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Making WordPress work for you

Next course dates:

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

WordPress is the publishing platform of choice for millions of people. It is powerful, flexible, extensible, open source, free and supported by an active community of developers and users. Exploiting the full potential of WordPress requires a self-hosted installation. This offers features not available on WordPress.com, allowing complete control over the style and functionality of a site through themes, plugins and customisation of WordPress templates.

This workshop will help you develop the practical skills needed to install, maintain and customise WordPress. Participants will build their own fully functional installation of WordPress on a USB drive, which can later be published or used for ongoing development.

PLEASE NOTE: This workshop is being run by our sister service JISC Netksills, all enquiries and bookings are being handled by them - JISC Netskills team.

Audience

This workshop is for anyone considering hosting their own WordPress installation for a blog or website. It provides an opportunity to install, configure and customise a working WordPress site and explore what is involved in running it in practice.

This is not a technical workshop on server administration or developing for WordPress. Some knowledge of HTML, CSS and PHP would be useful, but is not essential.

 

Content

  • How WordPress works
  • Installing, securing and configuring your site
  • Themes, widgets and site customisation
  • Extending WordPress with plugins and custom functions
  • Not just a blog - alternative ways to use WordPress

Dates and locations

  • Wednesday 22 February 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

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BTEC Professional Certificate in Digital Imaging: 3 days

Next course dates:

Monday 09 July 2012 - 11th July 2012

Three-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

The following units are the BTEC accredited assessment components of our still image professional development certificate and award.

Audience

The course would suit a candidate that requires a broad introduction to creating, editing using and managing a digital image collection. The skills covered could be used by anyone who is involved directly or indirectly in producing or managing a collection of digital images. The skills in the course can be used in education, cultural heritage and other roles, which requires image capture and delivery.

Content

PLEASE NOTE: This is a three-day course. Course fees are as follows:

  • £900 - Early bird for participants from UK Higher or Further Education (special introductory price. Normally £1100).

Unit: Capture (20 credits)

This element of the course introduces the digital SLR and flatbed scanner and explains how these devices are used to digitise a variety of common subjects. It aims to explain the main controls of each device and how they are used to control the appearance of the digital image. In this session candidates are introduced to lighting and learn how it is an essential element in photography and how different types of lighting contribute to look of the picture. This session also explores capture file formats and their applications.

Key Unit Areas

  • The digital image
  • Handling originals
  • Scanning
  • The digital camera
  • Exposure controls
  • Photography using digital SLR
  • Lighting
  • Monitor calibration
  • Capture file formats

Unit: Manipulation (20 credits)

This session introduces the subject of destructive and non-destructive image editing and highlights some of the more commonly used image editing programs. All of the image editing during the session will be carried out with Adobe Photoshop. Throughout the day the course follows a typical workflow from initial quality control, image sorting, cropping, tone and colour adjustment, retouching through to file formats for final delivery.

Key Unit Areas

  • Introduction to image editing. Destructive Vs non-destructive.
  • QC and sorting images
  • Tone and colour adjustments
  • Retouching images
  • Colour modes
  • File size
  • Filters
  • Delivery file formats

Unit: Intellectual property rights (20 Credits)

This half-day session sets out the legal framework as it relates to intellectual property rights (IPR) and the creation, use and re-use of digital images. Students will learn about current IPR legislation and how best to protect their digital images from misuse. Students will also gain an understanding of how they might use digital images owned and/ or created by others. Potential future changes to UK IPR law will be discussed alongside a discussion on the internation dimension. The key concepts surrounding IPR and digital images will be explored using a mixture of presentations, discussions and practical activities.

Key Unit Areas

  • What is an intellectual property right?
  • Relevant legislation
  • Pragmatic approach to IPR
  • International dimension
  • Possible future developments
  • International considerations

Unit: Metadata (20 credits)

This element of the course introduces the concept of metadata as it relates to digital still images. Students will receive an understanding of the different types of metadata, how metadata is used and how it differs depending on the user community. Students will be introduced to metadata schemas and controlled vocabularies and will consider a variety of ways in which metadata might be used to enhance digital image collections. The key areas will be explored using a mixture of presentations, discussions and practical activities.

