Digital basicsworkshop2012
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The document provides an overview of the basics of digital projects, including how to plan a project by identifying goals, stakeholders, materials, copyright considerations, and costs. It also discusses how to implement a project through imaging, metadata, and promotion, and how to ensure long-term preservation of digital materials.
![SAMPLE RIGHTS STATEMENTS
• For an item presumed to be in the Public Domain:
• There are no known restrictions on the use of this digital resource.
Contact [your institution] to purchase a high-resolution version of
this image.
• For an item under copyright; copyright holder has
granted permission to put online:
• This image has been published with permission of the copyright
holder and has been provided here for educational purposes only.
Commercial use is prohibited without permission. Contact [your
institution] for information regarding permissions and
reproductions.
• For an item in which copyright status is unclear:
• This material may be protected by copyright law. The user is
responsible for all issues of copyright. Contact [your institution]
for information regarding permissions and reproductions.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/digitalbasicsworkshop2012-121009170409-phpapp02/85/Digital-basicsworkshop2012-16-320.jpg)
Digital basicsworkshop2012
- 1. BASICS OF DIGITAL PROJECTS E M I LY P F O T E N H A U E R O U T R E A C H S P E C I A L I S T, W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E O N L I N E E P F O T E N H A U E R @ W I L S .W I S C . E D U
- 2. TODAY’S AGENDA • Introductions • Wisconsin Heritage Online; examples of digital projects • Planning for a digital project • Why digitize?; Selecting materials; Copyright; Digital preservation • LUNCH @ noon • Sharing projects in progress • Putting your plan into action • Imaging; Metadata • Promoting your project • Questions and discussion • Finished @ 3:00pm
- 3. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DIGITIZE? • Selecting materials • Reformatting materials (scanning or photographing) • Adding metadata (descriptive information) • Making available online • Storing and maintaining digital files and data (digital preservation) Wisconsin Historical Society
- 4. WHAT IS WISCONSIN HERITAGE ONLINE? • A public research portal providing access to digital collections of primary sources related to Wisconsin history from libraries, historical societies and museums across the state: wisconsinheritage.org • A statewide set of standards and guidelines for digitizing historical primary source materials • A resource network providing training, consulting and collection hosting services to members • Sponsored by Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) with support from the Nicholas Family Foundation
- 5. PLANNING A DIGITAL PROJECT • Identifying your goals • Identifying your stakeholders, partners and audience • Selecting materials • Considering copyright • Budget • Funding • Planning for digital preservation New Berlin Historical Society
- 6. IDENTIFYING GOALS: WHY DIGITIZE? (CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AUDIENCE) • Save photos for future generations • Access for research, awareness • Educational purposes • Closer access; deeper access • Make rare/local/unique available • Protect fragile documents from handling • Easier to organize and find • Encourage contributions/fill in blanks • Revenue (purchase reproductions; encourage donations) • PR for institution • Googleability • People can identify images
- 7. IDENTIFYING GOALS: WHY DIGITIZE? • Go where your audience is • Reach new audiences • Improve access to “invisible” materials • Protect fragile or heavily used materials • Learn more about your collections • Contribute to our collective knowledge South Wood County Historical Museum
- 8. STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS • Board • Staff and/or volunteers • Local experts • Community members • Chamber of Commerce • Local government • Students • Other organizations in your community/county/regio n McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids • Who else?
