Other Resources

 

1.  STANDARD SETTING BODIES:

 

Arts & Humanities Data Service (AHDS):

AHDS Guide to Good Practice

http://www.ahds.ac.uk/creating/guides/index.htm

The Arts and Humanities Data Service is a UK national service funded by the JISC and AHRB to collect, preserve and promote the electronic resources, which result from research and teaching in the arts and humanities. Together with TASI, which is mentioned below, they have created a very clear and thorough handbook to guide you through the process.

 

National Archives and Records Admininstratrion (NARA)

Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Archival Materials for Electronic Access

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/digitizing-archival-materials.html (click on page to download a .pdf document.)

 

California Digital Library http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/

The CDL is in the process of updating its “CDL best practices for image capture,” which when published will be very good. It is based on NARA recommendations.  Its “best practice guidelines: For encoded archival description, version 2.0” has won them an award.

 

Collaborative Digitization Program

Western States Digital Imaging Best Practices. PDF

http://www.cdpheritage.org/digital/scanning/documents/WSDIBP_v1.pdf

This is a result of Colorado’s digitization effort, whose name is now Collaborative Digitization Program.  The guide was developed especially for local libraries and historical archives that wished to digitize their collections. In some standards, it is more minimal than the national level, but it may also be more realistic for the time

 

 

2.  HANDBOOKS

 

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), the original authority on digitizing in the Library sector has also published:

NEDCC’s HANDBOOK FOR DIGITAL PROJECTS: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access http://www.nedcc.org/digital/dighome.htm  It is available as a PDF or on paper -Library of Congress Cataloging Number ISBN No. 0-9634685-4-5

 

National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH) Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials http://www.ninch.org/guide.pdf

 

NINCH Handbook for Digital Projects http://www.nedcc.org/digital/dighome.html

 

 

3. Data Standards and Metadata

 

 Introduction to Metadata: Pathways to Digital Information, Baca, Murtha, ed, Los Angeles, The Getty Information Institute, 1998,http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/intrometadata

 

 A metadata“crosswalk” http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/intrometadata/3_crosswalks

 

 Introduction to Vocabularies: Enhancing Access to Cultural Heritage Information, Lanzi, Elisa, Los Angeles: The Getty Information Institute, 1998 http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/introvocabs

 

 The Data Dictionary for Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images www.niso.org/standards/resources/Z39_87_trial_use.pdf

 

 (NISO Z39.87/AIIM 20), released as a Draft Standard for trial use: A very complete guide to documenting your scanning process.

 

 Administrative metadata for digital images: a real world application of the NISO draft standard,” Rettig, Patricia J. , Issue 26, no.2(202) 173-179.

 

 A Metadata Framework to Support the Preservation of Digital Objects , The Working Group on Preservation Metadata, an initiative jointly sponsored by OCLC and RLG. http://www.oclc.org/research/pmwg/pm_framework.pdf

 

VRA core 3.0 (4.0 soon to be released) http://www.vraweb.org/vracore3.htm

 

 MARC http://loc.gov/marc

 

 Dublin Core http://dublincore.org

 

 Categories for the Description of Works of Art http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/cdwa/

 

 Open Archive Initiative Protocol http://www.openarchives.org/

 

 

 4. Other good sources for Expert Opinions and Advice

 

 RLG:

 Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging http://www.rlg.org/legacy/visguides/ and their more current

 

 Recommendations for Digitizing for RLG Cultural Materials http://www.rlg.org/culturalres/prospective.html

 

 RLG also has a great template for an RFP for scanning services which Cornell helped them develop and Califa used as a basis for our recent scanning project LHDRP 2005-2006.

 

 

VRA (Visual Resource Association) Digital Initiatives Advisory Group

 http://www.vraweb.org/diag/index.htm

 

 Digital Imaging Guide http://www.dig-mar.com

 

 

 

 5.  Technical Guidance

 

 Technical Advisory Service for Images, TASI – http://www.tasi.ac.uk/

 

 In Great Britain, TASI provides this great resource for the academic community about the digital creation, storage and delivery of image-related material.

 

Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines http://www.updig.org/guidelines/index.html

 

The guidelines were prepared by the UPDIG Working Group, an ad-hoc industry consortium along with allied trade groups and manufacturers. Although they largely reflect a photographer's perspective, anyone working with digital images should find them useful.

 

Moving Theory into Practice : Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives, by Anne R. Kenney, Oya Y. Rieger , RLG, 2000

 

This is an outstanding book on setting imaging standards and procedures for archiving purposes. Much of the information can also be found in: Moving Theory into Practice: Cornell's Digital Imaging Tutorial http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/index.html

 

 

 6. Scanning

 

Real World Scanning and Halftones, David Blatner, Glenn Fleishman and Steve Roth, 1998 Second Edition. ISBN 0-201-69683-5

 

Explanations, tips, and real world knowledge about making a good scan and taking it all the way to a printed piece, the Web, or film output. The book teaches how to scan, tonally and color correct, sharpen, and output.

 

A few scanning tips http://www.scantips.com/

 

Wayne Fulton presents a little bit lighter and easier read. Many people with a great deal of digital experience use it. Especially read "Evaluating Scanner Features and Performance"

 

 

7.  Image Manipulation

 

Adobe Studio Exchange http://share.studio.adobe.com/Default.asp

 

Joe Cheng, then a student at MIT's Sloan School of Management started this collection in 1996. He set out to create a community where Adobe Photoshop users could trade Photoshop Actions, those cool effect-generating macros for Photoshop. It is now run by Adobe and is a great source of free add ons to make your imaging work easier and more efficient

 

Color Management and Windows: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/lib

 

Color Spaces and You. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/colorspaces.mspx--

 

Despite the lackluster title, I found this an extremely useful read for a novice to the complexities of color management. It is written by one of the experts in the field, Rob Galbraith, who has a great web site for photographers.

 

 

 8. Hardware/software reviews

 

The Imaging Resource http://www.imaging-resource.com

 

Dpreview http://www.dpreview.com/

 

CreativePro http://www.creativepro.com/

 

Digital Imaging Guide http://www.dig-mar.com