RLG DigiNews

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April 15, 1997, Volume 1, Number 1

Table of Contents

  • Welcome to RLG DigiNews
  • Feature Article: "Preservation Quality Scanning of Bound Volumes" by Lou Sharpe
  • Technical Review
  • Highlighted Web Sites
  • Calendar of Events
  • Announcements
  • FAQs
  • RLG News

    Welcome to RLG DigiNews

    Welcome to RLG DigiNews! RLG is excited to be working in cooperation with the Cornell University Library Department of Preservation and Conservation to provide you with this new publication.

    RLG DigiNews has its roots in an earlier electronic discussion group-based document, Diginotes. Created and compiled by members of PRESERV as a way to keep pace with the rapidly developing field of digitization, Diginotes billed itself as "an occasional information stream on digital issues." In the two "issues" distributed, Diginotes contained announcements on, and citations to "library imaging technology and applications." Though Diginotes ceased after two compilations, the rapid developments and prolific writing on the topic continue to combine to form a sometimes overwhelming mass of available information.

    In response to member requests for assistance and information, a new web-based document (RLG DigiNews) has been born. RLG extends grateful thanks to Anne R. Kenney, Oya Y. Rieger, and the crew at Cornell for taking up the challenge to provide a substantive, informative, and timely response to the expressed desire of preservation specialists for an easy-to-understand, broadly conceived information stream on selected worldwide efforts in the converging fields of preservation and digitization.

    RLG DigiNews is a quarterly web-based newsletter intended to:

    Future issues will capitalize on the enhanced functionality of a web-based publication, providing hot links to featured documents and enhanced searching capability. For the first issue, you can search for terms using your web browser's "Find" or "Search" function. With the second issue, users will be able to find information by viewing the "Table of Contents" for each issue or via keyword searching.

    As with Diginotes, RLG DigiNews is being written for RLG members. We encourage readers to send suggestions, questions, or requests to preservation@cornell.edu. RLG also encourages readers to react, respond, and let RLG know if DigiNews is achieving your objectives. We welcome all comments. Please send them to Robin Dale at bl.rld@rlg.org.

    Feature Article
    Preservation-Quality Scanning of Bound Volumes: Integration of the Picture Elements ISE Board with the Minolta PS-3000 Book Scanner

    Lou Sharpe, President, Picture Elements, Inc.

    Introduction
    Document imaging has been used effectively by a number of institutions to reformat disbound brittle books or single leaf documents. To date, however, preservation quality production scanning of bound volumes has been an elusive goal. A number of projects have successfully employed digital cameras to produce high quality image surrogates of bound volumes, but the process has been both expensive and slow. Right angle, prism, and overhead planetary scanners currently available on the market can handle production scanning of bound volumes for access purposes. Unfortunately, they fail to provide sufficient resolution, bit depth, and/or image enhancement capabilities to render digital images that could serve as preservation replacements for the original source material. This article describes an effort currently underway to produce an imaging solution for the digital preservation of bound volumes.

    Preservation Quality Imaging
    A distinction can be made between preservation-quality images and access-quality images. The best scanning architecture for preservation purposes captures a both spatial resolution (dpi) and tonal depth(number of bits/pixel) that render the significant content present in the original document. A sufficient spatial resolution is achieved when one or two pixels straddle the smallest feature (such as an engraving stroke). A sufficient tonal depth is seen when the number of gray or color levels is high enough to cover the full brightness range of the document while still preserving the tonal contrast of the lowest contrast feature of significance (such as a marginal note in light pencil). For example, if such marginalia has a brightness variation from its background which is 1% of the brightness range seen in the document overall, then a tonal depth supporting distinctions of one part in one hundred, or 7 bit grayscale (for 128 shades) is required.

    Access-quality images for screen viewing or for printing may then be derived from the preservation-quality image. These are optimized for their intended use, and have characteristics which relate to current technology's capabilities and not to any intrinsic characteristics of the source document. Print access (higher resolution, bitonal) images and screen access (lower resolution, tonal) images are inherently different, but both can be derived from a preservation-quality tonal image.

    This architecture recognizes the high cost of scanning labor and the relatively low cost of the initial storage media onto which the data is placed. It thus strives to avoid ever having to re-scan by capturing a sufficiently high-quality image initially. Of course, the cost of media refreshing and media migration is also high, but this is, alas, not a technical problem open to a ready solution, but a societal problem.

    Binary versus Grayscale Scanning
    Work by the Department of Preservation and Conservation at Cornell University has shown that, for binary data, a delivered resolution of 600 dpi is essential for accurate rendition of the text areas which dominate books. This work also showed that a native optical resolution of 600 dpi is not required to achieve these superior results; it is sufficient to develop a delivered resolution of 600 dpi from 400 dpi grayscale (through bi-linear interpolation), then to threshold this data to produce 600 dpi binary data. This is the method used by the Xerox DocuCM 620 scanner.