Key Unit Areas

  • Definition of metadata – what it means in relation to digital images
  • The different types of metadata
  • The ways in which metadata is used
  • Metadata schemas
  • Controlled vocabularies
  • Where metadata is stored
  • Sharing metadata

Dates and locations

  • Monday 09 July 2012 - 11th July 2012
    Three-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

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Video Production 1: Lectures and Interviews 2-day course

Next course dates:

Wednesday 25 April 2012 and 26th April 2012

Two-day course: 10.00 - 16.30 each day

Aim

The use of video in education has ceased to be an occasional occurrence, but the quality of videos has not kept pace with their popularity. This course is intended to instil basic competence in the many areas of knowledge that are needed to produce good video work. A hands-on approach is taken, such that during the two days of learning about video techniques the participants will actually produce two short videos. All equipment and facilities will be supplied.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a two-day course. Course fees are as follows:

  • £275 for participants from UK Higher or Further Education
  • £325 for participants from government, charities, libraries, galleries or museums
  • Prices for all other participants are available on request

Audience

Anyone wishing to create videos or to supervise the creation of videos. This workshop assumes no prior experience, although knowledge of camcorders, audio recording and video editing is useful.

Content

  • Introduction and overview to video
  • When to use video and when to use audio
  • Equipment
  • Video workflow
  • Planning the video
  • Camera techniques
  • Microphone techniques
  • Lighting techniques
  • Getting the most out of the subject
  • Shooting a lecture
  • Shooting an interview
  • Shooting a monitor
  • Basic editing techniques
  • Finishing and delivery

Learning objectives

By the end of the course attendees should be able to:

  • Plan a video project
  • Competently use a video camera
  • Understand the fundamentals of lighting for video
  • Understand the fundamentals of audio recording for video
  • Understand the fundamentals of editing digital video
  • Create and deliver a video of a lecture
  • Carry out an interview and create and deliver a video of it

Dates and locations

  • Wednesday 25 April 2012 and 26th April 2012
    Two-day course: 10.00 - 16.30 each day
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: video |

JISC Advance - Digital Media and Copyright Seminar

- London
New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Full day seminar: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

Bringing together experts in digital media and copyright law this seminar created by the JISC Advance services, JISC Digital Media and JISC Legal, uses common real-world scenarios to focus on how copyright impacts on the use of digital media. The seminar will allow participants to gain an understanding of the common issues and challenges facing institutions in the current copyright landscape.

Seminar fees: £100 per participant. Includes lunch and refreshments. There will be a pre-seminar online exercise attendees are requested to complete. This is merely to provide some background knowledge prior to the seminar.

Objectives

  • To increase confidence in dealing with multi-layer intellectual property rights in digital media
  • To identify appropriate approaches to dealing with the uncertainties of copyright law in relation to digital media
  • To share experiences of both issues and solutions to IPR challenges in relation to digital media

Audience

Relevant for owners and users of copyright-protected digital media, as well as those who simply want to learn about copyright and digital media in general, seminar participants will partake in an informal and discussion based day, learning how to tackle common copyright issues using a 'framework' approach and applying it to a series of case studies. The day will conclude with a series of break out sessions to discuss copyright topics identified by attendees.

Date and location

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.
  • Return to the main Training page

Tags: copyright |

Building Effective Screencasts

Next course dates:

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

Screencasts - videos of on-screen computer activity, accompanied by voice-over, and possibly other media (webcam video, Powerpoint slides etc) - have in recent times increased massively in popularity, scope and acceptance, and can now provide a sophisticated learning experience, incorporating slides, images, video, audio, screen annotation, subtitles, interactive quizzes and more.. Whether you want to narrate a presentation, demonstrate the use of software, or record and share your screen for any other reason, a screencast may well be the answer.

This practical one-day workshop provides an opportunity to learn how to maximise the value of screencasting in presentation, demonstration and digital storytelling for teaching and learning, in the context of the whole workflow from planning your own short screencast to rendering it as a video. We've even had some delegates posting finished screencasts to YouTube by the end of the day!

