Interoperability and service provision centres Working group
Technical Guidelines
for Digital Cultural Content Creation Programmes
Version 1.0: Revised 08 April 2004
This document has been developed on behalf of the Minerva Project by UKOLN, University of Bath, in association with MLA The Council for Museums, Libraries & Archives
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2. Preparation for digitisation
Projects must develop a good knowledge of the collections to be digitised and the uses to be made of the digital resources created. When selecting digitisation hardware and software, projects must take into account characteristics of the originals such as format, size, condition and the importance of capturing accurately attributes such as colour.
Guidance:
TASI: Advice: Creating Digital Images
http://www.tasi.ac.uk/advice/creating/creating.html
Available 2005-02-15
The Digitisation Process
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/nof/support/help/papers/digitisation_process/
Available 2005-02-15
2.1 Hardware
This document does not provide specific advice on the choice of digitisation equipment. Projects must demonstrate an awareness of the range of equipment available, the factors that determine its suitability for use with different types of physical object, and the ways in which it connects with other hardware such as a PC.
Projects must ensure that equipment selected generates digital objects of a quality that meets the requirements of their expected uses, within acceptable constraints of cost.
Project should seek appropriate advice before purchasing digitisation equipment or contracting digitisation services, and should carry out an accurate costing based on the specific requirements of the project.
2.2 Software
This document does not provide specific advice on the choice of software for use in digitisation. Projects must demonstrate an awareness of the use of software in image capture and image processing, and the hardware and software requirements of individual software products.
Project must ensure that software provides the functionality required given the intended uses of the digital objects created, within acceptable constraints of cost, and that software is usable by the relevant project staff.
2.3 Environment
Establishing an appropriate environment for the digitisation process is important in ensuring that that process is effective in creating usable digital resources and ensuring that any damaging effect on the physical source materials is minimised.
Digitisation may be carried out in-house on specially purchased or existing equipment, or it may be delegated to an external agency. Project must understand the factors involved in this choice, not only in terms of the costs but also of the requirements for the handling of physical materials and the generation of digital objects.
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