- 9. AUDIENCES • Local residents • Students and teachers • Genealogists • Specialists (Civil War re- enactors, railroad buffs) • Academic researchers • Curious Wisconsinites • Everyone! College of Menominee Nation
- 10. SELECTING MATERIALS • Photographs • Postcards • Letters • Diaries • Scrapbooks • Yearbooks • Newspaper clippings • City directories • Local histories • Magazines • Pamphlets • Maps • Material culture objects • Oral histories • Sound recordings • Video recordings • What else? Appleton Public Library
- 11. SELECTING MATERIALS • Careful selection will help keep your project focused, manageable, and useful • Keep your audience in mind: How will putting this item online help users better understand local or state history? • Is information available about the item, or is more research needed? • Physical condition of original materials • Copyright status Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
- 12. SELECTING MATERIALS • Consider your existing mission statement and/or collection development policy • An online collection is not a substitute for a collection inventory or other internal recordkeeping • Two approaches: • Curatorial: Select materials based on a specific theme/topic/type of object/photographer • Organizational: Digitizing as an opportunity to sort that mystery box in the archives • Digital New Zealand: Make it Digital Scorecard Neville Public Museum of Brown County http://makeit.digitalnz.org/
- 13. CONSIDERING COPYRIGHT • Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer • Owning a physical item does not necessarily mean you hold the copyright to that item • Public domain = no longer under copyright. In the US in 2012 that means the item was: • published before 1923 –OR– • Unpublished; creator died before 1942 –OR– • Unpublished; unknown creator; made before 1892 UW-Milwaukee Libraries • http://copyright.cornell.edu
- 14. CONSIDERING COPYRIGHT • Works under copyright, copyright holder is known: • Contact copyright holder IN WRITING to request permission to make available online • Works presumed to be under copyright; copyright holder is unknown or cannot be located • Due diligence has been made to identify and locate copyright holder • Be prepared to remove item from digital collection if challenged Three Lakes Historical Society
- 15. USE OF YOUR DIGITAL CONTENT • Fair Use. Under US copyright law, individuals can use the low-resolution materials you make available online for personal use, research or teaching purposes • Publications or other commercial uses require permission of the copyright holder • You may choose to sell reproductions—prints and/or high-resolution digital files—of materials in your collection (with permission of the copyright holder where applicable) Langlade County Historical Society
- 16. SAMPLE RIGHTS STATEMENTS • For an item presumed to be in the Public Domain: • There are no known restrictions on the use of this digital resource. Contact [your institution] to purchase a high-resolution version of this image. • For an item under copyright; copyright holder has granted permission to put online: • This image has been published with permission of the copyright holder and has been provided here for educational purposes only. Commercial use is prohibited without permission. Contact [your institution] for information regarding permissions and reproductions. • For an item in which copyright status is unclear: • This material may be protected by copyright law. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Contact [your institution] for information regarding permissions and reproductions.
- 17. POTENTIAL PROJECT COSTS • Flatbed scanner • Digital camera and related equipment • Internet access • Digital storage • Archival storage supplies • Outsourcing imaging to a commercial vendor • Be sure to budget for TIME and SPACE Merrill Historical Society
- 18. FUNDING • Grants • Historical societies: WI Council for Local History mini-grants • Public libraries: LSTA Digitization of Local Resources grants (Dep’t of Public Instruction) • Donations • In-kind contributions • Tech support • Equipment use • Biggest expense is TIME • Paid staff time • “Free” volunteer time • Students/interns Ripon College
- 19. DIGITAL PRESERVATION • Definition from the Library of Congress: • The active management of digital content over time to ensure ongoing access. • Two threats to digital content: • Obsolescence • Physical damage • http://digitalpreservation.gov Beloit College
- 20. DIGITAL PRESERVATION • Save more than one copy of each file • On more than one type of storage media • In more than one location • Document what, where, when and how • Spot-check annually • Migrate as necessary • Recommended storage options: • Archival quality (gold) CDs or DVDs • RAID device • External hard drive • Network storage Wetherby Cranberry Library • Cloud storage (online backup)
