§ Virtual Library Project:
Phased Implementation for Kentuckiana Digital Library Project Kentuckiana Collections Work Group [KCWG] Planning a statewide project to create a virtual library of unique resources in varying formats requires a high degree of technical expertise and a large commitment of time. The goals for our digital product are that they meet the criteria of permanence and portability. Because of the expense of selection for digitization and post-imaging data work, it is critical that selection criteria be carefully developed; that full-information capture resulting in an image capable of producing a variety of products, from web-accessible images to those of publication quality result from one scan; that image data and metadata are created and stored in such a way that neither image nor data becomes technically obsolete; and that image, mark-up, and metadata elements are carefully selected to provide accessibility in the present, and compatibility with retrieval systems of the future; in short, to create a permanently available digital collection. The creation of a virtual library is a long-term commitment. It is expected that the project will be undertaken in a systematic way. The first phase of the Kentuckiana Digital Library Project must be a design and development period. The Kentuckiana Working Group has advised the use of both a consultant in digital imaging and a project coordinator to oversee the planning phase. Task 1 Select and obtain the services of a consultant and a project coordinator. Task 2 Meet with representatives of all institutions to discuss collections and selection criteria Task 3 Establish selection criteria (a written collection policy) Task 4 Establish standards for digital images; give options/issues for storage of digital masters; recommend compression and transmission criteria. Task 5 Look at mark-up and metadata issues. Establish standards for mark-up and metadata. Task 6 Recommend training criteria for personnel expected to create digital library, including mark-up and metadata creation. Task 7 Project participants begin selection process for creating digital collections. Task 8 Identify and cost out hardware and software capable of scanning to adopted standards. Identify vendors. Address issue of server adequacy. Task 9 Identify vendors and costs of out-sourcing digitization, including contract, specification, and materials security issues. Task 10 Make recommendation based upon estimated costs, standards, etc, about how to best undertake digitization of collections, including addressing the issue of centralized scanning, decentralized scanning, and third-party scanning (out-sourcing). Task 11 Project participants should have completed selection phase. Task 12 Database design and development; should address how the digital library will be presented, what the interface will be, how collections will be linked to other resources such as online finding aids and library catalog records, and how the Kentuckiana Digital Library database may fit in with other projects, such as SOLINET's Monticello Project. Task 13 Address issues of data maintenance, including where and how the data will be stored and maintained. Task 14 Address copyright and literary rights protection. Task 15 Work with institutions to determine costs of digitization, based on collection size, complexity, metadata needs, etc. Task 16 Identify obstacles, unmet needs (hardware, software, server capacity, data transmission capability, personnel, funding). Task 17 Establish a priority list of collections to be digitized. Task 18 Create a sample schedule of work flow, based upon above recommendations; should include any necessary training, and should specify how digitization and mark-up work will be accomplished, where, and by whom. Task 19 Make a report of all activities, plans, specifications, standards, and benchmarks, to be used as the planning document for creation of the Kentuckiana Digital Library. [This page was last updated on 26 July 2000 at the old SAALCK web site. It was moved and reformatted in January 2003]