§ Virtual Library Project:
Kentickiana Collection Work Group [KCWG] KENTUCKY-ORIENTED INFORMATION RESOURCES July 25, 1997 I. Design and development 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 Digital Library Project must be a design and development period. (Quote from Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives, Cornell, 1996, p3) "A growing number of libraries and archives are initiating digital imaging efforts to meet current and new programmatic objectives. Because institutional resources are limited, it is important that digital projects be carefully defined up front to guarantee success and minimize failure. This requires institutions to set realistic expectations informed by an understanding of the attributes of the documents they wish to convert, the ramifications of digital capture, and the full range of uses the digital images will support." The first task will be to contract with a project coordinator to survey the collections of the eight state institutions, establish criteria for selection, develop and adopt standards to cover image quality and permanence, plan for data storage and maintenance to insure continued accessibility. The project coordinator will also be charged with making informed decisions about how to best convert materials to digital format, which may include establishing a statewide digitization center, contracting with service providers, or undertaking decentralized digitization at several sites. The project coordinator will also be responsible for arranging or providing training. II. Equipment "A fully configured imaging system has six hardware components, and accompanying software that controls their individual and interrelated operations. [The components are] scanner, computer, storage system, network, display system, printer." (Cornell, 48) The Digitization Chain "Components should be selected with an eye toward interoperability to maximize the utility of all resources, including personnel. For instance, if an institution intends to scan materials in-house, but the technical infrastructure relies on older computers and slow networks, then it would make little sense to purchase a 'production' scanner. The overall efficiency and effectiveness of a system is always defined by the weakest link in the 'digitization chain'." Because of varying degrees of readiness among the eight state institutions to implement a digitization project, to take advantage of economies of scale, and to maximize consistently high quality throughout the project, we recommend selecting a single site to serve as a statewide reformatting center. This site would be equipped with hardware and software to provide the full-information-capture image, at an estimated initial cost of $60,000. In addition, personnel costs could be minimized by concentrating training and staffing efforts for technical support in the central site. III. Product The digital library of Kentucky-oriented Information Resources would follow the expert advice (based on several years of pioneering digitization efforts in libraries and archives) of Cornell University in "creating a digital master in which all significant information contained in the source document is fully represented." "The costs of creating a high-quality digital image will be less than creating a lower quality image that fails to meet long-term needs. Digital imaging is expensive; labor costs associated with identifying, preparing, inspecting, and indexing digital information far exceed the costs of the scan itself. In recent years, the costs of scanning and storage have declined, closing the gap between high-quality and low-quality digital image capture." "The key to image quality is not to capture at the highest resolution or bit depth possible, but to match the conversion process to the informational content of the original, and to scan at a level that ensures that capture--no more, no less. In doing so, one can avoid the prospects of rescanning at a later date. The costs of archiving and migrating information are not insignificant, but they can be justified and met if the digital information has long-term value. Long-term value should be defined by the intellectual content of digital images, not limited by technical decisions made at the point of conversion." (Cornell, p. 7-8) Selection for conversion (Cornell, p 31) "...the utility of digital images is most likely to ensured when the needs of the users are clearly defined, the attributes of the documents are known, and the technical infrastructure (for conversion, maintenance, an delivery of images) is appropriate to the needs of the project." [This page was last updated on 26 July 2000 at the old SAALCK web site. It was moved and reformatted in January 2003]