Carmen Cowick - Digital Curation Projects Made Easy: A Step-By-Step Guide for Libraries, Archives, and Museums

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 9781538103500 (cloth: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781538103517 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781538103524 (electronic)

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Taking on a digital curation project may feel like a daunting task. It seems like every day there is news about a new digital project that some organization is undertaking, and it is not hard to feel left in the dust. Rest assured that you are not alone; many organizations would very much like to take on a digital curation project but simply do not know where to begin. While there are a variety of resources out there, very few focus on the absolute, complete beginner. Digital Curation Projects Made Easy is aimed at the digital curation novice and is broken down into two sections for an easy grasp on the subject.

The first part of this book will start with a basic introduction to the topic, focusing on defining digitization, digital preservation, digital curation, and their importance; if digitization is right for your project; and what is needed to get a digital project started. The first chapter contains general guidelines that will be applicable to any and every digital curation project you choose. Each following chapter will look at a variety of projects that are most popular with libraries, archives, and museums and will have specific guidelines that are unique to its corresponding project.

Digital Curation Projects Made Easy is not intended to be read from front to back; think of this book as more of a reference guide, something to keep on the shelf and pull out each time you take on a new digital curation project. Each chapter in part II of this book is self-sufficient for the most part, containing step-by-step guides for each project, with examples, templates, and checklists to help you through.

Before you can begin to take on a digital curation project, we must discuss the differences between digitization, digital preservation, and digital curation. A digital curation project will involve both digitization and digital preservation, but they are not the same. Lets examine these terms in depth.

Digitization is the process of taking a physical or analog object and creating a digital copy of that object. Digitization is often mistaken for digital preservation, and many times they are used interchangeably even though they are not the same thing. It is important to understand that digitization is not preservation; digitization is about providing access, while digital preservation is about caring for the digital object in the same way you would care for a physical or analog object. In fact, your digital object will probably need much more care than any physical object in your collection because of issues like bit rot, file format obsolescence, and hardware/application obsolescence. In other words, scanning or photographing an object to create a digital object is digitization, while digital preservation involves a different set of goals and tasks, which we will discuss later on in this chapter.

Digitizing items can be costly in terms of both time and money, so it is important to be aware of the many advantages of digitizing items in your collection. These advantages can help convince administrators, board members, and other interested parties that digitizing your objects is worthwhile. Lets take a look at the most common advantages in detail.

Unlike the physical items in your collection, digital objects offer access to those who cannot come to your facilities. This means users from another city, state, or country can view your materials. Expanded access increases your organizations visibility, opening the door to future collaboration with other organizations and providing opportunities for future funding as well. It is not only physical barriers that are removed with digital preservation but also time barriers. Your digital items are available to users any time of the day and any time of the year. You will see an increase in users when they know they can research items in the middle of the night or on a holiday.