Lorena Donohue of the Littleton Historical Museum forwarded me your message in the hopes that I might be able to offer some comments. Before I do, let me introduce myself and the Colorado Digitization Project. The Colorado Digitization Project began in the Fall of 1998 as a grant funded initiative to form a collaborative approach to increasing access to Colorado's historical, cultural, scientific and governmental information in digital format. The initiative would involve archives, libraries, museums, historical societies. The project in it's first year has identified 22 digitization initiatives in Colorado, of which approximately 50% are non-library initiatives. We have created a website http://coloradodigital.coalliance.org which brings together all these projects. Additionally we put together a set of metadata standards that would be useful by all 4 cultural institution types, recognizing that there are different standards in each area. In addition to the metadata standards there are standards for scanning. These standards are established as a minimum set of standards for any project. Guidance on issues related to scanning are provided along with the standards. We have also pulled together a set of web-based and print resources that would be useful to any project undertaking a digitization initiative. Please feel free to use these standards. In addition to the standards you will also find a document called getting started which lists a series of questions that you need to ask prior to undertaking any digitization initiative. Many people want to know what kind of scanner to buy, but you really need to know who your user is and what needs they have that can/should be met with a digital version. Liz Bishoff The Colorado Digitization project 31157 Lewis Ridge Rd. Evergreen CO 80439 303-679-0201-v 303-679-0282-f [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jay Brennan Pattison Sent: Friday, November 12, 1999 2:50 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Inquiry: Digital Images We at the Cincinnati Art Museum are now engaged in the planning stages of a project that I know must be familiar to many of you: developing a database of digital images of objects in the permanent collection. It would be of immense help to our Digital Image Task Force if those of you who have had experience in this area would share some information about how digital imaging has been approached at your institutions. Specifically, we would like to know the following: 1. Have you chosen to scan images at high resolution, low resolution, or some combination of the two? DEPENDING ON THE USES, YOU WILL PROBABLY WANT TO SCAN AT THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION APPROPRIATE TO THE ITEM, CREATING A MASTER OR ARCHIVAL IMAGE. YOU WILL THEN DERIVE LOWER RESOLUTION IMAGES FOR THE THUMBNAIL AND THE ACCESS VERSION. IT'S MOST IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU CURRENT AND FUTURE USES WILL BE BEFORE YOU DETERMINE WHAT RESOLUTION TO SCAN AT. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU WANT TO CREATE HIGH QUALITY PRINTS, YOU'LL NEED A HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE. IF YOU WANT RESEARCHERS TO USE THE DIGITAL IMAGE, YOU'LL NEED HIGH QUALITY RESOLUTION. IF IT'S FOR MARKETING/EPHEMERAL PURPOSES ONLY THEN LOWER MIGHT DO. PRINCIPLE IS SCAN ONE. What intended uses of the images informed your choice of image quality? More specifically, if you have chosen to create high-resolution image files, how do you plan to use them (e.g. in-house publications, external publication requests, merchandise)? SEE OUR STANDARDS FOR SOME OF THESE ISSUES. 2. How are your image files stored and how are they accessed? What led to your choice of storage medium? WE'RE CURRENTLY RECOMMENDING STORING THE MASTER IMAGE ON CD. THE ACCESS VERSION IS AVAILABLE VIA THE WEB, ALTHOUGH SOME MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES ARE LIMITING ACCESS TO ONSITE USE ONLY AND THEN CD ROM MIGHT SERVE THAT NEED. MIGRATION OF THE CD SOFTWARE IS CRITICAL FOR LONG TERM ACCESS. SOME ORGANIZATIONS ARE DEVELOPING ONLINE REPOSITORIES OF THEIR DIGITAL IMAGES, RATHER THAN USING CD. 3. What storage format (JPEG, TIFF, EPS, etc.) was used? DEPENDS ON IF IT'S A MASTER, ACCESS, ETC. SEE SCANNING STANDARDS DOCUMENT. 4. Were the images scanned by an outside vendor or was the work done in- house? Did the project require hiring additional staff members? If so, how many were required? 5. What department or staff member is responsible for updating the database with new images and general maintenance? 6. What is the approximate number of objects in your institution's collection? I would appreciate any help you can provide. Please respond either to the list or off-line at: email: [log in to unmask] tel: (513) 639-2909 fax: (513) 639-2996 Thanks so much, Jay Brennan Pattison Associate Registrar Cincinnati Art Museum ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. 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