Considering a digitization project?
When contemplating a digitization project, there are multiple factors to consider beyond the requisite hardware and software.
Purpose - Why have you chosen to digitize your collection? Is it unique and fragile, and in need of preservation? Are you hoping to enhance access, increase visibility and use of the collection? Digitization standards for preservation purposes differ greatly from digitization standards for use and access copies.
Uniqueness - Are there other copies of your items already digitized and available online?
Copyright - Who owns copyright? Are the items in the public domain, and if not, have you acquired permission to digitize and share? Creating a digital surrogate as a backup copy is permitted (with restrictions) by the Canadian Copyright Act. Consult York University's Copyright and You website for more information.
Storage - Where will you store your digital files? How will your files be backed up? Do you have a preservation strategy?
Display - If you have the copyright clearance to do so, how do you plan to share your collection with the world?
Description - How will you describe your item so that it can be found? What metadata standards are most appropriate for your collection and will help users find your materials? Where will you be collecting your metadata and how will associate metadata with your digital surrogates?
Online guides
The Handbook for Digital Projects remains a relevant, classic resource for those seeking an in-depth guide to digitization.
The Libraries have created the following guides to inform the digitization process:
- Planning and Selecting for Digitization: This open educational resource was authored to help scholars begin preliminary selection and planning for a digitization project. Special thanks to Patricia Lynch, York University's Copyright Office, for her input and expertise.
- Metadata: This open educational resource introduces scholars to the importance and value of developing robust metadata for digital humanities and social sciences projects.
Metadata standards, schemas and profiles
Dublin Core is a small set of vocabulary terms developed for describing digital objects. It is the bare minimum for digital resource description.
The Digital Public Library of America Metadata Application Profile is based on the Europeana Data Model and a standard to aspire towards.
Key standards documents and recommendations
IASA Technical Committee, The safeguarding of the Audio Heritage: Ethics, Principles and Preservation Strategy, ed. by Dietrich Schüller. Version 3, 2005 (= Standards, Recommended Practices and Strategies, IASA-TC 03). International Association
of Sound and Audiovisual Archives.
IASA Technical Committee, Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects, ed. by Kevin Bradley. Second edition 2009. (= Standards, Recommended Practices
and Strategies, IASA-TC 04).
California Digital Library Digital File Format Recommendations: Master Production Files
Library of Congress recommended formats statement. Their goal is maximizing the chances for survival and continued accessibility of creative content well into the future.
Preservation policies
See the York University Digital Library for sample preservation policies and preservation action plans. These are very similar to the policies developed by Scholar's Portal as part of their TDR auditing process.
Scanning standards used by YUL for archival preservation quality files
Digitization Standards for photographic prints and negatives
| Size of original | DPI of archival copy | Resulting pixel size is |
|---|---|---|
| 35 mm negative or slide | 3200 dpi | 4800 pixels |
| 2 1/4 x 2 3/4 inch negative (5.7 x 6.9 cm) | 1900 dpi | 4275 pixels |
| 2 3/8 x 2 3/4 inch negative (6 x 7 cm) | 1600 dpi | 4400 pixels |
| 2 3/8 x 2 3/8 inch negative (6 x 6 cm) | 1800 dpi | 4275 pixels |
| 2 3/8 x 1 3/4 inch negative (6 x 4.5 cm) | 1800 dpi | 4275 pixels |
| 3 x 5 inch print (7.62 x 12.7 cm) | 900 dpi | 4500 pixels |
| 4 x 5 inch negative (10.16 x 12.7 cm) | 900 dpi | 4500 pixels |
| 4 x 6 inch print (10.16 x 15.25 cm) | 700 dpi | 4200 pixels |
| 5 x 7 inch negative or print (12.7 x 17.78 cm) | 600 dpi | 4200 pixels |
| 8 x 10 inch negative or print (20.32 x 25.4 cm) | 600 dpi | 6000 pixels |
Digitization Standards for Printed Material
| Size of original | DPI of Archival Copy | File format |
|---|---|---|
| letter sized page 8 1/2 x 11 inches 21.59 x 27.94 cm | 300-600 dpi | .tiff or .pdf |
| legal sized page 8 1/2 x 14 inches 21.59 x 35.56 cm | 300-600 dpi | .tiff or .pdf |
| ledger sized page 11 x 17 inches 27.94 x 43.18 cm | 300-600 dpi | .tiff or .pdf |
| books and pamphlets digitized by the Internet Archive | varies | .jp2 |
| Posters* *standard still under discussion | 300-600 dpi (depending on size) | .tiff |
| Maps* *standard still under discussion | minimum of 600 dpi (depending on scale of map) | .tiff |
Digitization Standards for Audiovisual material
| Analog format | Sample rate | Bit depth | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 inch audio tape | minimum 48 KHz preferred 96 KHz | minimum 24 bit preferred 32 bit | .WAV or .FLAC |
| audio cassette | minimum 48 KHz preferred 96 KHz | minimum 24 bit preferred 32 bit | .WAV or .FLAC |
| VHS cassette | 30 MiB per second | minimum 8 bit preferred 10 bit | .AVI .MPEG, .MP4, .OGG, .MKV, or .Quicktime also acceptable. |
| UMatic cassette tape | 30 MiB per second | minimum 8 bit preferred 10 bit | .AVI .MPEG, .MP4, .OGG, .MKV, or .Quicktime also acceptable. |
| All other formats (Beta max,DigiBeta, HDCam, 1/2" tape, 1" tape, 8mm, 16mm, 35mm film) outsourced for digitization. | 30 MiB per second preferred | minimum 8 bit preferred 10 bit | .AVI .MPEG, .MP4, .OGG, .MKV, or .Quicktime also acceptable. |
Other standards: