Friday, January 16, 2009

Digitisation for Local History Collections part 2


Standards and Guidelines for Digitisation

Standards

Internationally accepted standards will be observed for RHSV digitisation projects. Metadata standards are used for digitisation of images. The standards provide an agreed set of fields in a standard format to aid the accessibility of an image and its associated records by any computer on the Internet. Dublin Core is the metadata standard used by major image digitisation projects in Australia. The fifteen Dublin Core metadata elements are:


Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Publisher, Contributor, Date, Type, Format, Identifier, Source, Language, Relation, Coverage, Rights


Not all elements have to be included as fields in the cataloguing record. The names of fields do not have to be identical to the names of the elements as metadata tags in report forms connect the fields to the metadata element.


However catalogue records for images should contain fields relating to the basic metadata elements especially Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Date.


In initial digitisation projects preference may be given to items with detailed / reliable cataloguing information.


Thesauruses

A thesaurus is used for standardisation of terminology for subject headings




Authority files

Standard use of names for people, places and organisations used in Subjects field


Project Manual

Detailed manual for the project to be prepared

  • Establish guidelines
  • Provide works sheets
  • Prepare examples


Resolution and size of scanned images


Resolution

  • 72 or 75 dpi sufficient when viewing images on computer and Internet
  • 300 + dpi for printing on paper - at output size


Size of image

  • Normally – size of the original scanned at 300 dpi (if scanning for preservation)
  • Normally – size of original scanned at 300 dpi (if scanning for printing on paper) Scanning may be carried out at a higher dpi depending on the quality of print required.
  • items such as lantern slides, glass negatives and other slides should be scanned at 600 dpi so that the scan is equivalent to that of an item 20 cm x 25 cm scanned at 300 dpi The image resolution can the be reduced for screen use .
  • Fixed size of image on screen (for Internet, largest dimensions no larger than 520 pixels – probably 300 pixels may suffice).
  • Ability to enlarge image on screen for computer catalogue (DB/TextWorks) (larger image required)


Issues determining publishing images on the Internet

Size of file should be small to ensure that:

  • Users can view image as a reference copy but cannot successfully enlarge image
  • Image files download quickly


Therefore items to be

  • Scanned at 300 dpi and saved on to CD as Tiff files
  • Resaved with resolution of 75 dpi and saved as jpeg for use with computer catalogue
  • Resaved after resizing image for Internet – this can be done in a batch using a Thumbnails program (Batch Thumbs http://www.harmware.net/bthumbs.htm or Easy Thumbnails http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/ )


Physical resources


Current equipment (2005)

  • A4 scanner (purchased 2003)
  • A4 fill platen scanner (in Images Room – purchased 1995)
  • Attachment for scanning negatives and slides
  • Digital camera
  • Computer
  • Scanning and image software
  • CD-ROM writer for initial storage of images
  • DB/TextWorks for indexing and accessing images


Further equipment required (2005)

  • A3 scanner with attachments for scanning slides etc
  • Pigment ink printer A3 size (eg Epsom 2100)
  • Computer with sufficient capacity for graphics project
  • Lighting for existing camera stand
  • Digital camera for taking images of large and / or fragile items
  • CD-ROM disks
  • Back-up system
  • USB pen


Specialised software

  • Full version of Adobe Photoshop


Furniture

  • Table
  • Computer Chairs x 2



Funding

Grant money for

  • Equipment and software
  • Furniture
  • Managing project
  • Associated operating costs


Staffing

Roles and responsibilities of the project team

(To be decided)


Current staffing

  • Volunteers will require training
  • Names of volunteers who may be involved in project

Physical space required in Images Room

  • Scanner attached to computer
  • Additional table and computer chairs


Storage of digital images

  • Master copy of CD-ROM should be held separately
  • More than one copy of CD-ROM should be made
  • Copy of CD-ROM (not master) used to view images
  • One copy of CD-ROM should be stored off-site
  • Awareness of advances in technology to ensure that images can be accessed on equipment or migrated to new system


Steps for possible digitisation projects

This is a long term project that needs to be divided into a series of short term projects or stages. Below are suggestions for tackling possible projects with steps involved:



Steps related to digitising photographs

Start with Collection Treasures or themes such as Architecture or Personalities in Victorian History

  • Revise entries in database
  • Scan image at 300 dpi, save as Tiff files and store image on CD-ROM
  • Resave image at 72 dpi, save as jpeg file and store image on CD-ROM
  • Link image to catalogue record
  • Resize batch of images for use on the Internet
  • Link image to database entry


Steps related to digitising postcards

  • Revise entries in database
  • Scan image at 300 dpi, save as Tiff files and store image on CD-ROM
  • Resave image at 72 dpi, save as jpeg file and store image on CD-ROM
  • Link image to catalogue record
  • Resize batch of images for use on the Internet
  • Link image to database entry


Steps related to glass slides

  • Revise entries in database
  • Scan image at 600 dpi, save as Tiff files and store image on CD-ROM
  • Resave image at 72 dpi, save as jpeg file and store image on CD-ROM
  • Link image to catalogue record
  • Resize batch of images for use on the Internet
  • Link image to database entry


Other outcomes of Digitisation Project

The above information refers primarily to digitisation of images.

Other outcomes of the digitisation project will include:

  1. Scanning of documents / manuscripts and pages from other book material to save as image files or use OCR software to convert to text files.
  2. Scanning of documents to save pages as image files and store on CD-ROM for indexers to use for indexing projects.
  3. Scanning fragile collections such as the lantern slides and making the slides available as slide shows either on computers in the library or on the Internet.
  4. Expansion of service to affiliated societies by extending cataloguing assistance already provided to societies to include:

  • Providing guidelines specifically for digitisation projects in historical societies
  • Digitisation workshops for societies
  • Promoting standards for digitisation projects

References


Image digitisation of local history collections Victorian Public Libraries

http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/downloads/Victorias_Virtual_Library_Digital_Collection/manual.htm


Capture your collections: small museums version

http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/10


National Library of Australia: digitisation policy

http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/digitisation.html


Dublin Core Metadata http://dublincore.org/documents/dces

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