Changes in technology and the increased visibility of special collections have resulted in a deluge of requests for digital copies of special collections materials. A steady stream of digitization requests for one item here, two pages there can be labor-intensive, and policies for user requests vary widely across institutions.
To address these issues, OCLC Research and the OCLC Research Library Partnership's Working Group on Streamlining Photography and Scanning sought methods for reducing cumbersome digitization-on-demand workflows and policy obstacles. The result—a flexible, tiered approach to delivering digitized materials that acknowledges differences in user needs, collections, institutions, and resources—is detailed in the report, Scan and Deliver: Managing User-initiated Digitization in Special Collections and Archives.
In this webinar, members of the working group shared their creative experiments aimed at scanning and delivering user-requested digital copies of special collections materials. San Diego State University offers self-serve scanning in their reading room. At the University of Chicago, special collections and interlibrary loan (ILL) colleagues are working together to use existing infrastructure and expertise. The Getty Research Institute developed a tiered approach to capture and post digital files created by fulfilling user requests. The presenters discussed workflows-in-progress, lessons learned, and how they learned to stop worrying and love digital copy requests.
Webinar presenters included:
- Anne Bahde
San Diego State University - Julia Gardner
University of Chicago - Anne Blecksmith
Getty Research Institute - Francine Snyder
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - Shannon Supple
University of California at Berkeley - Jennifer Schaffner
OCLC Research
The webinar was held on 22 September 2011. The recording, available on the OCLC Research webinars page and in iTunes, is 64 minutes long and includes interesting questions and comments from participants throughout. The webinar slides and chat transcript are also available at the links below.
More Information
Webinar recording [.wmv]:
http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/research/webinars/20110922scan.wmv
Webinar recording [.mp4]:
http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/research/webinars/20110922scan.mp4
Webinar recording in iTunes [.m4v]:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284764834
Webinar chat transcript [.pdf]:
http://www.oclc.org/research/events/20110922sdchat.pdf
http://www.oclc.org/research/events/20110922sd.pdf
Scan and Deliver: Managing User-initiated Digitization
in Special Collections and Archives report
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2011/2011-05r.htm
Streamlining Photography and Scanning activity page
http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/photoscan/default.htm
OCLC Research webinars
http://www.oclc.org/research/events/webinars.htm
For more information:
Jennifer Schaffner
Program Officer
OCLC Research
jennifer_schaffner@oclc.org
+1-650-287-2140
Melissa Renspie
Senior Communications Officer
OCLC Research
renspiem@oclc.org
+1-614-761-5231