DIGITIZATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE WEBSITE: Helen Nneka Okpala Presentation done at University of Abuja Library Staff Training, 3 rd May – 6 th May, 2016.

WHAT IS DIGITIZATION? The process of converting analogue objects to digital The process of capturing analog materials as digital images Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programs “read” these images and convert them to text documents which can be easily searched, copied, edited, or used for computational text analysis methods.

DIGITIZATION CONTD… Conversion of analog information in any form (text, photographs, voice, etc.) to digital form with suitable electronic devices (such as a scanner or specialized computer chips) so that the information can be processed, stored, and transmitted through digital circuits, equipment, and networks. Read more: bCzzTsg bCzzTsg

OCR – OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION OCR programs process scanned documents (e.g. books, newspapers) to extract text. The quality of the text extraction will depend on the resolution of the scanned document, the format and quality of the print materials, and how well the OCR program deals with other languages or diacritical marks. No OCR program is 100% accurate.

BEFORE YOU DIGITIZE, DECIDE: Does digitization fit the organization's mission? Is there a known potential audience for the materials that are planned to be digitized? Will digitization increase access? Will it serve a purpose?

WHY DIGITIZE? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

DIGITIZATION WORKFLOW Identify a project Selection criteria (old, institutional) Copyright (OA; Restricted) Manipulation (GIMP; Photoshop) File formats (Jpeg; Tiff) Scanning Flatbed/ Robotic Web Ready (Adobe Acrobat Pro) Submit (IR – DSpace) Database

IDENTIFY A PROJECT Know your collections –what is valuable –what others need to “see” –core business of institution –what is used often –benefit of such a project

SELECTION CRITERIA Know the history and rationale behind selection of sources Start with items that are often used Special attention to brittle material Published between a certain time-line Language limitations Forming part of a certain collection Make sure no doubles are included or already online available

COPYRIGHT Stay clear of copyright Try to avoid material still in CR and not owned by institution Where necessary start with copyright clearance first – may take long to sort out Note every step along the way – keep the evidence

PHYSICAL PRESERVATION Basic cleaning of material –dust –tears / broken corners –mould –remove selotype / glue / pritt –remove staplers, gem clips, anything that can cause rust marks –store in acid free containers if possible

SCANNERS i2S DigiBook bookscanner PlusDeck 2c Kodak/Minolta Microfiche scanner Nikon 9000 Coolscan Epson 1640X Scribe scanners iTTUSB Turntable

IMAGE MANIPULATION Abbyy Finereader Adobe Photoshop Adobe Acrobat

WEB READY Resolution of Jpeg derivative: 300dpi PDF can be compressed into smaller file sizes for the web OCR (Optical Character Recognition) Bookmark – For Easy navigation File Background (Optional)

SCANNING PROCESS Install Scanner on your Computer(s), example EPSON GT Select EPSON GT Select Office Mode, Grayscale, Document Table, 300 dpi Preview

ETCETERA…!