NARA asks for public comments

This was posted to the Archives discussion list.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is giving public notice that we propose to enter into a non-exclusive agreement with The Generations Network, Inc. (TGN) to digitize and further expand public access to archival holdings in NARA's custody. Your comments on the terms of the proposed agreement are invited. Comments must be received by April 9, 2008.

Please go to http://www.archives.gov/comment/tgn-preamble.html for an overview of the draft agreement and a link to the agreement.

I find it interesting to see NARA gather public comments on its digitization initiatives. You might remember that last September, NARA posted its draft Plan for Digitizing Archival Materials for Public Access, 2007-2016 and asked for public comments (related blog post). The finalized plan will be posted here when complete. These are national assets that they want to digitize -- and in this case with a for-profit company -- so it is important that we (the people) understand what they are agreeing to do and the impact on our access. In this case, the highlights of the proposal, according to NARA, are:

1. The records to be digitized will be mutually agreed to, with NARA having final approval.
2. The partner in this proposed agreement, TGN, is in the business of converting records of historical and genealogical value into digital form, and publishing them on the Internet and on other digital media.
3. NARA will receive digital copies of all holdings that are digitized as part of this agreement. As with all of NARA's digitization agreements, there will be no charge for researchers at any time to access the digital copies in any of NARA's research rooms.
4. Benefits to researchers included in this agreement are: free access to the digitized images and indexes in NARA's research rooms nationwide; links to and from NARA's online Archival Research Catalog; and the opportunity to purchase copies of the documents in digital format.
5. Individual project plans will be established that identify the specific records to be digitized and specify metadata and other details that will apply to those records.
6. The first selection of archival materials will be a test project and, upon its mutually satisfactory review, the parties will define and continue to define additional archival materials to be digitized and will produce project plans for succeeding projects.
7. NARA's agreement with TGN will be non-exclusive. NARA has already reached digitizing agreements with other entities and will continue to consider additional agreements.
8. TGN will pay all costs for conservation, metadata creation, pulling and refiling records, and digitizing the records.

I've highlighted #4 above. Free access from NARA reading rooms, but perhaps not free access from the NARA web site? mmm....am I reading that correctly? How do you feel about that? Do you mind paying for increased access from your computer to NARA documents?

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Technorati tag: Digitization

TAPE guidelines for analogue open reel tapes

From the Digital-Preservation discussion list.

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TAPE has published web-based guidelines for digitisation. They describe the digitisation workflow for analogue open reel tapes as a step by step approach for the production of digital copies from analogue tapes from a technical point of view. Most of the workflow may also be applied to audio cassettes. The workflow was written by Juha Henriksson (Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive) & Nadja Wallaszkovits (Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Sciences).

The workflow is mainly aimed at newcomers in the world of audio tape digitization. It contains references to other literature and many detailed photographs.

You will find the workflow at http://www.jazzpoparkisto.net/audio/

The TAPE project, Training for Audiovisual Preservation in Europe, http://www.tape-online.net, is supported by the Culture 2000-programme of the EU.

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Jill's schedule & two upcoming digitization workshops

I want to alert you to two upcoming workshops that I'm doing and ask you to spread the word about them.

April 6, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. -- Digitization 101 workshop at Computers in Libraries conference, Crystal City, VA. Cost $159/person.

Description:

The agenda includes a look at what digitization is, the five major steps in the digitization process, how project managers create a successful digitization program, copyright and other intellectual property issues, how to market a digitization program and get it funded, trends, and more.

June 15, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. -- Digitization Essentials workshop at the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA. Cost $299/SLA-members, $399/non-member.

Description:

Digitization is much more than converting a physical or analog object into its digital equivalent: it efficiently repurposes crucial information resources to improve their use by staff, colleagues, and end-users. For libraries, digitization can open the collection to a much larger user-base, whether that user-base is comprised of researchers, students, or business people. A dangerous trap for digitization efforts is to focus on the conversion process instead of other, mission critical, pre-scanning issues such as selection criteria, preservation of original documents, metadata creation, software and hardware concerns, integration into existing systems, and legal issues. These issues and more will be discussed in this workshop.

