Digitizing Special Formats

This list of resources has been curated by the Digital Library Federation for the benefit of cultural heritage professionals planning projects involving the digitization of rare and unique materials. Applicants to the Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives [1] program of the Council on Library and Information Resources [2] may find these helpful in planning project proposals.

Rather than providing comprehensive coverage, this list includes introductory and reference materials that are good places to begin an exploration of issues of broad import to digitizing special formats.

PROJECT PLANNING & MANAGEMENT

GENERAL

The Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (or FADGI) [3] is a collaboratively maintained clearinghouse of information related to digitization, from project planning [4], to digital file formats [5], to technical specifications [6]. FADGI was launched in 2007 under the auspices of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). Two working groups develop FADGI outcomes: (1) the Still Image Working Group [7] produces guidelines for creating digital images of cultural heritage materials; and (2) the Audio-Visual Working Group [8] covers the digitization of analog audio and audiovisual recordings as well as the digital reformatting of born-digital audio or audiovisual content.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) [9] developed "Principles to Guide Vendor/Publisher Relations in Large-Scale Digitization Projects of Special Collections Materials" [10] in 2010 to help institutions build strong working relationships with commercial partners while creating broad access to their collections.

BY FORMAT