- 21. PHYSICAL PRESERVATION • Don’t compromise collections care in order to digitize • A digital project can be an ideal time to assess collection conditions and rehouse materials • Resources for collections care: • Wisconsin Historical Society Field Services staff • Wisconsin Archives Mentoring Service • National Park Service Conserve-O-Grams Richland County History Room
- 22. TIPS FROM OTHER DIGITIZERS • If I could do it all over again, I would: • Tackle a smaller group of materials at first • Make sure two people started the project at the same time so we could help each other • Start with a clearer plan • Take the time to sort and research the physical collection before digitizing • Other things I learned: • Volunteers/local residents are the best source for historical information • Looking at examples of similar collections is helpful to figure out what you’re doing; it’s also inspiring and can spur some competitiveness • Uploading one item at a time can go faster than working in batches if you’re working with a lot of interruptions • Having a firm deadline helped me stay on track
- 23. SAMPLE PROJECT PLAN • What: Approx. 100 glass negatives depicting Main Street between 1880-1900 • Why: To improve access to a fragile collection and to document a period in our community’s history when local commerce flourished downtown • Who: Jane Smith will coordinate the project and handle copyright and reproductions; two volunteers from the local high school will scan images and rehouse in archival sleeves; two board members will do historical research and write descriptions • When: 25 images online before our annual meeting in September; full collection online by April 2013 • How: Scan slides using Epson Perfection V600; store images on archival DVDs and Carbonite online backup; record metadata in Excel spreadsheet and upload to online collection
- 24. PUTTING YOUR PLAN INTO ACTION • Digital imaging • Scanning photographs • Scanning texts • Object photography • File naming • Metadata • What is it? • Basic elements • Where does it go? Milwaukee Public Library
- 25. SCANNING • Goals of scanning: • Create a digital representation that’s faithful to the original item • Create the highest quality scan you can achieve with available resources • Scan once—don’t expect to return to re-digitize • Save two copies of each scan: • High resolution TIFF (20- 40MB) for archiving and printing • Lower resolution JPEG (1-5MB) for online collection, email, easy access UW-Madison Archives
- 26. SCANNING PHOTOGRAPHS • Scan all photographs in 24- bit color, even if image is black and white • Scanning resolution (ppi) depends on size of original item • 8 ½ x 11 or larger = 300ppi • 8 x 10 = 400ppi • 5 x 7 = 600ppi • 4 x 2 or smaller = 1200ppi • Slides and negatives require a transparency unit and holders to keep slide from touching scanner glass (these may come with your UW-La Crosse scanner)
- 27. TIP: USE YOUR HISTOGRAM • A histogram is a graph that shows the distribution of dark and light pixels in a digital image • Using the Histogram function improves the accuracy/fidelity of your scan • Do a preview scan • In advanced/professional/custom mode, select the Histogram function • Move the left and right sliders to each end point of the histogram • Do not move the sliders INTO the histogram • Scan the image
- 28. TIP: LEAVE A BORDER AROUND IMAGE
- 29. TIP: SCAN THE BACK IF HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT
- 30. SCANNING DOCUMENTS • Handwritten texts • Scan in 24-bit color to retain character of original • 300-400ppi is generally sufficient • If feasible, create a transcription • Use care when unfolding papers or handling tightly bound volumes Wisconsin Historical Society
- 31. SCANNING DOCUMENTS • Printed texts • Scan in 8-bit grayscale or 24-bit color • 300ppi is generally sufficient • Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to make the text computer- searchable • May be provided with your scanner software • ABBYY Fine Reader • Adobe Acrobat • OCR is never 100% L. E. Phillips Memorial Library, Eau Claire accurate, but that’s ok
- 32. GENERAL SCANNING TIPS • Use advanced/professional/cust om mode, not basic mode • Don’t use any auto correction settings • Dust scanner bed regularly • Designate a specific space for scanning and keep it relatively uncluttered (no coffee!) • Handle each item carefully and return it to its storage location when you’re done scanning Waterford Public Library
- 33. OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY • Digital camera • SLR that can shoot RAW files (can convert to TIFFs) • Tripod • Two adjustable lights (500 watts) • Reflective umbrellas (or sheets) • Paper or cloth backdrop Photo setup at Pabst Mansion
- 34. NAMING YOUR FILES • Use only lower case letters, numbers, and dashes or underscores • Don’t use spaces or punctuation • Use leading zeroes for consecutive numbering. For example, a multi-page letter could have file names mac001.tif, mac002.tif, mac003.tif, etc. • Tie your file names to existing catalog numbers if possible • Document any file naming conventions you develop • Examples: • Photograph with accession # 2011.32.1 = 201132001.tif –OR– 2011_32_001.tif • Series of images by photographer John Smith = smith001.tif, smith002.tif, smith003.tif • Not so good: Glassplate16039 Auto repair in basement 025.tif