Audience

The workshop is designed for up to 10 people. Previous experience of screencasting is not necessary, just an interest in developing new skills and techniques for creating teaching and learning resources.

Contact us to find out how this workshop can address your specific goals.

Content

Covering the essentials of the screencast production workflow, workshop participants will learn

  • Techniques to identify where screencast use is appropriate
  • How to plan for production and use
  • Screencast design and planning
  • Practical skills in how to produce effective and engaging screencasts
  • Voice and screen recording skills and technical overview
  • How to package screencasts in formats suitable for their audience

Dates and locations

  • Tuesday 14 February 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: screen capture | screencast | teaching | training | video |

Digital Media Restoration (Audio-Visual only)


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

Analogue media deteriorates at an alarming rate and few digitisation projects can hope to retrieve great signals from aged collections. In order to archive maximum usefulness some basic digital remastering is often required. Fortunately, today's digital tools mean we can easily remove unwanted 'defects' whether hisses and scratches from shellac discs or the distorted colours of old videotapes

N.B. This course covers digital restoration of audio-visual resources only. It does not cover restoration of still images

Audience

This course is aimed at digitisation departments and specially funded digitisation projects. It is expected that attendees will have collection management or technical backgrounds although the content has many other potential applications.

Content

  • Introduction to digital restoration
  • The anatomy of analogue media
  • Examples of common analogue 'defects'
  • Practical restoration tasks
  • To restore or not to restore?
  • Remastering in the digitisation workflow

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: analogue collections | digitisation | restoration | sound recordings | video |

Advanced Techniques in Digital Image Capture


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course looks at the technical background behind, and procedures for, image capture and optimisation delivered through hands-on activities. This workshop will teach you how to produce the correct end product for your intended purpose and teach you the easy 'science' of scanning to remove the guesswork from your image capture.

Audience

Those with some basic experience and knowledge of digital capture. Particularly aimed at those involved at the front line of digitisation projects and to teaching and research staff who wish to improve the quality of their captured images. This workshop uses scanners, digital SLR cameras and Adobe Photoshop as an image editor.

Content

  • Calibration in practice
  • Handling analogue originals
  • Review of capture devices including cameras and scanners
  • Getting the best out of your scanning software
  • Line art, greyscale and colour scanning
  • Image resolution and calculating scanning resolution
  • The challenge of good colour management
  • Image optimisation - correcting and resizing images
  • Appropriate image processing for the purpose
  • Speeding up your system

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: cameras | colour management | digitisation | image editing | photography | photoshop | scanning | training |

Digital Photography - Taking Control of your SLR


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This action packed course looks in depth at using a digital SLR's creative controls to put you in charge of your photography. You will also have plenty of hands-on practice with the camera and be shown how to effectively illuminate 2D and 3D objects using tungsten and fluorescent studio lighting.

Audience

This course is aimed at anyone who wishes to build on basic or existing digital photography skills and knowledge.

Content

  • Using the aperture and shutter controls of a digital SLR to improve your photography
  • Understanding white balance
  • Colour management
  • Camera file formats, including RAW
  • Lighting small 2D and 3D objects
  • Identifying and resolving image quality issues

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: cameras | colour management | photography | training |

Digital Photography - Getting Started with your SLR


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This entry level course will provide you with an understanding of the techniques and skills needed to produce great quality images from a digital SLR camera with ease. Some illuminating background theory will be supported by hands-on practical exercises in photography.

Audience

Anyone new to or wanting to familiarise themselves with a digital SLR camera. No prior experience is required. The workshop uses Adobe Photoshop and cameras will be provided.

Content

  • How a digital camera works
  • Problems and work-arounds with the digital camera
  • Introduction to colour, calibration and white balance
  • Basic camera skills - photographing people, places and objects
  • Essential lighting skills
  • Storing images in the camera and transferring them to a computer
  • Introduction to image optimisation
  • Working with image tagging (metadata)
  • Choosing the right camera - feature guide and comparison
  • Extending the functionality - video and panorama

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: cameras | photography | training |

Colour Management

Next course dates:

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

Effective colour management is vital within the digital workflow and anyone working with digital images should understand and be employing the core principles. This training course introduces colour management theory and 'good practice' to ensure that you understand how to achieve consistent and accurate colour between applications, platforms, and devices.