    Work by Picture Elements in conjunction with the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate has shown that JPEG-compressed grayscale or color data at moderate spatial resolutions (300 to 400 dpi) and moderate compression ratios (10:1 to 20:1) serves extremely well as a preservation-quality image for source pages which have significant tonal content, i.e., subtle variations in shadings of gray or color. Several types of book illustrations are best treated in this way, even those which were created by uniform black marks on white paper (such as engravings), but which have features that are small compared to the optical resolution of the scanner.

    Bound Volume Scanning for Preservation Purposes: A Joint Development Project
    Several years ago, Minolta Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of optical, scanning, and micrographics products, introduced the PS-3000 face-up book scanner (URL=http://ows.minoltausa.com/minolta/owa/productdesc.list?productid=9000006). This scanner offers an array of features making it well suited for a role in book digitization projects. Among them are:

    Although the Minolta PS-3000 handles 350 dpi by 400 dpi grayscale data internally, it delivers only 200, 300 or 400 dpi binary data through its normal SCSI interface. This binary data can be halftoned in a "photo" mode to simulate grayscale, but in its current configuration the scanner is incapable of outputting true grayscale, nor can it deliver higher resolution binary data. Without a higher resolution or grayscale output, the Minolta PS-3000 can be used effectively as an access scanning device but its use in a preservation context is limited.

    A cooperative project currently underway is investigating means to upgrade the Minolta scanner to provide additional functionality and image quality. This project is a joint effort involving Minolta Corporation, Picture Elements, Inc., and Systems Integration Group.

    Picture Elements specializes in high-quality and high-speed document imaging, developing algorithms, chips, boards and software which perform image capture, image processing, and automatic image quality assurance for integration into input subsystems. Working with scanner manufacturers and specialized clients, such as the Library of Congress and the Federal Reserve Banks, Picture Elements scientists and engineers have been an influential force in the development of document imaging technologies and in the development of a wide range of imaging standards. Systems Integration Group, Inc.(SIG), a minority-owned, 8(a) certified corporation, was founded in 1984 with the specific purpose of developing medium-scale, user oriented systems based on existing commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software products. SIG has developed a variety of innovative cradle designs for use with the Minolta scanner, and has an especial interest in upgrading the Minolta PS-3000 for use in its contract scanning service efforts.

    The current joint project involves the development of an interface between the Picture Elements' Imaging Subsystem Engine (ISE) Board and the Minolta PS-3000 book scanner. The ISE Board has the following key features:

    Currently, the Minolta PS-3000 can not deliver either 600 dpi bitonal images, nor grayscale images in the 300-400 dpi range. With the integration of the Picture Elements ISE Board, both of these outputs can be obtained from the Minolta scanner. Fortunately, while the currently available image capture configurations of the PS-3000 do not use it, the scanner has an extra grayscale connector, which can be made to output grayscale data of good quality. Through use of the ISE Board's Minolta Interface daughterboard, the PS-3000 grayscale data will be captured. The Configurable Image Processor on the ISE Board will then be used to scale the data up to 600 dpi grayscale. It will then be thresholded through the high-quality thresholder (using Picture Elements' VST-1000 integrated circuits) to produce superior-quality 600 dpi binary data. This data will be captured into the ISE Board, where it can be manipulated to modify the spatial resolution (if required), then JPEG compressed using the hardware on the JPEG daughterboard.

    At the speeds of the PS-3000 (around 6 seconds per page), the ISE Board can make several output images from this same data in real time. For instance, it could create a 400 dpi JPEG grayscale image, a 600 dpi bitonal image compressed using ITU Group 4 compression for printing or for output to a preservation microfilm(COM) film recorder, and a 75 dpi GIF (or progressive JPEG compressed) gray image for web access. Significantly, all these functions can occur in real time, at the rated speed of the Minolta device. Alternatively, these derivative images could be created later using the ISE Board in a post-processing mode.

    In sum, this joint integration effort will provide additional features to the Minolta product to enable its use in a production preservation scanning of bound volumes by enabling the following:

    This project is expected to be completed by August 1997. SIG intends to use the ISE Board/PS-3000 configuration in its contract with the National Digital Library Program at the Library of Congress. The integrated system should be available for use at other institutions by early Fall. For further information on each company's role in this project, contact Lou Sharpe at lsharpe@picturel.com, Mike Watkins at mike_watkins@minolta.com, and Dan Pence at dpence@notes.sigi.com.

    Technical Review

    Scanners and Digital Cameras
    This section of RLG DigiNews is designed to provide readers with up-to-date information via technical aspects of digitization. In this first issue, the spotlight is on scanners and digital cameras, with a special emphasis on network-accessible resources.

