Getting Started with Digitization:
An Introduction for Libraries
January 27, 2016February 17, 2016
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Franky Abbott
Digital Public Library of America
Boston, Massachusetts
Presenters
Webinar producer: Crystal Schimpf
Assisting with chat: Ginny Mies & Susan Bard
Jennifer Birnel
Montana Memory Project
Helena, Montana
Sarah Hawkins
East Central Regional Library
Cambridge, Minnesota
Poll
Has your library worked on any digitization projects?
•  Yes
•  Not yet, but getting started
•  No
•  Not sure
About the DPLA
Franky Abbott
Digital Public Library of America
Boston, Massachusetts
franky@dp.la
Digital Public Library of America
A free, national digital library that provides
access to materials from libraries,
archives, and museums across the US.
A network of partners who make their
content available through a single website.
One place to find digital stuff from 1800+
institutions.
http://dp.la
Digital Public Library of America
DPLA includes institutions at many stages of digitization
experience
+
Public Library Partnerships Project
Collaboration between DPLA and…
Georgia: Digital Library of Georgia
Massachusetts: Digital Commonwealth
Minnesota: Minnesota Digital Library
Montana and Utah: Mountain West Digital Library
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Goals
Develop a curriculum to train public librarians in
digitization skills.
Revise this curriculum and present for a variety of
cultural heritage institutions for free online.
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151 participants from 134 institutions
Curriculum
•  Designed to follow the flow of the digitization process:
•  Planning
•  Selecting
•  Copyright
•  Describing
•  Reformatting
•  Promoting
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Curriculum
•  Revised during and after trainings
•  Presented in a free, online version:
http://tinyurl.com/digitizationcurriculum
•  Each module includes a video of the presentation,
slides, and notes
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Module 1: Planning
•  Why digitize content?
•  What resources are required?
•  What should I consider before I start?
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Module 2: Selecting
•  Considerations:
•  Uniqueness, subject matter
•  Format
•  Quality
•  Processed, Cataloged, or Described
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Module 3: Copyright
•  General concept behind copyright law
•  Public domain
•  Permissions
•  Orphan works
•  Fair Use
•  Risk Management
•  Privacy Concerns
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Module 4: Describing
•  What is metadata?
•  Why do we care about descriptive metadata?
•  How can we make it useful for global users?
•  Using prior knowledge, evidence on the physical
item, cataloging records
•  Commonly required fields
•  Practice writing metadata
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Module 5: Reformatting
•  Getting support
•  Working with vendors
•  Best practices for:
•  File naming
•  File formatting for media types
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Module 6: Promoting
•  Once we’ve digitized content, how can we promote its
use?
•  How can we track and assess this use?
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Audiences and Uses
•  Released in October 2015, the online version of the
curriculum has enjoyed broad circulation in the library,
archives, and museums world.
•  2 primary audiences:
•  Digitization beginners
•  Cultural heritage trainers
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Planning for
Digitization
Jennifer Birnel
Montana Memory Project
Helena, Montana
jbirnel@mt.gov
You	have	considered	crea/ng	a	digital	
collec/on	but…	
How	do	I	begin?	
	
Is	it	worth	the	/me	and	effort?	
	
How	do	I	convince	my	administrators	of	the	
importance?	
	
What	about	the	cost	of	resources	–	equipment	and	
people?
What	is	digi/za/on?	
It	is	a	process.	
	
1.  Selec/on	
2.  Cataloging	
3.  ReformaIng	
4.  Sharing
Access	and	Discovery	
Contribute	to	the	local,	state,	regional,	and	na/onal	
historical	record	about	people,	places,	and	events.		
	
Improve	accessibility	to	special	collec/ons.
Preserva/on	
Protects	rare	content	
		
Increase	usability	of	
materials	otherwise	
inaccessible	due	to	
condi/on
Ins/tu/onal	Web	Presence	
Increase	visibility	of	ins/tu/on	and	collec/ons.			
	
Improve	traffic	to	your	online	resources	and	your	
website.
Partnerships	
Combine	resources	in	your	local	community
Partners	improve	your	reach
Partners	share	knowledge	&	learn
One	piece	of	a	whole
5	Tips	for	GeIng	Started	with	a		
Digi/za/on	Project
Tip	1:	Where?	
Decide	where	the	content	will	live.	
Can	a	partner	host	it	for	you?	
Can	you	host	it	locally?	
Do	you	need	to	purchase	space?
Tip	2:	When?	
Know	your	/meline.	
Do	you	have	a	deadline?	
When	can	you	begin?	
How	long	will	it	take?	
Will	you	have	help?
Tip	3:	How?	
Consider	the	staff	&	resources	required.		
Will	partners	help	with	the	work?		
Is	there	a	DPLA	hub	in	your	state?	
Will	you	use	a	vendor	for	any	of	the	work?	
Do	you	need	to	purchase	equipment?
Tip	4:	Why?	
Be	ready	to	explain	why	it	is	important	
to	create	digital	collec/ons.	
Access		
Discover		
Use
Tip	5:	What?	
Select	the	items	you	will	digi/ze.	
See	the	Selec/ng	Content	module	in	this	curriculum	
for	more	informa/on.
A Participant’s
Perspective
Sarah Hawkins
East Central Regional Library
Cambridge, Minnesota
shawkins@ecrlib.org
Who we are…
•  Consolidated regional public library system
•  East Central Minnesota
•  14 branches + outreach in 6 counties
•  Oldest existing regional public library system in the state
Pondsà Lakesà Ocean
Digital Skills Training
•  4 separate day-long Digital Skills Training sessions
summer 2014
•  Both Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) and DPLA staff
•  31 participants from 22 organizations
•  Turned theoretical into practical
Two Projects
•  Photographs used in ECRL’s 50th anniversary book,
written in 2009
Kids Design Glass
Impact for ECRL
•  Strengthened ECRL’s relationship with MDL
•  Improved the digitization knowledge of staff
•  Preserved materials to provide a lasting record
•  Allowed ECRL to showcase its history and services
•  Strengthened ECRL’s relationship with community
organizations and introduced new partnerships
Impact beyond ECRL
•  In-person training à self-guided curriculum
•  Challenged MDL in new avenues of content creation
•  Increased community awareness of the resources of MDL
and DPLA
•  Increased community groups’ digitization knowledge
through outreach
•  Advocacy piece
Other Minnesota success stories
•  12 different organizations contributed
•  Noteworthy content
•  Mayors’ portraits
•  Master plans for County Parks
•  Medicine bottles from early 1900’s
•  Content went into 3 DPLA Exhibitions
•  History of US Public Libraries
•  Urban Parks in the United States
•  Quack Cures and Self-Remedies:
Patent Medicine
Please type your questions in the chat window. Send twitter questions to @techsoup4libs
Franky Abbott
Digital Public Library of America
Boston, Massachusetts
Jennifer Birnel
Montana Memory Project
Helena, Montana
Sarah Hawkins
East Central Regional Library
Cambirdge, Minnesota
Questions?
Next Steps
•  Explore the curriculum:
http://tinyurl.com/digitizationcurriculum
•  Send us your feedback and questions! info@dp.la
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Webinar: Getting Started with Digitization An Introduction for Libraries-2016-02-17