Digitization An Introduction to Digitization Misheck Nyaluso University

Digitization An Introduction to Digitization Misheck Nyaluso University of Malawi College of Medicine

Overview of Presentation p What is Digitization all about? p What is a Digital Library? p Reasons for Digitization p Planning for Digitization

What is Digitization? Digitisation is the process of converting analog material (paper, artifacts, film, tapes, books) to a digital format, readable by an electronic device

What is a Digital Library? “Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities. ” p Digital Library Federation Annual Report, (1998 -1999)

Why do we need to digitize? • You should be able to explain clearly why you want to carry out a Digitisation exercise (is it to enhance accessibility, Improve preservation of rare and fragile materials or improve the visibility of under utilized research docs and archival materials • Highlight the benefits of the exercise to your institution

Planning for Digitization Needs Assessment (determine your users) p What are you going to digitize and why? (determine a criteria of selecting materials for digitization) p How are you going to digitize? (in-house or out – sourced) p Consider copyright issues p Determine the cost based on the option chosen p Come up with a work plan p

Who are the expected users? p A needs assessment should be carried out to determine potential users and their specific needs. - who are they, general users or staff members, professionals, researchers etc? p How these are going to access the digitized collection (internally or remotely)?

What are you going to digitize and why? p Materials to be digitized should be carefully selected. p A Criteria for selecting such materials should be set clearly and consistently p The criteria should march the user needs

Are the materials copyrighted or not? ? Copyright issues need to be tackled before materials are digitized p Determine which materials are in public domain and which ones may require seeking permissions from the rights holders e. g. publishers, authors, creators, composers etc. p When you are not sure, it is advisable to seek guidance from relevant authorities such copyright boards/societies p

How is the work going to be carried? p p Digitization work can be carried in two ways: - in-house - out-source A thorough consideration should be made on merits and de-merits of each option

In-house digitization work? p Carrying out a digitization work in-house requires a lot of resources such as - Staff (who will be involved? Do they have relevant knowledge and skills) - Equipment (hardware; computers, scanners etc and software; digital library software; image, audio, video editing software, OCR software etc).

Out-sourced digitization work? Digitization work is a tedious job and requires expertise and special skills, and when such skills are not available within your organisation, an out-sourcing option can be considered. p Using specialists may take off the burden of acquiring specialised equipment and software for the job. p This though may depend on availability of individuals or firms that have capabilities of handling your work. p

Costing the work? Digitization work must be properly budgeted for. p Sources of funds for such work may be from within the existing budgetary allocation or an external sponsor p If an in-house option is preferred, then it is a must that all budgetary elements such as staff skills and man hours, equipment, scanning are given serious consideration p If out-sourcing, quotes should be sourced p

Work Plan Any Digitization project should be well planned with specific time lines and deliverables. p Reasonable time should be devoted to scanning and OCR because its very timeconsuming. p Ideally, the plan should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely p

References Cokie, G. Anderson and David, C. Maxwell. Starting a digitisation center, 2004 p SITTS, M. K. (2000). Handbook for digital projects: a management tool for preservation and access, Andover M. A. North East Document Conservation Centre. p Rajasekharan K (2007), “Building up a Digital Library with Greenstone”, Kerala Institute of Local Administration p