Audience

Anyone needing to know how to achieve and maintain colour consistency between devices. This workshop uses Adobe Photoshop and some previous experience in capturing digital images and using image editors is recommended.

Content

  • Introduction and overview to digital colour
  • Describing colour - colour spaces and colour gamut
  • Open loop and closed loop colour management
  • Using ICC device profiles
  • Calibration and characterisation with ICC profiles
  • Colour transformations and rendering intents
  • Assigning new ICC profiles to imported images
  • Using profiles to soft-proof images for printing
  • Colour calibration on the Web
  • Other approaches to consistent colour

Dates and locations

  • Tuesday 29 May 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: colour management | image editing | photography | training | workflow |

Audio Production: Recording Lectures, Seminars, Interviews and Podcasts

Aim

This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to record and produce recordings of spoken word audio, with specific emphasis being placed upon the recording of lectures, seminars and events. You will learn the basic concepts of recording technologies and through practical exercises you will learn how to confidently apply these to practical situations. The workshop will also introduce you to ideas for delivering new media such as podcasting, and suggest methods for managing your digital recordings.

Audience

This workshop is for those with an interest in producing audio resources along with staff embarking on recording projects, and non-technical staff who wish to gain knowledge in order to oversee recording projects. The workshop assumes no previous knowledge of recording systems or audio theory some basic IT understanding is desired as the workshop will go into some technical depth.

Content

  • Basic principles of digital audio and terminology
  • Introduction and set up of basic recording systems
  • Troubleshoot basic common technical issues
  • Digital audio capture
  • Production techniques
  • Basic software editing functions
  • Delivery of media
  • Creation of 'podcast ready' material
  • Creating simple technical metadata records

Dates and locations

Tags: audio editing | podcasts | software | sound recordings | training |

Introduction to Image Metadata

Next course dates:

Thursday 22 March 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

This course is designed specifically to help you consider how to effectively incorporate metadata into the fabric of your image collection, through explanation, discussion and practical activities.

Audience

Anyone new to describing and cataloguing images. Some previous knowledge of metadata will be useful but not essential.

Content

  • Importance of metadata for image collections
  • Choosing appropriate standards for your collection
  • Metadata for different communities (e.g. museums, libraries, archives)
  • Metadata for different purposes (e.g. retrieval, administration, preservation)
  • Different types of metadata (e.g. categories, controlled vocabularies, subject classifications)
  • Introduction to storing image metadata (e.g. databases, image tagging, XML)
  • Introduction to some alternative approaches (e.g. content-based retrieval, user-created metadata)
  • Critical review of real world examples

Dates and locations

  • Thursday 22 March 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: digital collections | digital preservation | metadata | training |

Digitising Analogue Video Recordings

Next course dates:

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

Over the past fifty years the videotape has grown from an obscure television production tool into a vibrant and vital social document. But videotape has proved to be a fragile long-term medium and its contents are at risk. This risk can only be mitigated through careful planning. This workshop will investigate the challenges associated with the preservation of videotapes. Through practical exercises, we will look at how digitising materials to archival standards can both safeguard and help develop a collection. We will also look at the challenge of creating a sustainable digital collection. Quality assurance procedures and best practice will be referred to throughout.

Audience

The workshop is targeted at the non-specialist with some understanding of IT but little audiovisual experience. Attendees may be caretakers to a small number of videos or may be involved in larger, specially funded projects. Attendees may also be wishing to gain an overview of the process prior to outsourcing video digitisation work.

