This handbook, created by the Northeast Document Convention Center (NEDCC), serves as a management tool for institutions concerned with preservation-and-access issues. The goal was to produce an easy-to-use primer focused on meeting the information needs of libraries, museums, archives, and other collection holding institutions. This manual is intended to serve as a resource and response. It can help administrators and staff make informed decisions about:
– Determining the appropriate time and circumstances for digitization
– Integrating preservation needs into scanning projects
– Selecting materials for scanning
– Working with outside vendors
– Maintaining quality control
– Developing indexing and navigation tools and building databases
– Providing network access
The publication builds on NEDCC’s highly successful series of School for Scanning conferences, which it has offered on a national basis since 1996. The publication includes chapters by a number of the conference faculty members and parallels the conference themes. Like the conference, the publication combines a tutorial on technical issues with an overview of larger issues, including the need for preservation of digital products. It begins from the premise that investing in digital conversion only makes sense if institutions are prepared to provide long-term access to digital collections.