Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
There are a few options you can go with. https://foss4lib.org/package-type/digital-repository has a nice list of open source solutions. Just remember with open source you need to have some tech savy staff to support the software. I know a lot of people who like Omeka for free digital collection software. I am using DSpace right now for an institutional repository, it can be used for digital collections but it is not the best since that was not what it was built for. ContentDM is a popular pay for solution. Still, I would check out that list, and demo Omeka on their site. There are plenty of other considerations you need to make as well but these should help start you off specifically with the questions you asked. On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 4:55 PM, P.G. wrote: > Hello, > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > of images, publications and media files. > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience > using it? > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > Thanks. > > Chris >
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
Hello, I would definitely go open-source. However, a librarian needs to be willing to learn how to mitigate the issues that comes with it. I say go for it. This list is a great resource when you ruin into issues. I think file format is very important when arching archiving for preservation; do you just eat the content or are there intrinsic things that you want to capture. For pictures you want to at least be able to get good scanner that can give you at least 600pi. The image formats that you use matters alot. Pdf isn't always a good option for every thing. Some times plain test is a good solution. The problem with proprietary software is that your beholden to the limits set by the proprietor. With out much of a budget we should only be limited to of imagination and skill. The skills needed can be learned and will pay off for future projects. I think it is always good to get institutional support. Especially when at a college. I would write a proposal to the presidents office. Even if a large budget isn't necessary or possible. Institutional support from the top is huge. Thanks, Cornel Darden Jr. MSLIS Library Department Chair South Suburban College 7087052945 "Our Mission is to Serve our Students and the Community through lifelong learning." Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 14, 2014, at 3:55 PM, P.G. wrote: > > Hello, > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > of images, publications and media files. > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience > using it? > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > Thanks. > > Chris
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
I've built digital collections on Omeka and on SobekCM (both on that helpful foss4lib list) Omeka is definitely easy to get up and running and you can even host a small collection free on the omeka.net site. The drawback is in the back-end management - if you want to import a lot of items in bulk or do mass-updating or work with non-Dublin Core xml metadata or any of those sorts of management things you'll be much happier with something else. I have been using Sobek for a while - it's open-source and industrial-strength. It does require a steeper learning curve, though it's less steep than the Fedora-based repositories. Also the documentation is top-notch very detailed. Also the developer is now running a hosting service with reasonable fees if you are running a medium-to-large sized institutional collection they are at sobekdigital.com One other extremely helpful piece of software that I wish I'd know about long ago is called VueScan https://www.hamrick.com/ it's billed as "the software that should have shipped with your scanner" it costs $40 and is worth every penny. Good luck! On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 6:13 PM, Matthew Sherman wrote: > There are a few options you can go with. > https://foss4lib.org/package-type/digital-repository has a nice list of > open source solutions. Just remember with open source you need to have > some tech savy staff to support the software. I know a lot of people who > like Omeka for free digital collection software. I am using DSpace right > now for an institutional repository, it can be used for digital collections > but it is not the best since that was not what it was built for. ContentDM > is a popular pay for solution. Still, I would check out that list, and > demo Omeka on their site. There are plenty of other considerations you > need to make as well but these should help start you off specifically with > the questions you asked. > > On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 4:55 PM, P.G. wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > > of images, publications and media files. > > > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your > experience > > using it? > > > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget > so > > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > > Thanks. > > > > Chris > > >
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
I consider Hydra and Islandora to be the gold standard for digital asset management systems. Both are built on the Fedora Core free and open-source repository system, with Hydra using Rails for the front end and Islandora using Drupal. Both systems have broad support for standards. MPOW offers setup, management, development and hosting for Islandora, so I know a bit mor about that platform. Between contributed Islandora solution packs and Drupal modules there are many free tools to extend the system with workflows, content adapters and more. While Omeka lacks some of the features of these systems, it offers a nice balance of front and backend tools, and it is well-suited to serving smaller collections. There is solid library community support for all three of these systems. Cary On Tuesday, October 14, 2014, P.G. wrote: > Hello, > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > of images, publications and media files. > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience > using it? > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > Thanks. > > Chris > -- Cary Gordon The Cherry Hill Company http://chillco.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
Others in this thread have all made useful comments, but I think it would pay to take a step back first and ask yourself some questions about your situation: (*) what's your volume of material? Do you have a single book? a shelf of contents? a room of content? a multi-site organisation full of content? (*) what are your resources? Do you have techies? Do you have cataloguers? Do you have volunteers? Do you have machine-readable catalog records for the books? Is there good authority control for the people in the archive? Do you have existing finding aids? Do you have a book scanner? (*) Are you working as part of an enduring institution with a demonstrated commitment to archives? (*) Have you looked around for possible consortia to join? (*) Have you looked around to see who else has already digitised closely-related materials? (*) Which languages are the archives in? (*) Do you have a collections policy? ... The more detailed the answers, the better we'll be able to give you advice rather than just push our prejudices at you... cheers stuart -- I have a new phone number: 04 463 5692 From: Code for Libraries on behalf of P.G. Sent: Wednesday, 15 October 2014 9:55 a.m. To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch Hello, Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials of images, publications and media files. What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience using it? Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so we may need to host it on our own server as well. Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. Thanks. Chris
