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Presented By:
Sara Kiszka
May 16, 2015
CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN:
DIGITIZATION WITH LIMITED MEANS
Records Analyst at Northern Michigan University
MLS with concentration in Archives and Records Management
Pursuing the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certification from the Society of American Archivists
FUN FACT: I just completed the Kentucky Bourbon Tour!
WHO AM I?
Converting information into a digital format
Digitization process depends on the medium Documents, audio-visual, photographs, etc.
More than just scanning a document or uploading an audio fi le
Long term project which requires some time investment Imagine you’re giving “birth” to these records
WHAT IS DIGITIZATION?
The continued maintenance of electronic records and their long term storage.
File format PDFA, TIFF, WAV, etc.
File migration
Storage Desktop, hard drive, etc.
Back-ups Preservation master,
access copy, original, etc.
Etc., Etc., Etc.,
WHAT IS PRESERVATION?
Don’t trust the carrier to do it’s job
Obsolescence of media
Ease of use/accessibility
Preservation of information
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Things to consider:Does it make sense? Is there patron (or staff) interest?Do you have the resources and equipment?Can you provide appropriate access?Do you have the rights (copyright) to digitize?
Do you have the staff (or volunteers)?Where is the funding going to come from?
Grant, donations, operating budget, etc.
SMALL SCALE APPLICATION
YOU’RE STILL NOT AFRAID.
SO, WHAT’S NEXT?
We’re going to discuss:How to assess your records for digitization & preservation
How to find resources and fundingStaff and volunteer trainingEquipmentLessons from the trenchesThe future of records
CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN
STEP ONE: HOW BIG IS THISMOUNTAIN?
Determine the “worth” of your records Is it original and unique? Does a digital version already exist? How often is it used? Is the carrier fragile or becoming obsolete? Would it be easy to digitize?
Could be done using a checklist or ranking system
More worthy records = the diff erence between a mole hill and a
mountain
STEP ONE: HOW BIG IS THIS MOUNTAIN?
Record Uniqueness Patron Use Format (Carrier)
Condition
Cemetery Records
Maintain only copy
Weekly Paper(Large
Bound Book)
Good
Local Newspaper
At another institution (not local)
Bi-monthly Paper Bad
Company Ledger
Maintain multiple copies
Rarely Paper(Unbound from book)
Fair
STEP ONE:HOW BIG IS THIS MOUNTAIN?
Set a goal of how much you want to digitize in a week, a month, a year, 3 years, etc.
Prioritize based on what works for your institution Your needs may be different than others’ Create a manageable timeline for digitization projects
Reassess at risk records or collections on a regular basis
Create a list of equipment, software, and hardware that you’ll need (including budget)
Gain the support of boards, supervisors, fellow staff , and community members
STEP ONE:HOW BIG IS THIS MOUNTAIN?
REMEMBER:This is unique to you and your institutionThere is no right or wrong answerDon’t be afraid to consult with other colleagues (or even your mortal enemies)
It’s okay to make mistakes – we’re humans, not robots
STEP ONE:HOW BIG IS THIS MOUNTAIN?
STEP TWO: MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON MOUNTAINS!?!
Where is the funding?Donations/Entrance FeesOutside GrantsAnnual Budget
More realistically:What money?!?!
STEP TWO:MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON
MOUNTAINS!?!
Grant funding opportunities National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) -
Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – Museums for America Grant
National Trust for Historic Preservation – National Trust Preservation Funds
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) – Access to Historical Records Grant
And many more….
STEP TWO:MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON
MOUNTAINS!?!
I have no available money. Now what? What equipment is available to you?
Scanner, computer, slide projector, etc. You may be able to adapt a piece of equipment to meet your
needs.
Could you borrow from another institution? Public library, local university, local cultural institution, etc. You’ll never know, if you never ask!
Your community might be more helpful than you originally believe Older equipment for donation Local business expertise Willingness to participate Etc.
STEP TWO:MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON
MOUNTAINS!?!
STEP THREE: WHO WANTS TO GO CLIMBING?
Things to consider:Can someone dedicate time to a digitization project?
Does anyone have experience? Is the project easy to train volunteers on?How many hours would it take volunteers to complete the project (commitment)?
Are you under a time limitation (grant work)?
STEP THREE:WHO WANTS TO GO CLIMBING?
Carnegie Library – Muncie, IN My supervisor was not a librarian More like a historical society – genealogy records, Wills, etc.
Volunteer No set hours Very little training Very separate and clearly defined roles/projects
Prepared county court cases for digitization These were saved from dumpsters after the county court moved
buildings
Indexed county Wills for digitization
Strong volunteer base: local community members, university students, community service hours, etc.
STEP THREE:WHO WANTS TO GO CLIMBING?
Volunteers: The Good You don’t have to pay them
Volunteers: The Bad & The Ugly May not be committed to your institution or your
projects May not have the experience or necessary
background Amount of training vs. “return on investment” Quality of work may vary between volunteers Good people may be hard to find
STEP THREE:WHO WANTS TO GO CLIMBING?
STEP FOUR: HOW MUCH EQUIPMENT IS NECESSARY?
The amount of equipment you need is going to depend on the project
You can get creative
The following slides outline current digitization practices at Northern Michigan University We currently digitize materials on a case by case basis
Patron request, highly used collection, project based We do not have a preservation system in place (yet) We have begun the process of assessing collections for
digitization One student primarily handles digitization requests
But all of us do pitch in when necessary
STEP FOUR:HOW MUCH EQUIPMENT IS
NECESSARY?
Converter box that hooks up to a computer Connects reel to reel player, film
projector, cassette/video players Various prices depending on
company, number of connections, etc.
Film is captured in the program Adobe Premiere Pro Roughly $250
Captured video is edited and stored on a hard drive
Done completely by student assistants
One flatbed scanner Photographs, negatives (not great), documents, some
books, etc. Scanned into either Photoshop or Adobe Stored on the desktop temporarily
Overhead scanner (currently out of commission) Oversize documents Large (or diffi cult) books
One computer (PC) All digitization activities occur on one machine
STEP FOUR:HOW MUCH EQUIPMENT IS
NECESSARY?
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING 101
Student Protests at Northern Michigan University Project
Researched, Created, and Designed by: Annika Peterson Anne Krohn Kelley Kannon
All materials were digitized using our simple methods listed above
Utilized resources that were available to us – no grant money was used in the making of this project
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING 101
Electronic Document Preservation .PDFA is the current standard Save at least two copies and keep them saved in different
places Desktop and external hard drive (flash drive, in a pinch)
Photograph Preservation .TIFF is the current standard Save at least two copies (access copy will most likely
be .jpg) and save in different places
Audio-Visual Preservation .WAV (audio) / .MPEG-4 (video – many options, really) Same as above (access copies - .WAV and .MOV, most likely)
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING 101
REACHING THE SUMMIT
More records are created electronically, and only electronically, every day
Information is created and shared in several diff erent ways Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Videos, etc. (The new “oral
history”)
Donations in the future may not be on paper – how will you handle those?
REACHING THE SUMMIT
Friendly Climbing Tips: You’ll probably slip a few times, but you shouldn’t lose
anything you can’t live without. (Ex. a limb, audio file, etc.)
Don’t push anyone into an icy crevice! Treat other climbers with respect.
The more you climb, the more you’ll know. Share that knowledge with friend and foe.
Not everyone takes the same path up the mountain – but most survive and make it in the end.
And so will you.
REACHING THE SUMMIT
In the immortal words of Miley Cyrus:
“It’s not about how fast you get there, it’s not
about what’s waiting on the other side.
It’s the climb.”