In addition to these two workshops, the following events are on my schedule through June:

• Mar. 18 -- Presentation, Tour of InfoIsland, Second Life (web conference for Education Institute)
• Mar. 19 -- Presentation, Second Life & Libraries, Wheeling, IL (North Suburban Library System)
  
• Mar. 25 -- Workshop, Emerging Technology: Introduction to Second Life, Liverpool, NY (CLRC)
  
• Mar. 27 -- Presentation, Social Networking Tools & Second Life, Cortland, NY (Postponed from December due to the weather) (SUNY Cortland Library)
  
• April 7 -- Cybertour of Second Life's Info Island International, Crystal City, VA (Computers in Libraries)
  
• May 22 -- Presentation, 2.0 In Your Library, Kalamazoo, MI
• June 16 -- Panel Discussion, What's all the Buzz about Social Networking, Seattle, WA (SLA Annual Conference)
• June 17 -- Panel Moderator, Building Bridges, Creating Partnerships, Seattle, WA (SLA Annual Conference)

For more information on any of the events on my calendar, please contact the sponsoring organization or me. If you would me to speak at your event, please give me a shout.

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Technorati tags: Digitization, Second Life, Social Networking Tools, SLA2008, CIL2008

Anyone using Archon?

I received a question via email asking about Archon and how it compares to Greenstone. As I look quickly at Archon, it seems like that software is meant for creating digital finding aids. (see also) It's stated purpose is different than Greenstone, which "is a suite of software for building and distributing digital library collections." This person compares Archon to the Archivists Toolkit that has also been released, which is also for finding aids. I do see Archon described as being software for a digital library, but its own web site doesn't seem to describe it that way. However, both are open source software.

So...here are the question... Is anyone using Archon? If yes, what other products did you consider (e.g., Greenstone, DSpace, etc.) ? What are you using it for (e.g., finding aids, digital objects)?

I -- and a person in Florida -- thank you for your replies!

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Technorati tag: Greenstone

Event: Planning the future with Planets: a preservation planning tutorial

From the DIGITAL-PRESERVATION discussion list.

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Planning the future with Planets: a preservation planning tutorial

Austrian Computer Society, Vienna, Austria

14-15 April 2008

www.planets-project.eu/events/pp-vienna-2008/

All organisations need to manage their information assets for as long as they are required, with some information needing long-term preservation. Management of digital information requires different processes from those used for printed material. It is more vulnerable and, due to rapid changes in technology, there is a significant risk that it will become obsolete and inaccessible. The impetus for digital preservation is more obvious for libraries, data centres and archives, whose primary mission is to safeguard information and provide sustained access to cultural and scientific knowledge.

A crucial process in preserving digital information and data is to make the right decisions at appropriate times to ensure no valuable information is lost. In the Open Archival Information System Reference model (OAIS) this process is called preservation planning. The Planets project (www.planets-project.eu) has taken preservation planning as its research focus and aims to develop a distributed, open source, and interoperable environment of tools and services that will support organisations in this decision making process.

In order to provide more detailed knowledge of these services and developments, Planets is organising a two-day tutorial on preservation planning. The event is intended to offer a complete overview of preservation planning and to provide attendees with the opportunity to learn about Planets' approach and technique. In addition attendees will be able to provide input and help shape Planets' future research and development in this area.

Who should attend?

Library and archive institutions, repository managers, systems developers and integrators, and anyone involved in the long-term preservation of digital materials.

Benefits of attendance

• Understanding of the various aspects of preservation planning
• Awareness of the range of services and tools Planets will be delivering
• Input into Planets' future research and development
• Knowledge of the 'utility analysis' methodology and practical skills in building objective trees for different types of digital objects
• Hands-on experience with Plato, a Planets preservation planning tool

Format and Programme

Day one will deliver an overview of the Planets project and the products and services it will be providing, along with presentations on the preservation planning process and Planets' contribution to this. Day two will provide hands-on experience of the Planets approach to preservation planning, including exercises in building objective trees and an introduction to the Planets preservation planning tool, Plato.

The full programme can be found at:

www.planets-project.eu/events/pp-vienna-2008/programme/

Course fees and registration

The fee for the event is €90. To register, please go to:

www.planets-project.eu/events/pp-vienna-2008/register

Closing date for registration is 4 April 2008.

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Contact Planets

Sign up for Planets news and announcements via the RSS feed at: www.planets-project.eu

For more information on the project, please contact: info@planets-project.eu

Planets - Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked Services, is a four-year project co-funded by the European Union under the Sixth Framework Programme to address core digital preservation challenges.

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation