X
Scribe scanners
iTTUSB Turntable

13. IMAGE MANIPULATION
• Abbyy Finereader
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Acrobat

14. WEB READY
• Resolution of Jpeg derivative: 300dpi
• PDF can be compressed into smaller file sizes for the
web
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
• Bookmark – For Easy navigation
• File Background (Optional)

15. SCANNING PROCESS
•Install Scanner on your Computer(s), example
EPSON GT-15000
•Select EPSON GT-15000. Select Office Mode,
Grayscale, Document Table, 300 dpi
•Preview

21. ETCETERA…!