- 35. METADATA: WHAT IS IT? • Information about stuff • Technical metadata = information about the digital file (size, type, etc.) • Descriptive metadata = information about the content of the item (what are we looking at?) • Lets users find what they’re looking for • Organized, standardized, consistent, searchable Grant County Historical Society
- 36. BASIC DESCRIPTIVE METADATA ELEMENTS • Title • Description • Subjects (tags, keywords, search terms) • Creator (photographer, author, maker, manufacturer) • Date • Location • Materials • Extent (dimensions, page numbers) UW-Milwaukee
- 37. ASSIGNING TITLES • Descriptive and unique • Capitalize first word and proper names • Not so good: • Woman and man • Woman and man, trees • Good: • Woman, man and child in apple orchard • Ida and Peter Swartz with son James in apple orchard, Wausau
- 38. WRITING DESCRIPTIONS • Expand on the information provided in the Title • Record information about people, places, events and themes depicted in the item • You can provide historical information (if cited), but don’t get bogged down in too much detail • Remember your audience is broad. Provide enough information to add meaning for non-local users • Make use of other metadata elements for information like dates and materials • Don’t use abbreviations, ampersands (&) or paragraph breaks (hard returns)
- 39. WRITING DESCRIPTIONS • Not so good (too little): • People with apple trees. • Good: • A woman and a man in an apple orchard with wooden barrels filled with apples. A child rides a tricycle at the right. • Not so good (too much): • A woman wearing a hat and dress and a man in overalls stand in front of an apple tree. Twelve barrels containing apples are lined up in a row in front of them. The roof of a barn is visible behind the trees. Apples were a popular crop in America in the 19th century thanks to Johnny Appleseed. The first commercial apple orchard in Wausau was established in . . .
- 40. METADATA: WHERE DO I PUT IT? • Software solutions compatible with the WHO portal • CONTENTdm (hosted by Milwaukee Public Library) • ResCarta • Omeka.net (Gold, Platinum plans) • Not directly compatible with WHO (but can be moved to a compatible option) • PastPerfect • File Maker Pro • Microsoft Access • Excel spreadsheet • Omeka.net (Basic, Plus, Silver plans) Wisconsin Folksong Collection, UW-Madison
- 41. DIFFERENT MATERIALS, DIFFERENT APPROACHES • Printed texts • Scanning straightforward but can be time-consuming (lots of pages); metadata usually straightforward; need to OCR • Handwritten texts • Scanning straightforward; metadata relatively straightforward; transcripts recommended • Photographs • More care in scanning; more detail in metadata • Maps and other oversized items • Outsource scanning to a vendor • Artifacts • Object photography needs more equipment and more space; more detail in metadata • Sound and video • Talk to me Mineral Point Historical Society
- 42. ENCOURAGING USE OF YOUR COLLECTIONS • Google is not enough • Moving away from “if you build it, they will come” approach • Bring your content to your audience—find them where they already are • Let them look behind the curtain and see projects in progress, warts and all • Participatory archives concept—shared authority, community engagement Milwaukee Public Library
- 43. WHO PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS • Quarterly email newsletter • Facebook • facebook.com/wisconsin heritage • Twitter • twitter.com/wiheritage • Tumblr • wiscohisto.tumblr.com • Viewshare Rock County Historical Society
- 44. LOCAL PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS • Add introduction/background information on your own website • http://www.newberlinhistoricalsociety.org • Highlight an item of the day/week/month • https://www.facebook.com/lacrosse. history • Host an opening event • Whitefish Bay Public Library • College of Menominee Nation • Host a slide show or exhibition • South Wood County Historical Museum • Mineral Point Historical Society • Press release to local media • What else? South Wood County Historical Museum
- 45. WHAT NEXT? • Interested in participating in Wisconsin Heritage Online? • Consult with me about a project you might have in mind • Sign on as a member ($50 or $100 annually) • Fill out our Collection Hosting Application to have your collection hosted in CONTENTdm by the Milwaukee Public Library • Schedule a training session with me to get started on creating metadata and uploading items • Get your collection harvested into the WHO portal Marquette University
- 46. THANK YOU! E M I LY P F O T E N H A U E R O U T R E A C H S P E C I A L I S T, W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E O N L I N E E P F O T E N H A U E R @ W I L S .W I S C . E D U