E M I LY P F O T E N H A U E RP R O G R A M M A N A G E R , W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E O N L I N EE P F O T E N H A U E R @ W I L S .W I S C . E D UH T T P : / / W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E . O R G

BUILDING DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DIGITIZE?

• Selecting materials• Reformatting materials

(scanning or photographing)• Adding metadata

(descriptive information)• Making available online• Storing and maintaining

digital files and data (digital preservation)

Wisconsin Historical Society

IDENTIFYING GOALS: WHY DIGITIZE?

• Go where your audience is• Reach new audiences• Improve access to

“invisible” materials• Protect fragile or heavily

used materials• Learn more about your

collections• Contribute to our

collective knowledgeSouth Wood County Historical Museum

DIGITAL PRESERVATION

• Definition from the Library of Congress:• The active management of digital

content over time to ensure ongoing access.

• Two threats to digital content:• Obsolescence• Physical damage

• Digital preservation is not simply file storage/backups.

• Good practices now (preservation file formats, consistent file naming, thorough metadata) help ensure future access. Rock County Historical Society

DIGITAL PRESERVATION QUICK TIPS

• Save more than one copy of each file• On more than one type

of storage media• In more than one

location• Document what, where,

when • Spot-check annually• Migrate as necessary

Logan Museum of Anthropology

STORAGE OPTIONS

• Cloud storage service • Google Drive• Amazon• DuraCloud

• Local server • RAID device• External hard drive• Archival quality (gold)

CDs or DVDsTake into account potential future storage needs.

Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum

CONSIDERING COPYRIGHT

• Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer• Owning a physical item does

not necessarily mean you hold the copyright to that item

• Public domain = no longer under copyright. In the US in 2012 that means the item was:• published before 1923 –OR–• Unpublished; creator died

before 1942 –OR–• Unpublished; unknown

creator; made before 1892UW-Milwaukee Libraries

DIGITAL IMAGING

• Goals of imaging:• Create a digital

representation that’s faithful to the original item• Create the highest quality

image file you can achieve with available resources• Image once—don’t

expect to return to re-digitize UW-Madison Archives

OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY

• Digital camera• SLR that can shoot RAW

files (can convert to TIFFs)

• Tripod• Two adjustable lights

(500 watts)• Reflective umbrellas (or

sheets)• Paper or cloth backdrop• Color calibration chart

Photo setup at Pabst Mansion

SCANNING PHOTOGRAPHS

• Scan all photographs in 24-bit color, even if image is black and white

• Scanning resolution (ppi) depends on size of original item• Longest side of item longer than

7” = 300ppi• Shorter than 7” = 600ppi

• Save two copies of each scan:• High resolution TIFF (20-40MB)

for archiving and printing• Lower resolution JPEG (1-5MB)

for online collection, email, easy access

UW-La Crosse

NAMING YOUR FILES

• Use only lower case letters, numbers, and dashes or underscores• Don’t use spaces or punctuation• Use leading zeroes for consecutive numbering. For example, a

multi-page letter could have file names mac001.tif, mac002.tif, mac003.tif, etc.• Tie your file names to existing catalog numbers if possible• Document any file naming conventions you develop• Examples: • Photograph with accession # 2011.32.1 = 201132001.tif –OR–

2011_32_001.tif• Series of images by photographer John Smith = smith001.tif,

smith002.tif, smith003.tif• Not so good: Glassplate16039 Auto repair in basement 025.tif

METADATA: WHAT IS IT?

• Information about stuff• Technical metadata =

information about the digital file (size, type, etc.)• Descriptive metadata =

information about the content of the item (what are we looking at?)• Lets users find what they’re

looking for• Organized, standardized,

consistent, searchableGrant County Historical Society

METADATA ELEMENTS

Field Name Sample Data

Title DiVall barber shop

Creator F. C. Bartle

Date 09/12/1925 OR 1920-1930

Materials Photographs

Subjects Barbers; Barbershops

Description Ralph DiVall (left) and Edwin T. Baltes (right) shave two men seated in barber chairs. According to a family history on file at the Society, DiVall operated this barber shop from the 1920s until his retirement on July 1, 1966.

Location Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin

Collection DiVall Family

Rights statement This material may be protected by copyright law. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright.

Identifier 2006.01.12

File name 2006_01_12.jpg

Middleton Area Historical Society

ASSIGNING SUBJECTS

• Consistent use of subject headings can help link related content in your collection and across disparate collections.

• A controlled vocabulary is a standardized, pre-determined list of subject headings.

• Some examples of controlled vocabularies:• Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus

• Nomenclature 3.0

• Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

• Library of Congress Subject Headings

Milwaukee Public Museum

Structured, standardized metadata makes your digital content . . . • Searchable and sortable• Interoperable and shareable– Wisconsin Heritage Online portal

http://wisconsinheritage.org– Digital Public Library of America

http://dp.la• Understandable in new ways– Maps, charts, timelines

• Viewshare• Google Fusion tables• Timeline JS

SOFTWARE

• When choosing software, determine your needs and then pick the best tool for the job • To share your content in

the statewide Wisconsin Heritage Online portal, your software must be OAI-PMH compliant (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting)

Wisconsin Folksong Collection, UW-Madison

RESOURCES

• A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections (IMLS, 2007) http://framework.niso.org/• Digitization Activities: Project and Management

Outline (Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative, 2009) http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/

• Wisconsin Heritage Online digital imaging and metadata guidelines http://wisheritage.pbworks.com• Museums and the Web conference proceedings

http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/

E M I LY P F O T E N H A U E RP R O G R A M M A N A G E R , W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E O N L I N EE P F O T E N H A U E R @ W I L S .W I S C . E D UH T T P : / / W I S C O N S I N H E R I TA G E . O R G

THANK YOU!