    The Internet has become a very useful source for finding information. Searching company names and products on any of the web search engines reveals dozens of manufacturer sites. These sites typically provide technical specifications on company products, services, and customer support. In addition to the standard fare of a comercial site, a number of manufacturers offer a variety of technical assistance. Epson, for example provides an FTP download site, links to user groups, access to technical support, an FAQ page, and the Epson forums (chat rooms).

    One particularly impressive site is maintained by scanner manufacturer, Microtek, which offers a large section devoted to Tips & Techniques where the company name and products do not appear. This useful section has internal links that provide information such as Getting the Best Scans and Recommended Reading. (Microtek's URL=http://www.mteklab.com/)

    For those interested in digital cameras, software developer, Plug-In Systems, offers a useful Digital Camera Guide featuring over three dozen digital cameras ranging from point & shoots (e.g., Apple Quick Take and Casio QV-10) to high end products (e.g., Eastman Kodak DCS-460 and Nikon E2s). Each product is linked to the technical specifications provided by the manufacturer. (Plug-In Systems' digital camera comparison chart URL=http://www.plugin.com/dcg2.html)

    Web site developer, Infomedia, maintains an informative site called "The Scanning FAQ" (URL: http://www.infomedia.net/scan/). This well organized site offers an "Introduction to Scanning" and informative links with information on a range of topics from copyright issues to calculating resolution.

    Internet-accessible magazines are a bountiful source for scanner information. Their product reviews are more objective than can be expected from the commercial sites. For example, the October 1996 issue of HomePC reviews 6 scanners in a feature called the "Consumer Lab" (Cohen, Julie; Fulton, Sean. "Image--and Reality: Putting color scanners to the test." Home PC, October 1996, URL=http://techweb.cmp.com/hpc/oct96/28CL01.HTM). For links to scanner reviews in HomePC and four other Internet Publications, ZDNet maintains a Product Review Grid (URL=http://www5.zdnet.com/products/content/grids/flatbed.html). Up to the minute news stories are available from the scanner site at NewsPage from Individual (URL=http://www.newspage.com/NEWSPAGE/cgi-bin/walk.cgi/NEWSPAGE/info/d1/d4/d1/).

    In its December 1996 issue, Publish magazine gives a look behind the scenes at high production scanning operations in an article, "Scanning for Gold" (Herr, Serena. "Scanning for Gold," Publish, October 1996, URL= http://www.publish.com/1296/scanning/). Consumer Shopper's November 1996 issue offers a scanner-related segment titled "Arresting Images" featuring "Assessing Your Scanner Options in a Buyer's Market," and related articles (Keizer, Gregg. "Assessing Your Scanner Options in a Buyer's Market," Computer Shopper, November 1996, URL=http://www5.zdnet.com/cshopper/content/9611/cshp0009.html).

    On the Horizon
    As scanner manufacturers push the functional limits of resolution, bit depth, and image enhancement, where does the next frontier lie? The answer to this might be glimpsed in the efforts of two organizations that are attempting to advance represention of three dimensional objects.

    British-based 3D Scanners has devised a unique laser scanning technique that develops a three dimensional digital model that can be rotated and viewed on a computer monitor from a variety of perspectives. 3D Scanners currently numbers among its clients The British Museum and The Natural History Museum (UK). (3D Scanners' URL=http://www.3dscanners.com/)

    Taking an alternative approach, the Columbia Automated Vision Environment (CAVE) has developed the Omnicamera, which captures a 360 degree image enabling the viewer to "look" in any direction from a fixed perspective. Microsoft uses this type of technology in its software, Encarta '97, providing full panoramic views of such locations as Rome's Colosseum and New York's Time Square (CAVE's URL=http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/).

    Next issue, the subject of this column will be film scanning and computer output microfilm (COM) recording. Readers who have experience with hardware, software, or procedures relating to this topic, or who can suggest relevant Internet sites are invited to share their knowledge by sending an e-mail message to preservation@cornell.edu.

    Highlighted Web Sites

    In each issue, we will highlight a few exemplary web sites that will be of interest to those following digital imaging technology. If you have a particular web site you would like to nominate for consideration, send the URL to preservation@cornell.edu.

    International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Digital Libraries Resources and Projects
    Maintained by IFLA, this web site is devoted to digital library resources and projects. It is a great starting point, with links to research papers and periodicals, conference proceedings, and selected projects. (URL=http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/II/diglib.htm)

    The Library of Congress, American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
    American Memory, which consists of primary source and archival materials relating to American culture and history, can be searched and browsed through this web site. These historical collections are the key contribution of the Library of Congress to the National Digital Library. The site also provides a link to background papers and technical information related to the Library's digital conversion efforts. (URL=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html)

    Timeframes
    Timeframes is an online database of heritage images from the Alexander Turnbull Library, at the National Library of New Zealand. Currently, Timeframes contains close to 1300 heritage images. Until June 30, 1997, the site can be searched at no cost. Thereafter subscription is necessary to see more than the free sample images. (URL=http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/)

    Calender of Events

    AIIM Trade Show, April 15-17, 1997
    The Association for Information and Image Management International (AIIM) trade show is April 15-17, 1997 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, New York. Registration for the four-day conference is $1,275, but entrance to the exhibits is free. Further information is available on the AIIM web site (URL=http://www.aiim.org).

    Conference on Scholarly Communication and Technology: April 23-25, 1997
    The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is hosting an invitational conference, "Scholarly Communication and Technology," scheduled for April 23-25, 1997 at Emory University. In 1994, the Foundation initiated a multi-year program to study traditional versus electronic/digital library developments in order to learn about the ways in which various new technologies can contribute to scholarly communication, and in particular, the ways in which they affect the economics of libraries and of scholarly communications. A number of projects have been funded by the Foundation on topics including electronic journals, monograph publishing, digital library development, and multimedia approaches. Nearly 40 presenters will provide a range of analytical research papers associated with these topics at the upcoming conference. Proceedings from the conference will be published and made available through the Foundation in early summer.

    Northeast Document Conservation Center Workshop: May 6-8, 1997 
    The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) presents "Reformatting for Preservation in a Digital World: To Scan or To Film: A Workshop on Preservation Microfilming and Digital Scanning." The workshop will be held May 6-8, 1997 at the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland (URL= http://www.nedcc.org/tmicbro2.htm). For information about this workshop, contact Susan Wrynn at NEDCC at wrynn@nedcc.org or (508) 470-1010. To request a flier and application, contact Gay Tracy at tracy@nedcc.org or call (508) 470-1010.

    School for Scanning: Preservation and Access in a Digital World: May 12-14, 1997
    This conference is presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center at the Berkeley Marina Marriott Hotel, Berkeley, California, May 12-14, 1997 (URL=http://www.nedcc.org/tsfs512.htm). For an agenda or flier, contact Gay Tracy at tracy@nedcc.org or call (508) 470-1010.

    Digitizing Photographic Collections: June 7-9, 1997
    "Digitizing Photographic Collections: Where Are We Now? What Does the Future Hold?" is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access and the Image Permanence Institute. This colloquium, which will be held June 7-9, 1997, is intended for the exchange of information among those actively involved in digitizing projects. The brochure, including an application form, can be downloaded as a PDF file at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/brochure.pdf. To request a hard copy of the brochure, contact Jane Pestke at cjppph@rit.edu or (716) 475-5199.

    Scanning for Beginners: June 27, 1997
    This workshop is presented by the Preservation and Reformatting Section of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) as a pre-conference workshop to the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference (San Francisco, California, June 27, 1997). Workshop fees: ALA-ALCTS personal member -- $130; ALA personal member -- $180; non-ALA Member -- $230. For more information call Yvonne A. McLean at 800-545-2433, extension 5032; or email to her at ymclean@ala.org.

    Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives: September 1997
    The Department of Preservation and Conservation at Cornell University Library will offer a week-long workshop on the use of digital imaging technology in libraries and archives, to be held in September, 1997 in Ithaca, New York. The workshop is designed as an intensive training program to provide participants with the means to develop a baseline knowledge about the use of digital image technology, from conversion to presentation to preservation. Enrollment is limited to sixteen individuals to ensure adequate lab time for participants. The registration fee is $1,350. For an application or more information on this workshop, contact Anne R. Kenney at preservation@cornell.edu or (607) 255-6875.

    Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences: January 6-9, 1998
    The Thirty-first Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences will be held on January 6-9, 1998. Papers are solicited for a mini-track on "Genre in Digital Documents" as part of the Information Systems track. A 300 word abstract must be submitted to track chairs by April 20, 1997. Please submit your proposal to: http://www.cba.hawaii.edu/hicss. Further information is available from Geoffrey Nunberg at nunberg@parc.xerox.com or Jan Pedersen at jpederse@verity.com.

    Announcements

    Library of Congress/Ameritech Awards Winners Announced
    Ten libraries from across the United States have been given awards totaling $600,000 through a partnership between the Library of Congress and Ameritech to digitize historically significant American collections and make them available for the first time via the Internet from the Library's American Memory site.

    The 10 winners are:

    Brown University, Providence, R.I., for African-American Sheet Music
    Award amount: $72,193. This collection consists of 1,500 pieces of African-American sheet music from 1870 to 1920, providing a window into the daily concerns and pastimes of African Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

    Denver Public Library, Denver, for History of the American West, 1860-1920.
    Award amount: $71,250. This collection includes 7,500 photos documenting the lives of the Plains, Mountain and Southwestern tribes of Native Americans and the mining booms in Colorado, plus access to 48,000 previously digitized images in the Denver Western History Collection.

