Jd born digital to dlf 20111031

Editor's Notes

1. The Born Digital project is just getting started. Jackie Dooley has the lead on this one. Focus on enhancing effective management of born-digital materials as they intersect with special collections and archives in research libraries. First off we attempted a definition of born digital: Items created and managed in digital form. Working with a number of advisors, we intend to identify the skills and practices in the archival tradition that will be of value in the preservation of, and access to, materials that were born digital. We’ll also assemble the minimal steps that need to be taken, while ensuring that no harm is done. Photo by Merrilee Proffitt. CC BY-NC
2. A 2009 survey of special collections and archives in the US and Canadashows that digitization of special collections and increasing user access to those collections are of critical importance to research libraries. The survey was a follow up to the 1998 ARL survey led directly to many high-profile initiatives to "expose hidden collections.“ We updated ARL’s survey instrument and extended the subject population to encompass the 275 libraries in the following five overlapping membership organizations:• Association of Research Libraries (124 universities and others)• Canadian Academic and Research Libraries (30 universities and others)• Independent Research Libraries Association (19 private research libraries)• Oberlin Group (80 liberal arts colleges)• RLG Partnership, U.S. and Canadian members (85 research institutions)The rate of response was 61% (169 responses).http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stethoscope_1.jpgStethoscope. Public domain.
3. The OCLC report reveals, despite the efforts to uncover hidden collections, much rare and unique material remains undiscoverable, and monetary resources are shrinking at the same time that user demand is growing. The balance sheet is both encouraging and sobering:• The size of ARL collections has grown dramatically, up to 300% for some formats• Use of all types of material has increased across the board• Half of archival collections have no online presence• While many backlogs have decreased, almost as many continue to grow• User demand for digitized collections remains insatiable• Management of born-digital archival materials is still in its infancy• Staffing is generally stable, but has grown for digital services• 75% of general library budgets have been reduced• The current tough economy renders “business as usual” impossibleThe top three “most challenging issues” in managing special collections were space (105 respondents), born-digital materials, and digitization.
4. Focused on issues that warrant shared actionAssessment--Develop and promulgate metrics that enable standardized measurement of key aspects of special collections use and management.Collections--Identify barriers that limit collaborative collection development.--Take collective action to share resources for cost-effective preservation of at-risk audiovisual materials.User Services--Develop and liberally implement exemplary policies to facilitate rather than inhibit access to and interlibrary loan of rare and unique materials.Cataloging and Metadata--Compile, disseminate, and adopt a slate of replicable, sustainable methodologies for cataloging and processing to facilitate exposure of materials that remain hidden and stop the growth of backlogs.--Develop shared capacities to create metadata for published--Convert legacy finding aids using affordable methodologies toDigitization--Develop models for large-scale digitization of special collections,--Determine the scope of the existing corpus of digitized rare books,Born-Digital Archival Materials--Define the characteristics of born-digital materials that warrant theirmanagement as “special collections.”--Define a reasonable set of basic steps for initiating an institutional program for responsibly managing born-digital archival materials.--Develop use cases and cost models for selection, management, and preservation of born-digital archival materials.Staffing--Confirm high-priority areas in which education and training
5. To start out, we recognized that different people may have entirely different things in mind when they use the term born-digital. So we identified nine different types of born-digital material (you could no doubt, add more). There’s a document, but those of you with short attention spans (or who’d like to see OCLC Research staff make fools of ourselves) may want to view the video on our YouTube channel.