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
OK I am now obsessed with the idea of a post-apocalyptic consortia of 100,000 libraries, each with one book. Cary On Oct 14, 2014, at 4:57 PM, Stuart Yeates wrote: > Others in this thread have all made useful comments, but I think it would pay > to take a step back first and ask yourself some questions about your > situation: > > (*) what's your volume of material? Do you have a single book? a shelf of > contents? a room of content? a multi-site organisation full of content? > (*) what are your resources? Do you have techies? Do you have cataloguers? Do > you have volunteers? Do you have machine-readable catalog records for the > books? Is there good authority control for the people in the archive? Do you > have existing finding aids? Do you have a book scanner? > (*) Are you working as part of an enduring institution with a demonstrated > commitment to archives? > (*) Have you looked around for possible consortia to join? > (*) Have you looked around to see who else has already digitised > closely-related materials? > (*) Which languages are the archives in? > (*) Do you have a collections policy? > ... > > The more detailed the answers, the better we'll be able to give you advice > rather than just push our prejudices at you... > > cheers > stuart > > > -- > I have a new phone number: 04 463 5692 > > > From: Code for Libraries on behalf of P.G. > > Sent: Wednesday, 15 October 2014 9:55 a.m. > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > Subject: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch > > Hello, > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > of images, publications and media files. > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience > using it? > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > Thanks. > > Chris
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
Once the physical embodiment of books become self-aware, they might seriously look at building a consortia. That may or may not be what triggers the transition to a post-apocalyptic world. cheers stuart -- I have a new phone number: 04 463 5692 From: Code for Libraries on behalf of Cary Gordon Sent: Wednesday, 15 October 2014 1:54 p.m. To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch OK I am now obsessed with the idea of a post-apocalyptic consortia of 100,000 libraries, each with one book. Cary On Oct 14, 2014, at 4:57 PM, Stuart Yeates wrote: > Others in this thread have all made useful comments, but I think it would pay > to take a step back first and ask yourself some questions about your > situation: > > (*) what's your volume of material? Do you have a single book? a shelf of > contents? a room of content? a multi-site organisation full of content? > (*) what are your resources? Do you have techies? Do you have cataloguers? Do > you have volunteers? Do you have machine-readable catalog records for the > books? Is there good authority control for the people in the archive? Do you > have existing finding aids? Do you have a book scanner? > (*) Are you working as part of an enduring institution with a demonstrated > commitment to archives? > (*) Have you looked around for possible consortia to join? > (*) Have you looked around to see who else has already digitised > closely-related materials? > (*) Which languages are the archives in? > (*) Do you have a collections policy? > ... > > The more detailed the answers, the better we'll be able to give you advice > rather than just push our prejudices at you... > > cheers > stuart > > > -- > I have a new phone number: 04 463 5692 > > > From: Code for Libraries on behalf of P.G. > > Sent: Wednesday, 15 October 2014 9:55 a.m. > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > Subject: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch > > Hello, > > Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your > recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We > need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials > of images, publications and media files. > > What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience > using it? > > Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is > only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so > we may need to host it on our own server as well. > > Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. > Thanks. > > Chris
Re: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch
Hi Chris, In this case the size of the collection and the amount of data to be ingested and output really make all the difference. Part of the trick is scaling for your future ambitions. Even if you are starting small, you don't want a system that isn't designed for the entirety of your data, including stuff that may come in the future. Moreover critical mass of data is necessary to make customers' visits worthwhile. If your collection is small, you should consider collaborating with a larger, local institution that is already up and running. If they have invested in a full-featured, big scaled system, they might be looking for more content to enhance their site. By local I mean either geographically or possibly contextually. Archival materials are always more valuable within appropriate collections. If your potential partner's systems conform to sound standards (METS, MODS, VRA, DC, etc.) and you make sure to keep your own data properly backed-up and archived, you could be ready to move to your own system if and when you outgrow this arrangement. One nice way to just get some content out there is History Pin (https://www.historypin.org/) Pretty cool crowdsourcing of archival information. Another possibility for a small to medium sized digital archive is Collective Access (http://www.collectiveaccess.org/) It has some limitations, but possibly a little easier from the back end than some others. I don't know if any of that pertains to your situation, but those two sites are probably worth looking at just for comparison purposes anyway. JJ -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of P.G. Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2014 4:56 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Digitization Project from Scratch Hello, Anyone has experience in digitizing archival materials? I need your recommendations/suggestions on how we can start with our digitization. We need to build a searchable website so the public can access our materials of images, publications and media files. What platform did you use? Open-source or fee-base? What is your experience using it? Basically, we started using Sharepoint but at this point, I believe it is only good for sharing of internal documents. We are on a limited budget so we may need to host it on our own server as well. Any feedback or persons to contact for more info is highly appreciated. Thanks. Chris *Shop to Support Queens Library! Buy books, e-books, videos, music, gifts at great prices. A portion of the proceeds benefit Queens Library. http://www.queenslibrary.org/shop The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.