    Duke University, Durham, N.C., for Historic American Sheet Music
    Award amount: $64,688. This collection consists of 3,000 pieces of historic American sheet music from the period 1850-1920, representing a wide variety of musical types including bel canto; minstrel songs; protest, political and patriotic songs; plantation songs; spirituals; songs from vaudeville, musicals, and Tin Pan Alley; World War I compositions; and Civil War battle songs.

    Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., for American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920
    Award amount: $33,214. This collection consists of 2,500 lantern slide images assembled to support teaching and student presentations in the field of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning.

    New York Public Library, New York City, for Small Town America: Stereoscopic Views from the Dennis Collection, 1850-1910
    Award amount: $74,956. This collection includes 11,552 stereoscopic views representing the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

    North Dakota State University, Fargo, for The Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920
    Award amount: $15,628. These collections include more than 900 images documenting the settlement and agricultural development of the Northern Great Plains.

    Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, for The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
    Award amount: $72,844. This digital collection of 22,000 pages of text and images focuses on themes such as slavery and emancipation, religion, public opinion and political action.

    University of Chicago, Chicago, for American Environmental Photographs, 1897-1931
    Award amount: $67,418. This collection of 5,800 photographic images documents natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in their original state throughout the United States.

    University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920
    Award amount: $74,782. This compilation of 100 printed texts documents the culture of the 19th century American South from the viewpoint of Southerners and includes diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts, and ex-slave narratives.

    University of Texas, Austin, for The South Texas Border, 1900-1920
    Award amount: $46,945. This collection consists of 8,241 photographs of northeastern Mexico and the South Texas border area, including images of the diverse ethnic groups living in the area, military preparation for the Mexican Revolution and World War I, and the natural and built environment.

    Additional information on the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition is available at the following web sites:

    Library of Congress (URL=http://www.loc.gov/).
    Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition (URL=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/)
    Ameritech (URL=http://www.ameritech.com)

    NARA Begins Electronic Access Project
    The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has launched the Electronic Access Project (EAP). The project will result in an online catalog that provides information to the public about NARA holdings and a core collection of digital copies of selected high interest or milestone documents of the nation's history and government. The digital conversion of up to 200,000 items will be accomplished under a contract with Micrographic Specialties Incorporated (MSI) of Beltsville, Maryland. MSI will begin scanning on-site at NARA's College Park facility in June 1997, with an anticipated completion date of September1998.

    Why Specifications and How Will They Be Used?
    NARA developed technical specifications to define the digitizing requirements for the EAP project. The specifications address records of all types, including textual documents, photographs, oversized records (maps, plans, charts, etc.), and graphic records (political cartoons, posters, etc.). In the near future NARA will evaluate techniques for digitizing audio and video recordings, and will finalize the specifications at that time.

    The technical specifications were an integral part of the statement-of-work for the digitizing contract. The specifications provide a method for evaluating the quality of images produced and determining the overall performance of the scanning vendor. NARA is also using the specifications to help determine hardware upgrade requirements for the computer network and scanning workstations. Estimates of the amount of data storage required for access files (on-line) and master files (off-line) were calculated using projected file sizes.

    Digitizing for Access
    NARA has decided that the Electronic Access Project will provide on-line access to digital copies of NARA documents, and will not attempt to address preservation issues using digital technology at this time. This decision influenced the technical approach to digitizing, including scanning resolutions, digital imaging reproduction, and file formats.

    MSI will produce three versions of each file for NARA's use: an uncompressed TIFF format master file to be stored off-line on WORM disks for all documents; an access file in JPEG format for larger documents and a GIF format (4 bit for grayscale and 8 bit for color) for smaller documents; and, a GIF format thumbnail file for all documents.

    Technical Approach
    Inherent differences in document types dictate different approaches to scanning. NARA has developed different technical specifications for textual documents, photographs, oversized records, and graphic records. Smaller documents will be scanned at higher resolution, 300 dpi as an example, while larger documents will be scanned at 200 dpi to minimize file size. Photographs will be scanned to achieve a set number of lines of pixels across the long dimension regardless of the photograph's size or format.

    Due to inconsistent legibility throughout NARA's holdings and the desire to image documents in a consistent manner, it was decided to use 8 bit grayscale or 24 bit color scanning for all documents. A generic set of aimpoint values for digital tone reproduction were determined by actual testing and provide a reasonable on-screen representation of the documents. A monitor adjustment target was created to allow the digitizing vendor and end-users to adjust their monitors to an appropriate setting for image viewing under user conditions.

    Procedures are in place for tracking documents and associated digital images through the conversion process. A quality control program based on a statistical sampling plan will verify image quality and the completeness and accuracy of the data collected.

    Additional information about this project and the technical specifications will be made available in the near future on NARA's web site (URL=http://www.nara.gov).