Content

  • What is a video tape and how does it work?
  • What is a digital video file?
  • What can go wrong when digitising video?
  • Quality control measures
  • Identification and assessment of videotapes
  • Selecting digitisation equipment
  • Everyday calibration of equipment
  • Optimising tape playback
  • Digital capture of videos
  • Creating a simple technical metadata record
  • The challenges of digital preservation

Dates and locations

  • Wednesday 20 June 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: analogue collections | digital preservation | digitisation | training | video |

Essential Techniques in Digital Image Capture


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This entry level course provides an easy to understand theoretical overview of digital images and image capture combined with practical exercises using both a scanner and digital SLR camera for those getting started with creating digital images.

Audience

Anyone needing the foundation skills to undertake basic scanning and digital imaging. This workshop uses Adobe Photoshop as an image editor.

Content

  • Investigating the digital image
  • Handling originals safely
  • Measuring image size
  • Scanning photographs and graphics
  • Introduction to scanners and digital cameras
  • The need for calibration
  • Basic image optimisation
  • File formats
  • Saving and naming your file

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: cameras | digitisation | image editing | photography | photoshop | scanning | training |

Using Digital Media in VLEs


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This one day workshop focuses on the effective use of digital media online including the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). During the workshop attendees will discover how to improve their presentation resources, know when and how digital media can be used to enhance learning materials and be able to successfully embed their new knowledge in their VLE and online services.

Audience

Primarily aimed at those new to using a VLE and/or digital media. If you want to discover how digital media is being used and learn ways to improve the design of online materials then this workshop is for you.

Content

  • Use of digital media for teaching and learning
  • Designing better presentations using software such as PowerPoint
  • Designing for interaction
  • Effective use of audio and video resources for teaching and learning
  • Embedding media in your VLE or online environment
  • IPR issues

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: e-learning | flickr | teaching | training | vle |

Finding Free-to-Use Images, Video and Audio


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

If you've ever needed to find images, video or audio you can use in your work materials then this course is for you. It will guide you to all the best places to locate free-to-use, copyright-cleared digital media resources for use in teaching and learning. You'll never use Google to find digital media again!

Audience

This workshop will suit anybody needing to locate digital media online for use in teaching and learning.

Content

  • Examine the problems associated with using a search engine such as Google
  • Learn the essentials of copyright and digital media
  • Discover specialist online sources of free-to-use images, video and audio
  • Look at other resources for locating free-to-use digital media including Creative Commons licences
  • Explore subject-based collections
  • Take a look at some not quite free alternatives

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: creative commons |

Essential Photoshop Skills


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course will get you up and running with Adobe Photoshop. You will learn key concepts and skills to enable you to understand and start using this exciting application with confidence.

Audience

This workshop is aimed at those who require basic image manipulation and optimisation techniques for editing images. It is assumed that attendees have no prior understanding or experience of digital imaging or image editing applications and it is therefore a good choice for people starting out with Photoshop.

Content

  • Basic digital imaging theory and terminology
  • Introduction to Photoshop's interface, toolbox and palettes
  • Create and save documents choosing appropriate file formats
  • Utilising Photoshop's image management features
  • Working with layers
  • Creating and transforming graphics
  • Understanding Photoshop's selection tools
  • Combining multiple images
  • Text features
  • Basic colour correction

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: image editing | photoshop | software | training |

Managing Digital Media Collections

Next course dates:

Thursday 14 June 2012

Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30

Aim

Now that many important materials are in a digital form, building an accessible online media collection which successfully delivers images, sounds, video and other media is a goal of many institutions.

Until recently, expensive Digital Asset Management systems where the most viable option, but now open source server applications such as Dspace, Omeka and Drupal hold the promise of truly interoperable and standards-based collection management.

This one day course will offer a model of digital collection management, based upon open source solutions. Attendees will gain hands-on experience of planning, building, managing and delivering a digital media collection.

Audience

This workshop is aimed at attendees planning to build, manage or deliver a digital collection, especially those within the educational or cultural heritage sectors. You do not need any prior experience of collection management but familiarity with digital media (images, video or audio) would be an advantage.

