Tips For Surviving Digitization In a Small Organization

1. Tips For Surviving Digitization In a Small Organization Notes From The Trenches Renée DesRoberts The First Time Digitizer NEA Spring Meeting • March 28-29, 2008 Salve Regina University • Newport, Rhode Island

2. To start, a little about us & our program… • A free, public library founded in 1863 • Photograph collections dating from about 1870 to present • Scanning in concert with Maine Historical Society’s Maine Memory Network since 2006 • Currently about 1,500 scanned images (99 of which loaded into MMN) • No dedicated staff (we scan as need/ability arises)

3. What can a small shop gain by digitizing & posting images online? • You can reach a broader audience. • You can improve & enhance access to your holdings. • Especially true for rural or “isolated” institutions. • You can connect to other organizations (nationally & internationally) with similar or complimentary collections.

4. Things to think about when planning your project • Project size • Project staff • Project duration • Budget • Presentation • Technical requirements • Creation of Procedures

5. Tip: Project size -It is okay to start small!!!! • A small pilot project will help you determine your abilities & needs. • You do not have to purchase expensive software & equipment to start out. • We use: Adobe Photoshop Elements (±$100.00); Epson Perfection 4180 Scanner (±$200.00); and an Iomega 60GB Portable Hard-Drive (±$60.00) for back-up storage. • Posting a few images on your website or blog is a reasonable start in promoting your collections. • Be realistic & don’t take on more than you can handle.

6. Tip: Procedures -Naming conventions matter! • Think about a naming convention that you could use for the whole collection, even if you are just digitizing a few pieces. • Each item should have a UNIQUE name. • This can be numeric, descriptive, or whatever works for your collections & organization. • Written procedures for names make a big difference • when you have multiple people doing the work, AND • when you have an on-going or long-term project.

7. Tip: Staffing - Recruiting/managing volunteers • Younger volunteers (high school & college age): • are technologically savvy and usually require little training. • often have community service requirements for school or civic groups. • Create a work log to manage multiple workers. • For example: our work log has space for volunteers (or staff) to write down the item scanned, the electronic file name, and initials of the person doing the work. • Keep written procedures with the work log for easy referral by volunteers (or staff).

8. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel… • If you can join an existing consortium (such as Maine Memory Network), then do so – they will help you get started & supply the technical support you will require. Otherwise… • Contact your state archives, state historical society, or local college/university with digitization programs in place for advice. • There are many listservs & discussion groups (SAA Visual Materials Section, NEA Discuss, or the new http://lonearrangers.ning.com) where you can post questions. • Pick up a book or guide…(check out SAA’s publications on digitization & digital preservation, as well as the resource list provided by this panel!)

9. Tips for Surviving Digitization in a Small Organization. Renée DesRoberts, MSLIS McArthur Public Library 270 Main Street Biddeford, Maine 04005 207-284-4181 email: rdesroberts@mcarthur.lib.me.us web: http://www.mcarthur.lib.me.us blog: http://backblog.wordpress.com This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.