    Digital Archive for USDA Publications Planned
    A meeting entitled "USDA Digital Publications: Creating a Preservation Action Plan" was held at the Smithsonian Institution March 3-4, 1997. The National Agricultural Library (NAL), the USDA's Economic Research Service, the Farm Foundation, Cornell University's Mann Library, and the Government Printing Office (GPO) sponsored the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together key stake holders and responsible parties to discuss the elements of an action plan to preserve USDA digital publications intended for public distribution. The 70 invited participants included representatives of various communities of interest: government agencies (e.g., various USDA entities, National Archives and Records Administration, Government Printing Office, White House, Library of Congress, Smithsonian); data archivists (including representatives of Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Defense Department); researchers/academics; land grant university libraries; preservation administrators; archivists; and agribusiness representatives.

    Based on the deliberations at the meeting and his experience in this arena, Paul F. Uhlir, consultant to the planning process, has drafted an Preservation Action Plan for Digital USDA Publications. This plan will be reviewed over the coming months and strategies for implementation by USDA will be formulated. The plan anticipates a central role for the NAL. The action plan for the digital archive will extend the existing U. S. Agricultural Information Network's (USAIN) "National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature" to incorporate digital publications. This initiative is a direct outgrowth of the USAIN's ongoing work in national disciplinary planning for cooperative preservation of agricultural literature, and will implement a number of the recommendations of the report of the Research Libraries Group/Commission on Preservation and Access Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information (URL=http://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/).

    For further information on this discipline-based preservation plan and its digital archive component, contact Sam Demas, Mann Library, Cornell University, at sgd1@cornell.edu or Evelyn Frangakis, NAL Preservation Officer, National Agricultural Library, at efrangakis@nal.usda.gov.

    Final Report of the Columbia University's Oversize Color Images Project is Ready
    The final report of the second phase of the Oversize Color Images Project is now available at Columbia University Libraries' web site (URL=http://www.columbia.edu/dlc/nysmb). The project has focused on the use of digital imaging to provide access to brittle volumes that contain oversize and color illustrations, in this particular case maps. Phase I dealt with image quality issues when scanning from oversize color maps and from film intermediates. In Phase II the scanned illustrations were mounted with bit-mapped images of the text pages scanned from preservation microfilm to provide a complete facsimile of the volumes online. The web site includes the reports on both phases, as well as over 300 images of the maps captured through various means, and four complete volumes of the New York State Museum Bulletin. The project has been funded through a contract from the Commission on Preservation and Access, which has also published a paper version of the Phase I final report.

    Commission on Preservation and Access Publications 
    The Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA) is one of the principle publishers of reports on digital imaging applications in libraries and archives. Their list of publications (and the full text for a number of the reports) can be accessed via the CPA web site (URL=http://www-cpa.stanford.edu/cpa/index.shtml). The CPA currently is working on a number of new initiatives that will be of interest to the RLG community, including:

    Library of Congress, National Digital Library Program RFP
    The Library of Congress National Digital Library Program (NDLP) has made available the full content of the Request for Proposal (RFP), which supports all paper scanning activities within the program. It appears as part of the LC American Memory/ NDLP website at the Background Documents and Technical Reports page, under Technical Operations Documentation. It is entitled Digital Images from Original Documents, Text Conversion and SGML-Encoding and is approximately 206 pages in length. (URL= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ftpfiles.html)

    Sample RFP's for Imaging Services Sought
    Cornell University Library Department of Preservation and Conservation is in the process of preparing a model Request for Proposal and contract for digital imaging services that will be published and made available by RLG later this spring. If your institution has prepared an RFP for imaging services, and you are willing to share a copy, please contact Anne R. Kenney or Oya Y. Rieger at preservation@cornell.edu.

    NEH Guidelines
    The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has issued new guidelines that are available at the NEH web site (URL=http://www.neh.fed.us). NEH is providing funding for research and development projects for preservation via digital technology. Hardcopy of the guidelines may be obtained by contacting the Division of Preservation and Access at preservation@neh.fed.us or (202) 606-8570.

    NHPRC Adopts Revised Plan
    Electronic records research and development will continue as a priority for grant making in the revised plan of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making affiliate of the National Archives and Records Administration. NHPRC grants help identify, preserve, and provide public access to material that documents American history in a range of formats. The NHPRC financed creation of a research agenda on electronic records issues and has helped fund more than twenty R&D projects to address those issues. This work remains one of two priorities in a revision of the NHPRC plan that the Commission recently adopted. The other priority is the NHPRC's state partnership program, through which NHPRC helps state historical records advisory boards finance "regrant" programs through which to promote documentary preservation and access statewide. Work on electronic records problems and programs may be assisted through such state programs as well. Information on the NHPRC's support for electronic records R&D and copies of its research agenda are available from Dr. Joyce Ray at Joyce.Ray@arch1.nara.gov or (202) 501-5610.

