Digitisation

In this section we outline best practice and standards for digitising analogue media. We detail how to achieve archive level results and documentation, conforming to suitable metadata standards.

If you would prefer to see all of our guides, see our A-Z listing.

• AAC Audio and the MP4 Media Format

  Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a powerful and flexible standard for compressing, encoding and delivering audio - similar, but superior to MP3 - and is suitable for use in a wide variety of scenarios in teaching and learning.

• An Introduction to Digital Preservation

  Digital preservation aims to ensure that a digital collection remains usable, regardless of the inevitable changes in technology the future will bring. Without the appropriate preservation methods in place a digital collection can easily become inaccessible and so useless in just a few years. This paper discusses the preservation of digital output and the associated metadata.

• An Overview of Colour Management for Still Images

  There is a lot of confusion around the subject of digital colour and the process of ensuring colour consistency for still images. This document provides an introduction to the different methods used to manage digital colour.

• An overview of scanners

  A scanner is a device that is used to capture objects by scanning them which produces a digital image file which you can then use in a range of ways. A scanner is used when you want to capture a real-world object.

• Audio Digitisation Services

  JISC Digital Media contacted a number of digitisation service providers for more information about the services they supply. The following list is not an endorsement of any of the services, but is provided to help you identify services to evaluate in more detail.

• Audio Digitisation Workflow

  This paper discusses the considerations needed when planning a workflow for digitisation. It outlines some of the preparation needed when creating a workflow and precepts that need to be incorporated. The paper then offers an example generic workflow for digitising open-reel audiotapes onto a computer hard drive system.

• Basic Guidelines for Image Capture and Optimisation

  This document provides a guide to good practice in still image capture to help the user to design a workflow for capture and optimisation. The document highlights the main points that should be considered to ensure the highest quality output from your equipment.

• Budgeting for a Digitisation Project

  It is not possible to provide detailed information on budgeting for a digitisation project; these costs will depend on the nature, condition and amount of analogue materials to be digitised and the extent and accuracy of existing metadata. However, some general advice which assigns comparative values to different activities within a project may help when planning a digitisation project.

• Choosing a Digital Video File Type

  Choosing a file format can prove overwhelming for someone new to the world of digital video. The aims of this document are to discuss some of the key factors that should be considered before selecting a file format and to suggest suitable choices for specific applications

• Choosing a File Format for Digital Still Images

  The choice of file formats can often prove overwhelming for someone new to the world of digital imaging. The aim of this document is to explain some of the factors that should be considered before choosing a format and suggest suitable file formats for specific applications.

• Choosing an Audio Interface - Technical Considerations

  Explanation of the various specifications quoted for computer audio interfaces, and their relevance to functionality and sound quality.

• Choosing an Audio Interface - Unit Specifications

  A comparison of the features and specifications of some popular and suggested audio interfaces.

• Colour and Resolution Targets

  In order to accurately calibrate and benchmark imaging devices, it is standard practice to capture colour targets and resolution targets. Capturing a target and assessing the results can give an accurate indication as to how your system is performing. This document lists a variety of targets that are used to measure a capture device's ability to resolve detail or record colour information. Some of these targets are widely used to calibrate cameras and scanners as part of an effective open loop colour system.

• Colour Management in Practice

  This document provides a detailed explanation of the different approaches to colour management. The document also covers the process of calibration of monitors, scanners and printers as well as conversion between aditive and subtractive colour systems.

• Converting your Slides into Digital Images

  The 35mm slide has long played a key role for delivering images in the teaching and learning environment. However, recent improvements in capture and delivery technology have seen digital images virtually replace analogue media. Many slide collections now have to be converted to a format which can more easily be incorporated into the modern workflow. This document explains the process of converting analogue slides into digital images and preparing  them for delivery.

• Deciding to Digitise

  This brief document takes an introductory view of pre-digitisation project considerations. It is intended to be of use to resource management staff considering the digitisation of all or part of their collection.

• Digitisation Staff Training

  This paper takes a general looks at the staffing issues related to a digitisation project from a management perspective. It is intended to be of use to resource management staff considering the digitisation of all or part of their collection.

• Equipping a Video Digitisation System

  This document describes the configuration of a system which is intended to be used for the digitisation of analogue videotape to a computer hard drive. This document is intended to be of use to staff engaged in the digitisation of analogue video, whether dealing with only a few or a few hundred tapes.
  The advice document Selecting a Video Digitisation System provides an overview of alternative types of equipment configurations.

• Equipping an Audio Digitisation System

  This document aims to provide information needed when equipping an audio digitisation project of analogue media to a digital hard drive. This document is written with the digitisation of stereo and mono files in mind. For information regarding digitising multi-track recordings, there is a section at the end of this document with some recommendations and considerations. This document is intended to provide a guide to staff who wish to undertake digitisation projects of any scale, be it small or large.

• Establishing a Digital Preservation Policy

  This paper looks at the high-level challenges associated with establishing a digital preservation policy. It is intended to be of use to readers responsible for managing digital media collections. For hands-on digital preservation advice see the document An Introduction to Digital Preservation.

• File Formats and Compression

  This document looks at the theory of file formats and the common methods of data compression.

• Generic Image Digitisation Workflow: Text Version of Diagram

  This is a text version of the workflow diagram in the advice document: Generic Image Workflow.

• Generic Video Digitisation Workflow

  This introductory document is aimed at smaller video archives or paper-based collections which have a video element. This document may also prove beneficial to specially funded video digitisation projects. We shall look at ways in which best practice can be observed and incorporated into each stage of even the smallest video digitisation project, from selecting an initial digital format to delivery.

