Facilitated discussion on digitization

Last Friday I did a facilitated discussion on digitization with Carole Ann Fabian, who heads the Educational Technology Center (ETC) at the University of Buffalo (UB). Our task was to talk about "Creating Successful Digital Imaging Projects." I gave the introduction to the topic, Carole Ann then talked about the program that UB is doing called UBdigit, and then we asked questions to get the discussion rolling. My handout is online. Carole Ann is talking about UBdigit at NYLA and other conferences, so I would expect that she'll have something online (or published) for people to view. (The About page gives you some info on how the project was conceived, its policies, etc.)

UBdigit took six years from concept to formal launch. I mentioned to the discussion participants that we often think of these projects as being "quick", but that it takes time to get people to see the idea as worthwhile, lay the groundwork, build the infrastructure, do the project (and turn it into a program), and then launch it. Of course, then comes the maintenance, which we pointed out is a necessary "evil."

WNYLRC (in Buffalo, NY) and I will continues these facilitated discussions in the spring as a way of getting people to apply what they've learned about digitization to their organizations. I've done these before and they do help spark ideas. It will be interesting to see what will come out of these.