    Watch This Space!
    The Heinz Electronic Library Interactive On-line System (HELIOS) of Carnegie Mellon University will be made publicly accessible via the Heinz Archives web site late next month (URL=http://www.library.cmu.edu/Guide/Heinz). HELIOS is an electronic archives consisting of the congressional papers of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III of Pennsylvania who served from 1977 until 1991. HELIOS utilizes natural language processing as part of the search engine and is distinguished by its commitment to preserve the rich contextual information present in the collection itself. The project team was led by a group of archivists working with systems designers knowledgeable in the fields of computational linguistics and records management systems design. In its initial release, over 200,000 digital images and the accompanying searching/indexing metadata will be made available. For more information, contact Edward Galloway at eg2d@andrew.cmu.edu or (412) 268-7402.

    FAQs

    The goal of this section of the RLG DigiNews is to address reader questions related to many aspects of digital preservation, including selection, image capture, quality control, access, archiving, and storage. Please send your questions to preservation@cornell.edu. We are asking the first question:

    How do I find information on other digital imaging projects?
    Many libraries and cultural institutions are engaged in creating digital collections, selecting for digital conversion, digitizing information, developing interfaces and architectures for the delivery of electronic information, and managing and archiving images. When embarking on a new digital imaging project, it is helpful to identify similar projects to learn from and to build upon their experiences.

    Expertise gained through digital imaging projects is being disseminated through a variety of media. There are several inventories of digital imaging projects available on the web and in print. Nevertheless, due to the rate at which digital imaging projects are being launched, there is not a single comprehensive site that one can rely on for cumulative and up-to-date information. Gathering information on digital imaging projects requires a multi-method approach, including following both print and electronic digital library literature, attending conferences, joining electronic discussion groups, and keeping in touch with colleagues. We hope that the following list will provide you with a starting point.

    Clearinghouse of Image Databases (updated regularly)
    This online directory of image databases is maintained by Stuart Glogoff, Assistant Dean for Library Information Systems at the University of Arizona. It gathers technical and descriptive information about imaging projects, and it is multi-disciplinary and international in scope. It contains information on projects including key contacts, project goals, and descriptions. WAIS keyword searching enhances finding information contained in the Clearinghouse. For example, one can search this index to find projects that are related to American history or those using Kodak Photo CD technology. (URL=http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/image_projects.html)

    Digital Collections Inventory Report (February 1996)
    This print snapshot of digital imaging projects was published by the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Council on Library Resources. Authored by Patricia A. McClung, the report investigates the scope of digitization of library collections and describes several projects. Ordering information is available at http://www-cpa.stanford.edu/cpa/publist.html.

    Sources of Digital Information (September 1996)
    This report was prepared for the British Library, Research and Development Department to explore the range and diversity of digital resources. It has a broad scope in both geographic and topical coverage. Over three hundred digital sources are described with an emphasis on sources in and relevant to the United Kingdom, but sources from other countries are also included. (URL=http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/papers/bl/sdi/)

    Digital Library Research (last update in September 1996)
    Maintained by the publishers of D-Lib Magazine, Digital Library Research homepage includes links to some of the major cooperative projects, funding and coordinating agencies, and associated activities in digital library research. Many of the research centers included in this site maintain lists of projects and project descriptions as well as collections of technical papers. This site also includes pointers to programs and projects outside the United States. (URL=http://www.dlib.org/projects.html)

    Australian Digital Library Initiatives (December 1996)
    The December 1996 issue of D-Lib Magazine includes an article authored by Renato Iannella on Australian digital library initiatives. It provides an overview of 18 current projects and gives an insight into the issues being addressed. (URL=http://www.dlib.org/)

    Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) (updated regularly)
    This web site is maintained by the Australian PADI working group to provide access to preservation and access guidelines and strategies. The group actively identifies and promotes relevant activities, and the PADI home page provides links to reports that describe both Australian and overseas digital imaging projects. (URL=http://www.nla.gov.au/dnc/tf2001/padi/padi.html)

    Related Electronic Discussion Groups
    The following electronic discussion groups frequently announce new digital imaging projects and report on on-going initiatives.

    Digital Libraries Research Forum (DigLib)
    To subscribe, send the following message to listserv@ infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca:
    SUB diglib Your Full Name

    ImageLib
    To subscribe, send the following message to listserv@listserv.arizona.edu:
    SUB imagelib Your Full Name

    Digital Librarianship (DigLIBNS)
    To subscribe, send the following message to listserv@sunsite.berkeley.edu:
    SUB diglibns Your Full Name

    RLG News

    Digital Initiatives of the Research Libraries Group
    The December 1996 issue of D-Lib Magazine includes an article by Ricky Erway, RLG Member Services Officer, entitled, "Digital Initiatives of the Research Libraries Group" (URL=http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december96/rlg/12erway.html). Many of RLG's new initiatives are described and links are provided for those who would like to learn more about them. The article emphasizes collaboration and development of recommended practices for applying technology to further the missions of research institutions.

