[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Transferring material to digital format



original message:

I am a writing a final paper for one of my classes on the issues relating to
the transfer of material (textual, and especially audiovisual material) to
digital formats.
I was hoping that you might, in light of your experince, share with me your
point of view on this question. Mainly addressing the pros and cons (issues
relating to the stability of the format, integrity, authenticity, keeping
the masters or not, etc.) and why an institution would choose to digitize
their collection.

-----------------------------------

Claire:

My internship consisted of digitizing a collection of paper money, so maybe
I can help you.

The reason why I chose that particular internship was so that the public
could have access to a copy of something that would deteriorate much faster
if they (the public) got a hold of the original material.  It is like having
your cake and eating too:  researchers can examine good copies of your
material and you still have your original material safe from light, dust,
oils, etc.  That, I think, is the main advantage.

I guess how that applies to A/V matierial is that you can save a film (or
whatever) to digital format before the actual film emulsion deteriorates.
However, I have no experience with A/V material, only paper-based documents.

The stability of CD-ROMs is not as good as that of microform, so if you're
shooting for long-term storage, microform is the way to go.  According to my
notes and handouts, good quality archival microfilm lasts 200 years if
stored properly.  CD-ROMs, if you are taking into account the rate at which
technology advances, should last about 10 years or so (from Information
Technologies/Paul Griffin and Associates).   An oft-quoted example is the
1960 U.S. census:  the technology (in this case, magnetic disks) used to
store that information became obsolete quickly, and now only two machines
can read information on those disks.

If you're worried about the integrigy of the digitized product versus the
original product, you need to have three copies of each item you digitize.
Your first copy is saved as a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), with no
compression (a lossless copy).  Your second copy is for manipulation of
images.  The third copy is saved in JPEG (Joint Photographers Exchange
Group) format (a lossy copy).  Your TIFF copy is your master copy, and you
should always keep that, as that provides the most authentic and integral
copy of your original.

I can give you names of people who know more than I do about the
technicalities (compression ratios, Encoded Archival Description), or I can
tell you the details of my internship, if you would like to correspond with
me privately.

I hope this helps!  This is what I learned from my internship.  If anybody
out there has constructive criticism, I sure would appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Robyn Sager
University of Alabama
School of Library and Information Studies
rsager3@slis.ua.edu

Half a semester away from my MLIS and counting!

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
     In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                   *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
    http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>