Apologies for cross-posting.
June 17, 2000
DLF and RLG Issue Guides for Digitizing Visual Resources
For more information, contact Jennifer Hartzell ([log in to unmask],
650-691-2207) or Daniel Greenstein ([log in to unmask], 202-939-4762)
Washington, DC, and Mountain View, Calif, July 17, 2000: The Digital
Library Federation (DLF) and Research Libraries Group (RLG) have
issued Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging, available at
www.rlg.org/visguides/. (www.rlg.ac.uk/visguides from JANET sites.) This
new Web-based reference is designed to serve the growing community of
museums, archives, and research libraries that are turning to digital
conversion to provide greater access to their visual resources as well as
to help preserve the original materials. "Visual resources" include
original photographs, prints, drawings, and maps. Both project managers and
technicians will find the Guides particularly valuable in filling a gap in
the literature for serious digital imaging projects. They provide concrete
guidelines as well as help in addressing rapidly changing aspects of
technology and practice.
The five guides - which range from project planning to scanner selection,
considerations for imaging systems, digital master quality, and masters'
storage - share the experience and knowledge of leaders in this field. In
addition to providing advice based on the uses to which the images will
be put and the technology now available, they also flag areas where further
research and testing are needed.
"Guides such as these promise to maximize effective exploitation of digital
technologies while minimizing costly redundant effort," said Dan
Greenstein, DLF's director. "The development and maintenance of good
practice guidelines is an essentially collaborative effort requiring
inclusive
and iterative evaluation. We welcome comments, criticisms, and amendments
for incorporation in future revisions."
The Guides are the outcome of a project begun by DLF and RLG in 1998, when
they created an editorial board of experts to review the state of
the art in digital imaging of visual resources. Although sources for
instruction in digitizing text or text and images existed (and more have
become
available since then), none specifically addressed the challenges of two-
and three-dimensional, as well as color-intensive, materials. These experts
outlined a set of guides needed in the science of imaging -- objective
measures for image qualities and how they can be controlled in various
aspects of the imaging process. DLF then commissioned board-recommended
authors to write the guides, which the two organizations have now
jointly published.
"We are very pleased that this collaboration between the Digital Library
Federation and the Research Libraries Group has produced a set of
expert and timely tools for project leaders and their teams around the
world," said Linda West, RLG's director of Member Programs and
Initiatives. "It is a contribution to informed and long-lasting digital
decision-making and practices in research collections."
The guides are:
Planning a Digital Imaging Project, by Linda Serenson Colet,
Museum of Modern Art
Selecting a Scanner, by Don Williams, Eastman Kodak Company
Imaging Systems: the Range of Factors Affecting Image Quality, by
Donald D'Amato, Mitretek Systems
Measuring Quality of Digital Masters, and
File Formats for Digital Masters, both by Franziska Frey, Image
Permanence Institute
Each guide is a module that can stand on its own; as a set, the guides
provide comprehensive advice on how to find what an imaging team needs
to accomplish stated goals with the available technology. The Guides also
help to clarify the consequences of trade-offs that all managers must
make to stay within organizations' means. The Guides will be updated
periodically.
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Nancy Elkington +44 (0) 207 862-8416
(phone)
RLG Member Initiatives +44 (0) 207 862-8480 (fax)
c/o University of London Library [log in to unmask]
Senate House, Malet Street www.rlg.ac.uk/toc.html
London WC1E 7HU UK
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