    Update on "Studies in Scarlet: Marriage and Sexuality in the United States and the United Kingdom, 1815-1914," RLG's Digital Collections Project
    Overview
    By early Fall 1996, RLG project staff and staff from the seven participating institutions completed their work with vendors to make sure the project requirements were understood, to provide sample documents, and to negotiate the best pricing possible. Arrangements were made with five service bureaus: to scan document pages from bound volumes, from loose sheets, and from microfilm and fiche; to scan color and grayscale illustrations; and to convert selected document images to machine-readable texts marked up in SGML.

    In November, the project staff worked through some of the issues associated with searching and browsing of the "virtual collection," as well as navigation within image-only documents. As each institution prepared its first batch of materials for the service bureaus, a variety of production paths were followed: sometimes photocopies or microfilm were produced for off-site scanning, sometimes conservation work was performed and the originals were prepared for shipping, and in the few cases where scanning is to being done by staff at the participating institution, that work was initiated.

    In February, the project participants who attended the American Library Association conference in Washington assembled to share with each other challenges and progress. They compared notes on their various conversion processes as well as on the preparation of descriptive information to accompany the documents.

    On April 7, 1997, the project content advisors met at the Emory University School of Law. The meeting focused on the promotion, use, and evaluation of the resulting collection. The task force continues to help develop the way the collection is presented and to determine the nature of the evaluation, including what should be studied, who the users should be, and how information will be gathered and analyzed.

    Work on the Supporting Infrastructure
    Work has commenced at RLG to begin preparing the Studies in Scarlet site on the World Wide Web. (This is conceived of as the "front door" access to the collection. "Back door" entry may be made by researchers who happen upon a Studies in Scarlet record in RLIN or Eureka during the course of a search.)

    The interface will include information about the project (e.g., participants, technical approaches, and an overview of the collection contents) and the various ways to browse and search the collection. The project staff are exploring the ways in which the collection will be linked to other RLG resources as well as to complementary materials in other repositories.

    The project has generated some interest on the part of non-participants in contributing related materials to the collection. RLG wishes to take every measure to ensure that Studies in Scarlet continues to increase in value and that it remains an important resource after the project itself is over. For more information, please visit the Studies in Scarlet web site (URL=http://www.rlg.org/strat/projdcp.html).

    Resources for the Study of Global Migration, the Second RLG Digital Collections Project
    Building on the experience of RLG's first digital collection project and the results of related research projects around the world, this project will employ current standards and best practices to create a "virtual" electronic collection of primary research resources. The collection is intended to support interdisciplinary research and teaching on the subject of global migration.

    This theme was suggested by RLG members and advisory groups. Scholars suggested that the focus be narrowed to the great migrations of the mid-nineteenth through early twentieth centuries. The project will bring together national and international collections in a digital environment that will support research in an unprecedented way.

    With the advice and input of scholars and collection managers, appropriate collections will be identified and selected for inclusion in this project. In building this virtual collection, the entire spectrum of descriptive practice and access techniques - bibliographic records, encoded finding aids, and descriptive metadata, many linked to whole information objects - will be used to create a seamless web of information.

    A commitment to support long-term access to and preservation of this information will be a vital component of this project. Whether the data are held centrally at RLG or locally by individual institutions, the goal will be to maintain this collection for future research.

    The initial call for proposals went out to all member institutions on March 4. By the April deadline, 25 institutions have sent in nominations for over 75 different collections. The content selection task force will be evaluating these proposals over the next two weeks, with the objective of focusing the project more distinctly, and then a final call for participation will be issued. The project is on a very fast track as we are aiming for some summer funding proposal deadlines. More information about the project will be forthcoming on the web site, soon.

    For more information about RLG PRESERV and the exciting new initiatives and activities within the preservation community, please visit the PRESERV web site (URL=http://www.rlg.org/preserv/).

    Publishing Information

    RLG DigiNews (ISSN 1093-5371) is a quarterly newsletter published for members of the Research Libraries Group's PRESERV community. Materials contained in RLG DigiNews are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights. Permission is hereby given for the material in RLG DigiNews to be used for research purposes or private study. RLG asks that you observe the following conditions: Please cite the individual author and RLG DigiNews (please cite URL of the article) when using the material; please contact Jennifer Hartzell at bl.jlh@rlg.org, RLG Corporate Communications, when citing RLG DigiNews.

    Any use other than for research or private study of these materials requires prior written authorization from RLG, Inc. and/or the author of the article.

    RLG DigiNews is produced for the Research Libraries Group, Inc. (RLG) by the staff of the Department of Preservation and Conservation, Cornell University Library. Editor, Anne R. Kenney; Production Editor, Oya Y. Rieger; Associate Editor, Robin Dale (RLG); Contributors, Barbara Berger, John Dean, and Allen Quirk.

    All links in this issue were confirmed accurate as of April 11, 1997.

    Please send your comments and questions to preservation@cornell.edu .

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