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Bring your collection alive November 5, 2012

Posted by k3nd in digitisation.
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Digitisation of local studies material delivers a two fold advantage. Firstly, resources are archived and secondly, made available worldwide.

Once you have decided to catch the digitisation bus, there are a few stops that need to be completed.

  • Do you possess the staff and time
  • Will you complete the process inhouse or outsource.
  • Are you aware of any copyright restrictions

Having ticked these off and creating inhouse:

  • Ensure suitable hardware and software available
  • Create efficient workflows
  • Train staff in these workflows

During the digitisation process:

  • Prioritise material to be digitised
  • Scan to the highest quality
  • Crop/straighten/edit where needed

If importing into a DAM:

  • Ensure exhaustive tagging. Your DAM is only as good as your metadata

For disaster control measures, don’t have your DAM server and collection to be digitised in the same building. Also, regularly backup your images, ideally located in yet another location.

There is no rocket science in the art of digitisation. Once you have set the course just do it and enjoy the benefits that eventuate.