Digitization Framework

Introduction

Acadia University Archives & Special Collections is committed to preserving and providing access to materials. Digitization enhances the accessibility of our unique resources for researchers, students, and the broader community. This document establishes a framework for undertaking digitization projects of materials held in Archives & Special Collections.

For more information on partnering with Archives & Special Collections on a digitization project, contact archives@acadiau.ca.

Considerations for New Projects

Digitization projects are labour-intensive. Digital resources produced by digitization projects are preserved and maintained in perpetuity by the Archives & Special Collections. Depending on the size and/or fragility of a collection, digitizing a single collection of resources can be a multi-year project. For these reasons, new digitization projects are carefully considered to make the most effective use of resources. The following factors are evaluated when assessing new digitization projects:

  1. Condition of material
    1. What size is the material relative to current scanning equipment?
    2. Is the material fragile?
    3. Is digitization likely to damage originals?
    4. Are there duplicates that can be digitized?
    5. How is material stored?
    6. What format is the material?
  2. Rights and permissions
    1. Is the material covered by copyright provisions?
    2. Is there culturally sensitive material present?
    3. Do we have written documentation from the rights holder allowing for digital distribution?
  3. Privacy
    1. Is there sensitive personal information present?
    2. How much time has elapsed since the material was created?
    3. Is there a large potential for harm based on the distribution of this material?
  4. Research and teaching value
    1. Will this material meet the information needs of the Acadia University community and scholars?
    2. What is the anticipated value to researchers?
    3. How might this material be incorporated into teaching?
    4. How would this collection benefit from digital access and/or full-text searching?
    5. How does the material complement existing resources?
    6. How does the material address gaps in existing resources?
    7. Has this material been made available elsewhere?
    8. Are there opportunities for collaboration?
  5. Resource availability
    1. Are there sufficient resources to complete the entire project?
    2. If the project will be undertaken in phases, is it likely the project will be completed?
    3. Are there compelling reasons to select this project when considering the resources needed for this project compared to other projects?
    4. Are there technical challenges?
    5. What are the resources required to maintain this collection?
    6. Are there partners who can invest resources into the project?

Roles and Responsibilities

Digitization projects are often partnerships between the Library & Archives and other supporters on or off campus. This section clarifies roles and responsibilities for digitization projects.

  • Project sponsor (optional) – This person proposes the project and/or acts as a consultant and subject matter expert. They may provide resources for the project including funding or student assistants.
  • Digital Archivist – This person is responsible for the long-term preservation of digital assets produced by the digitization project.
  • Archivist or Librarian responsible for digitization – In collaboration with the Digital Collections Technician and subject matter experts, this person is responsible for evaluating new digitization projects, approving metadata structures, and assessing rights and permissions. They also serve as the point of contact for the project sponsor.
  • Digital Collections Technician – This person is responsible for training and supervision of student assistants. They are the digitization and imaging expert that performs or oversees digitization, metadata creation, and uploading of digitized content. They provide troubleshooting support, and quality control.
  • Student assistants – Student assistants, with training and oversight from the Digital Collections Technician, may be responsible for scanning, metadata creation, optical character recognition, digital image editing, and upload.

Technical Specifications

Currently, the Digital Archives Lab is equipped with three flatbed scanners that can scan materials up to 11.7” × 17”. The Lab can scan objects that can lie flat such as paper and photographs. Limited support for the digitization of cassette tapes may also be available.

All original scans are saved as TIF files and retained for long-term preservation. Scans are made up to 6400dpi for items smaller than 8.5” × 11” and up to 600dpi for items larger than 8.5” × 11”. Whenever possible, digitization is done following FADGI Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials. JPG files and PDF/A files are produced for access copies and posted online. TIF files are post-processed using Adobe Photoshop for cropping, de-skewing, colour correction, and contrast adjustment. Typewritten documents have optical character recognition applied using Adobe Acrobat to make files full-text searchable. Items are uploaded with metadata to https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca for public view.