Tips For Surviving Digitization In a Small Organization Notes From The Trenches Renée DesRoberts The First Time Digitizer NEA Spring Meeting March 28-29, 2008 Salve Regina University Newport, Rhode Island

To start, a little about us & our program… A free, public library founded in 1863 Photograph collections dating from about 1870 to present Scanning in concert with Maine Historical Society’s Maine Memory Network since 2006 Currently about 1,500 scanned images (99 of which loaded into MMN) No dedicated staff (we scan as need/ability arises)

What can a small shop gain by digitizing & posting images online? You can reach a broader audience. You can improve & enhance access to your holdings. Especially true for rural or “isolated” institutions. You can connect to other organizations (nationally & internationally) with similar or complimentary collections.

Things to think about when planning your project Project size Project staff Project duration Budget Presentation Technical requirements Creation of Procedures

Tip: Project size - It is okay to start small!!!! A small pilot project will help you determine your abilities & needs. You do not have to purchase expensive software & equipment to start out. We use: Adobe Photoshop Elements (±$100.00); Epson Perfection 4180 Scanner (±$200.00); and an Iomega 60GB Portable Hard-Drive (±$60.00) for back-up storage. Posting a few images on your website or blog is a reasonable start in promoting your collections. Be realistic & don’t take on more than you can handle.

Tip: Procedures - Naming conventions matter! Think about a naming convention that you could use for the whole collection, even if you are just digitizing a few pieces. Each item should have a UNIQUE name. This can be numeric, descriptive, or whatever works for your collections & organization. Written procedures for names make a big difference when you have multiple people doing the work, AND when you have an on-going or long-term project.

Tip: Staffing - Recruiting/managing volunteers Younger volunteers (high school & college age): are technologically savvy and usually require little training. often have community service requirements for school or civic groups. Create a work log to manage multiple workers. For example: our work log has space for volunteers (or staff) to write down the item scanned, the electronic file name, and initials of the person doing the work. Keep written procedures with the work log for easy referral by volunteers (or staff).

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel… If you can join an existing consortium (such as Maine Memory Network), then do so – they will help you get started & supply the technical support you will require. Otherwise… Contact your state archives, state historical society, or local college/university with digitization programs in place for advice. There are many listservs & discussion groups (SAA Visual Materials Section, NEA Discuss, or the new where you can post questions. Pick up a book or guide…(check out SAA’s publications on digitization & digital preservation, as well as the resource list provided by this panel!)

Tips for Surviving Digitization in a Small Organization. Renée DesRoberts, MSLIS McArthur Public Library 270 Main Street Biddeford, Maine web: blog: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.