Survey on Preparation of Materials to be Digitized

["Robin Dale" <BL.RLD@xxxxxxx>]

  SURVEY ON PHYSICAL PREPARATION OF MATERIALS TO BE DIGITIZED

  *** All responses welcome!  Please submit by 14 September ***



The Research Libraries Group (RLG) and the National Preservation
Office (NPO UK/Ireland) are jointly sponsoring a conference 28-30
September which has the overall theme, Guidelines for Digital
Imaging.

In order to gather information about the processes employed in the
preparation of materials for digital imaging, the Working Group on
Preparation has devised a public survey tool.  This survey is
web-based and is available through the conference site:
http://www.rlg.org/preserv/joint/preparation_survey.html or
http://www.thames.rlg.org/preserv/joint/preparation_survey.html
(from Europe)

The following brief description is taken from the introduction to
the survey:

  "The Working Group on Preparation is trying to assess current
  practice relating to preservation aspects, prior to, and
  during, digital image capture. It is hoped, eventually, to produce
  best practice guidelines which will reflect preservation
  needs/concerns during digital image processing."

  "As part of this project, we would be grateful for answers to the
  following survey, together with any additional information
  you think may be helpful in compiling these best practice
  guidelines.  N.B.  All responses/information will be treated in
  confidence."

The Working Group would like to encourage *all those* involved with
digital imaging projects to visit the Joint Conference site and
complete the survey - **whether you will be able to attend the
conference or not**. The more survey responses submitted, the better
the chance the conference will have at identifying current
practices, identifying consensus or dissension, and moving forward
towards codifying best practices where possible.

The Working Group on Preparation will need to have survey responses
in hand by Monday, 14 September in order to process and include the
information in their papers.  It is estimated that the survey will
take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete.  The Joint
Conference planners and speakers would like to encourage **all**
people involved in digital imaging projects to visit the conference
Web site and to complete the survey.



We thank you in advance for your assistance.

Conference Organizers and members of the Working Group on
Preparation:  Alison Horsburgh (Scottish Record Office), Ann
Swartzell (Harvard University) and John McIntyre (National
Library of Scotland).


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


        Background on the Joint Preservation Conference



The conference has several objectives:

 - To provide a venue where preservation specialists and digital
   project managers may gain an understanding of the several US and
   UK efforts related to imaging for preservation, particularly
   those efforts that are resulting in the development of
   guidelines;
 - To create an opportunity for exchange of ideas on the content
   and focus of the guidelines;
 - To reach consensus on purpose, scope, and practical
   implementation implications of the guidelines and evolving best
   practices.

The following topics will be covered:

 - Guidelines for the selection of collections;
 - Guidelines for the preparation of materials;
 - Guidelines for digital image capture;
 - Issues and approaches to preservation metadata;
 - Progress toward evolving best practices in digital archiving.

For each of the sections addressing "guidelines," working groups
have been formed by the speakers in order to gather information
in regard to the current state of each topic from an international
perspective.  It is through this information gathering and sharing
process that we may begin to identify areas in which consensus might
exist as well as areas where further research and development may be
needed.

For more information on the conference, visit the web site at:
http://www.thames.rlg.org/preserv/joint/index.html (from Europe)
http://www.rlg.org/preserv/joint/index.html (from North America).



To:  PADG@xxxxxxx, IMAGELIB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, DIGLIB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx