Lesson Overview - 02/05/2017

• Digitisation & Preservation

• Definition of digitisation

Process of transferring information from a traditional format into a digitally-readable version. 

Typically a scanner would be used for this purpose when digitising a printed book; digital imaging of manuscripts, paintings, prints etc. is also covered by this term.

Digitisation is now favoured as part of the drive to improve preservation techniques, as fragile originals need not be handled afterwards except in specialised circumstances.

Access is greatly improved as digitised texts can be readily searched, and digital images of faded or difficult originals can be computer-enhanced. ( Harrod's librarians' glossary, 2000: 228) 

• Reasons for selection of items to be digitised

• Selection to enhance access
• Increased access 
• Facilitation of new forms of access and use
• Selection for preservation
• Replacing fragile or damaged material
• Cost-effectiveness
• Selection based on content 
• Virtual collections
• To collect a critical mass of information
• Interaction with users
• Selection based on demand

• Benefits of digitisation

• Immediate access to high-demand & frequently used items
• Easier access to individual components within items e.g. articles within journals
• Rapid access to materials held remotely
• The potential to display materials that are in inaccessible formats e.g. large volumes or maps
• 'Virtual reunification' - allowing dispersed collections to be brought together
• The potential to conserve fragile/precious originals while presenting surrogates in more accessible forms
• Integration of different media (images, sounds, video, etc.)
• The ability to satisfy requests for surrogates (photocopies, photographic prints, slides, etc.) 
• Reducing the burden or cost of delivery
• The potential for presenting a critical mass of materials

• What does a digital project involve?

• assessment and selection of originals
• grant applications and fundraising
• feasibility testing, costing and piloting 
• copyright clearance & rights management 
• human resource planning
• preparation of materials 
• digital capture (converts paper documents into images, reads information from faxes and emails, and captures relevant data making it possible to automate and streamline the processing, routing and archiving of paperwork) 

• Preservation

We have to differentiate between data preservation which is about ensuring full access and continued usability of data and digital information and preservation through digitisation which allows for greater physical security of physical analogue originals.

• Crucial Issues to address in digital preservation

Libraries’/Archives’ responsibility in the preservation of our heritage – oral, written, rare resources – purpose of conservation and access, with huge cost implications for all institutions

Preservation through surrogacy – good for heritage at risk or destruction through natural or human forces. But, when is the facsimile/artifact a satisfactory surrogate (substitute) for the object itself? … The reproduction will always lack one element: its presence in time and space (history)

Surrogate versus original – can surrogates ever truly replace or faithfully represent the original? E.g. when you have to examine the original as in the case of a medical historian who sniffed original letters for traces of vinegar because it was sprinkled on letters during times of cholera. It gave him an idea of the dates of the letters. 

• Reflection 

Today's lesson focused on the digitisation and preservation of older books. In what I feel is a slightly complex, but highly rewarding process, information is transferred from a traditional book format into a digitally-readable version.

I feel this is a great concept, as there are many books which are hundreds of years old, which still contain valuable information. Once text has been digitised, it also easily accessible and can be enhanced on a computer. That also means that it gives more people access to information which would otherwise only be available to those who were allowed to touch and handle the usually very old and delicate books.