DEPARTMENT OFINFORMATION

STUDIES

1 Success lies in combining expertise in (i) digital developments and preservation; (ii) users and their needs; (iii) Social Science methodologies (e.g. user studies and evaluation); and (iv) the content and uses of the materials to be digitised or the ‘born digital’ resources.

2 A wide perspective on user interests, extending beyond the specific subject field, is essential; early consultation will help to identify the potential range before defining the search systems.

3 ‘Silo mentality’ is problematic in large organisations — digital developments require close collaboration between different work areas.

4 When seeking examples of good digital projects, look beyond your own specific area of interest and across different parts of the heritage sector.

5 Online projects cannot rely on ‘in-house’ rules for indexing, search terms or metadata which do not match recognised standards for sharing and seeking information in the ‘online world’.

6 A digitisation project may be rejected by funders or delayed because it lacks an essential pre-requisite. A common reason with archives, photographs and other 2D collections is that they are not catalogued. If not catalogued to individual item level, including each page in volumes such as diaries or note books, they lack key information for metadata and effective search systems.

Ten points and pitfalls in developing digital projects for online delivery

7 Digitisation should never be equated with access or preservation per se. It is primarily an access tool, but contributes to preservation by reducing the handling and use of the original. A good project will incorporate all necessary preservation / conservation measures for the original items alongside the digitisation.

8 Care of the original material both during and after the digitisation process is equally important, including the use of appropriate equipment, methods and workflows. Projects should be aware of the risks: e.g. simple flat-bed scanning does not suit fragile documents, bound originals, or deteriorating photographs, glass plates and film.

9 Accuracy is vital for all processes. This applies especially to transcription of manuscript text and any catalogue description or explanation. Not only are errors misleading for users, but they also affect the quality of the search system - and are spread and perpetuated via the internet!

10 Good guidance is particularly important for users of online resources, who need and deserve much more information than is usually provided: such as the nature and context of the original material; the purpose of creating the digital resource; whether it is comprehensive or selective; how to refer to or cite individual items; and whether or not any transcribed text has been altered or ‘modernised’, e.g. place names.

Ten points and pitfalls in developing digital projects for online delivery