Case studies and scenarios

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Digitising slides for print publication and long-term preservation
I work in a University Department. I have a collection of 35mm colour photographic slides. I want to be able to use them on my computer, present them in student lectures and provide access over the web. I may also want to include selected images in high quality glossy print publications.

The images were captured by a professional photographer and the content is very valuable. The images are of works produced by graduate fine arts students. Some of the works may no longer exist and there could be no other record apart from the photographic representation. It is very important that the digitised version capture every nuance of colour, shading and detail. I want these images to be available forever.

The slides are housed in a secure area but the storage facility was not designed to provide optimum management conditions (e.g. constant temperature and humidity control). Most of the slides have some sort of descriptive or administrative information annotated on the slide border. We possess signed releases from the creators of the represented works allowing us to use images of their work in print and electronic publications, research, teaching and web presentation.

Digitising manuscripts for research and longterm preservation
I work in a University Library. One of the academics is researching a collection of manuscripts of liturgical plainchant. Some of these manuscripts are part of an incomplete group of 16th century choirbooks which were previously considered lost.

This is a high-value project and I can't afford to make any mistakes. The digitised images must meet exacting standards for precise representation of content. Content is understood to be both the represented intent of the item creator (i.e. the authors penned marks on the page) as well as every aspect of the physical character of the item (e.g. all blemishes, unintended marks, pin pricks, later annotations and alterations). Accurate representation of colour is also very important.

I have been asked to contribute technical expertise required to provide digitised versions of the items. I am skilled and experienced in the care and handling of the physical collection but I have had no training in any aspect of digitisation or digital preservation. I don't know anything about preservation scanning, selection, evaluation & use of digital capture equipment, digital project management or implementation of quality assurance processes. I don't think this project will be a one-off. I think I'm going to have to learn more about digitisation.