Digital Stewardship Curriculum Scanning Project Plan Digital Stewardship Curriculum

Digitization - not just scanning Assessment Planning (select, prioritize, document plan) Preservation Metadata Digital Conversion and Saving Edits Quality Checks Provide Access -One takeaway that we hope you will get from this slide set is that these projects are more than just the scanning (digitization = inspecting, taking care of preservation problems, entering metadata, quality checks) -sometimes you have good metadata and history to tell you whether you want to invest in digitization, other times you do not and have to research. As much assessment as possible is very important to let you know how much work the project will be at each of the stages -We can’t show you everything in depth over 2 days, but we hope you will be able to understand that all these steps work together, and then develop your own way of dealing with each of them as you start your own projects

Assessment - Factors to consider Size of collection Format Condition Time and Resources Budget -these are a couple things you want to think about when you are assessing a image project: -No way of knowing what you have unless you look in all the folders and boxes- whether that is a complete inventory, or survey (are all boxes/folders full? You might find something you did not know was included) SIZE -How many items in your collection, how many might still be coming in -What type of format you have - are they strange photos on metal that you have never heard of, or are they all color photo prints from 1970-1980? 10 differnet formats, or 2? -In what condition are the materials? Are they moldy? Are they stuck together? Do they need conservation work before proceeding? Trying to digitize materials that are damaged can further damage them...or damage your equipment. -After you have this info, you can clearly define your project. ---Biggest consideration is the time and resources that the project will take. We will talk more about project planning later, but you need to know WHO will be working on the project, how much time it will take, - budget how much it will cost (either in house or outsourcing). -Budget - staff, supplies, software, equipment, conservation, outsourcing (staff is very important)

Technical Specifications - Preservation Masters File format: TIFF Bit Depth: 48 bit for color (16 bit for grayscale) Resolution: 4000-6000 pixels on long edge Color Mode: Adobe RGB or sRGB Use color bar -If you have the capability, this is the standard for creating high quality images when you scan them -Things like documents and book pages without photos or illustrations do not need this high level of detail.

Technical Specifications - Access Copies File format: JPEG Bit Depth: 16 bits (8 bits for grayscale) Resolution: 150-200 dpi Color Mode: Adobe RGB or sRGB Crop out color bar May have more than one folder of access copies – like specific “online upload” copies -Then after you have your preservation master copy created, you should create an access copy that will be used for things like uploading to an online platform, delivering to users on a flash drive or email, or other needs for a smaller file that is lower quality -These are our suggestions for a particular project we were working on – but access copies can have very different settings based on the needs of your institution -You can use programs such as Photoshop, GIMP, IrfanView, or others for simple adjustments like size, quality, file format, and cropping -You might also have more than one KIND of access copies -edited files for uploading to a web platform -edited files (higher quality) for printing -The important point is to create your preservation masters and LEAVE THEM ALONE, then create access copies for using, editing, moving around, etc.

Steps For Digitization Workflow File naming plan Scan and save Metadata Edit photos and documents Quality control Upload Additional photo editing if desired Here are some steps you will want to add into your digitization workflow -selection, some planning done already

File naming convention Unique Systematic (numbering system) Relates back to physical item, other digital items We have: Collection number: PC 85 Item numbers: on items Location numbers: Box 1, folder 5 Creating your file names – make sure they all all unique -good to have them in some sort of order -make sure through the file name and folder names, that you can connect the digital file back to the physical item

Folder structure PC 85 Preservation Masters Access Copies Web-ready copies In our example projects – we usually create subfolders in our digital collection folder -preservation masters -access copies -web-ready copies

Metadata standards Modified Dublin Core spreadsheet One example of a descriptive metadata standard is Dublin Core -For some of our projects, we have created a spreadsheet to describe individual items – this can be done before scanning, during, or after the digital files are created -Select certain metadata fields, or complete all for a given standard

Entering Metadata Describe photo or document as best you can Note writing on backs of photos Follow instructions to fill out spreadsheet Some fields have pre-filled content

Process Scan all items, save preservation masters Create descriptive metadata Create access copies and edit

Remember - Handling Fragile Materials Clean, dry hands! Use gloves Hold at edges If photos are in plastic, decide if you can or should remove for scanning Don’t let photos shift around These are originals

Editing Images and Saving Access Copies Create access copies Change Mode and Bit Depth Change Resolution Convert to JPEG Copy to web-ready copies folder Edit further Crop out color bar Rotate, if needed Fix small scanning flaws, if needed Some steps that you may want to do if you are saving and editing access copies.