Digitization of Historical Materials Dana Logalbo-Baij LIBR559L June 9, 2011

Overview Past Present Common issues Reasons to maintain primary records

Past Knowledge in western cultures changed format as follows: oral, manuscript, print, electronic, and now digital People have historically interacted directly with material

Types of Preservation Prior to Digitization Environmentally controlled, high-density storage Book rebinding Special collections re-housing Physical conservation treatments

Present Most digitization projects start small (pilot program) to save money Increased accessibility for scholars/researchers Public access

Common Issues with Digital Materials Difficulty reading Poor layouts Missing pages (especially in the case of serials) Loss of colour and picture quality

Problems Digital Projects Face What to digitize? Copyright issues Uniform metadata Maintenance of collection after digitization Educating users

Serials Example World Newspaper Archive Digitized the newspaper collections of members of the Center for Research Libraries libraries Microfilm and original copies remain intact Uniform metadata makes expanding the project easier

Digital Materials as Primary Resources Some scholars argue that yes, the digital form of a historical primary document can be considered a “primary document Others argue that knowledge could be lost in the digitization process, making the digital copy exactly that: a copy. It can’t be considered the primary document itself

Reasons to Maintain Primary Records 1. The same texts, but different version of it, each provide information with their own unique characteristics; each affects a different “historical moment.” 2. The object is primary as a source for one purpose but may be different for another purpose. 3. A primary resource is a physical object produced or used at a particular past time. 4. Physical clues reveal facts about how an item was produced.

More Reasons to Maintain Primary Records… 5. Elements of a book’s physical design can be significant indicators of how the text was regarded by its producers and interpreted by its readers. 6. Editions differ and copies within editions differ. Every copy is a potential source of new physical evidence. 7. Since external characteristics affect readers’ responses, access to physical forms of past texts is a fundamental part of reading/teaching. 8. Accuracy and stability of reproductions can never be guaranteed.

Bibliography Blecksmith, Ann. “Digital Resources Online: Digital Images of Primary Materials on Public Web Sites”. C&RL News 69 no. 5 (May 2008): Conway, Paul. “Preservation in the Age of Google: Digitization, Digital Preservation, and Dilemmas.” The Library Quarterly 80, no. 1 (January 2010): Latham, Kiersten F. “Medium Rare: Exploring Archives and their Conversion from Original to Digital Part One: Lessons from the History of Print Media.” Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal 20 no. 2 (September 2011): Marty, Paul F. “An Introduction to Digital Convergence: Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Information Age.” The Library Quarterly 80, no. 1 (January 2010): 1-5. Phillips, Margaret E. “What Should We Preserve? The Question for Heritage Libraries in a Digital World.” Library Trends 54 no. 1 (2005): Reilly, Bernard F. and James Simon.” Shared Digital Access and Preservation Strategies for Serials at the Center for Research Libraries.” The Serials Librarian 59 (2010):