• Learning Lessons from Other Digitisation Projects

  This document proposes a number of potential challenges associated with the digitisation of a collection. It then examines the value of lessons learned from previous projects when attempting to meet those challenges. It is intended to be of use to resource management staff considering the digitisation of all or part of their collection.

• Links to Digital Media and Digital Preservation Organisations

  The list below survey a selection of audiovisual and digital preservation related organisations and provides links to their websites.

• Open Source and Free Software Directory

  The following tables comprise a selective guide to various free and open source software tools for a variety of digital media applications.

• Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

  This advice document looks at the process of converting printed type into a computer readable format. In the 1950s the first commercial optical character recognition (OCR) applications appeared, however it wasn't until the early 1990s that 'off the shelf' products were made available. This document looks at the OCR process and how the condition of the original document and the capture technique can affect the quality of the digital output.

• Overview of JISC Digital Media Materials for Digitisation Project Staff

  This guide provides an overview of the JISC Digital Media website materials we think digitisation project staff will find useful during the lifetime of a digitisation project.

• Planning a Video Digitisation Project

  The digitisation of an existing video collection has many potential benefits; newly digitised materials offer opportunities to reach new users and to engage with new and existing users in new ways. Digitisation may also prove to be the only viable way to make our vulnerable video materials available to generations of future users. The complexities of achieving a successfully digitised and fully accessible video collection can be considerable but through careful preparation, the task can be broken down into manageable stages.

• Potential Sources of Funding for Digitisation Projects

  This document presents a selection of potential funding sources, which may be called upon to fund digitisation project work. Both public and private sector funders are included.

• Quality Assurance and Digitisation Projects

  This document examines issues relating to quality assurance from a project management perspective. It proposes a four-layer model for assuring quality and looks at some of the more common reasons for problems with output quality. This document is intended to be used by collection managers intending to digitise their resources or by managers of digitisation projects.

• Selecting a Video Digitisation System

  This document looks at a number of configurations of equipment which can be used to digitise analogue videotapes. This document is intended to be of use to staff engaged in the digitisation of analogue video, whether dealing with only a few or a few hundred tapes.

• Selecting an Audio Digitisation System

  This document is a discussion of some of the primary audio digitisation systems available for digitising analogue audio media. This document is intended to be of use to staff engaged in the digitisation of analogue audio, whether dealing with only a few or a few hundred tapes.

• Selection Procedures for Digitisation

  This document looks at points to consider when developing a selection criteria for digitisation. Some of the points made here will not be relevant to all projects and collections, but the document has been designed to serve as a useful overview and to stimulate some further thinking and research. It is intended to be of use to resource managers who intend to digitise all or part of their collection.

• Selection Procedures: Text Version of Decision Tree Diagram

  This is a text version of the 'Decision tree (simplified)' diagram in the Selection Procedures for Digitisation document.

• Setting up a Workspace for Digitising Images

  In planning a digitisation project, one of the major considerations will be where you decide to do the digitising and how to make best use of the workspace. Ensuring the area is designed and set up correctly will not only help establish a smooth and effective workflow, but will also make sure the project personnel involved are at their happiest and therefore at their most productive.

• Signposts to Relevant Organisations

  This page provides links to four types of organisation that digitisation project staff may be interested in: Academic Service Providers; Public Sector Organisations; Standards Organisations; International Organisations.

• Staffordshire Past Track

  Staffordshire Past Track is a web-based multimedia archive related to the history and cultural heritage of Staffordshire. The bulk of the collection is comprised of photographic or printed images from the past 150 years. Noteworthy features of the Past Track project are its bespoke content management system and a user interface that provides, among other functions, map-based searching, an image zoom facility, and user-annotated albums.

• Still Image Capture: Hardware and Software

  This document is an introduction to digital cameras and scanners and their role in digitisation. This document also looks at the features found in software used to edit images captured by cameras and scanners.

• Still Images Digitisation Services

  JISC Digital Media contacted a number of digitisation service providers for more information about the services they supply. The following list is not an endorsement of any of the services, but is provided to help you identify services to evaluate in more detail.

• The PNG File Format

  The Portable Network Graphics or PNG format is a versatile file format that is an open standard and provides many advantages.

• To Outsource or to Digitise In-house?

  This document is intended to inform the managers of analogue collections which have been identified for digitisation. It looks at the pros and cons of outsourcing digitisation work before contrasting these with carrying out work in-house.

• Transcoding Digital Video

  ‘Digitisation' is a process in which analogue materials become digital, while ‘transcoding' is the shift from one digital format to another digital format. This brief paper looks at some common situations which call for transcoding, such as when ‘migrating' data to new formats in order to avoid obsolescence.

• Uncompressed Audio File Formats

  This document summarises the main features of uncompressed audio file types, including WAV, AIFF and Broadcast WAV (BWF). It gives an overview of these 'raw' formats, and a simple explanation of the common options they will offer the user when creating or working with digital audio. It also looks at lossless compression tools for subsequently reducing the size of these files which will allow reconstruction of their original audio data sonically unaltered. Several sections include links to further resources covering specific relevant topics in more detail, so this is a good place to start if you want to learn more about any of these formats.

• User Guide to MP3

  A guide to the creation, manipulation and use of audio flies in the popular MP3 format, including a close look at the many audio and metadata options which MP3 offers, and its use within teaching and learning.

• Using Optical Media for Digital Preservation

  This document looks at the issues involved with storing digital images on optical media, specifically recordable CDs and DVDs.