Content

  • Planning your digital collection
  • DAMS, MAMS, CMS or repository: what's in a management system?
  • Selection and preparation of content
  • Defining your metadata: usefully describing your media
  • Google and you: making your collection searchable via the web
  • Sustainability and digital preservation

Dates and locations

  • Thursday 14 June 2012
    Full-day course: 10.00 - 16.30
    ILRT, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HH
  • Book now

Tags: digital collections | metadata | sustainability | workflow |

Image Optimisation for Print and Web


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course covers the essential skills you need in order to maximise the quality and visual appeal of digital images from both scanners and digital cameras. You will learn the tips and tricks necessary to transform your images quickly and easily.

Audience

Anyone wanting to ensure they are getting the most out of their digital images. This workshop uses Adobe Photoshop and some previous experience in capturing digital images and using image editors is recommended but not essential.

Content

  • Optimisation workflow - from capture to archive
  • Need for surrogates and methods of preparing them
  • Importance of calibration and colour management
  • Cropping and straightening images
  • Removing unwanted colour casts
  • (Mis-)use of sharpening and levels
  • Re-sizing and compression for use on the Web
  • Batch processing with Photoshop actions
  • Evaluating degree and amount of processing needed

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: colour management | image editing | photoshop | software | training | workflow |

Building a Departmental Image Collection


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course will provide you with a hands-on experience of creating, managing and delivering a departmental image collection. You will acquire the foundation knowledge required to make well informed decisions about building an image library. You will also have the opportunity to discuss and share information with people from the HE/FE/Cultural sector facing similar issues in order to help you develop practical solutions.

Audience

This workshop is aimed at those considering building an image collection, especially academics, librarians or technicians. You will not need any prior experience of building image collections but some reading and research prior to the workshop will be required.

Content

  • Planning a departmental image collection
  • Preparing your images for inclusion in the collection
  • Metadata: methods and standards for describing images
  • File management considerations
  • Using a system to manage and deliver your collection (Extensis Portfolio 8.5 will be used as an example)

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: digital collections | metadata | software | training |

Copyright and Digital Media


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This informative and stimulating course is run by a leading expert in copyright. It looks in-depth at how copyright and other legal issues impact upon digital media and it will enable you to develop practical approaches to clearing and managing those rights within your own collections.

Audience

Relevant for both owners and users of copyright-protected digital media. It will suit those involved with managing or clearing rights within a digital media workflow, learning and teaching applications, or administrative and marketing purposes. Also relevant for individuals who simply want to learn about copyright and digital media in general.

Content

  • Overview of the legal landscape
  • Nature of digital media and why copyright is important
  • Relevance of digital licensing schemes (e.g. CLA, DACS, PRS and Creative Commons)
  • How copyright fits within a digitisation workflow
  • Strategies for clearing rights in digital media, including using the Internet
  • Documenting and communicating digital rights
  • Practical exercises using basic technology to protect and manage rights
  • Pragmatic, risk-managed approach to making digital media available

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: copyright | cla | creative commons | training | workflow |

Digitising Analogue Audio


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

To meet the skills required by libraries, archives and institutions to digitise their existing analogue collections, this course aims to provide a complete introduction to the theory and practicalities of successfully digitising analogue audio resources. The workshop will provide hands-on tuition alongside presenting theoretical knowledge with group discussions of topics surrounding the digital lifecycle, in a digitisation project based context. The workshop has been designed as a precursor for our more technical, media specific training modules. The practical elements will involve digitising audiocassette tapes as example media.

Audience

This course is aimed at those wishing to embark on digitising their audio, including librarians, archivists, and support staff. The course is also aimed at project managers wishing to understand the technical aspects of digitisation. It is aimed at those with little or no previous knowledge of the subject area, however a good general understanding of IT is required.

Content

  • Theory of analogue and digital audio
  • Selection and identification of media
  • Equipping and preparing a digitisation system
  • Digital capture and basic editing techniques
  • Quality control issues, metadata and standards
  • Considerations for delivery

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: analogue collections | audio editing | digitisation |

Scanning with the CLA Licence


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course provides a thorough practical overview of how to digitise images and text from print-based materials. You will use a desktop scanner and related technology to effectively enable you to leverage the rights granted to you by the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) scanning licence.

Audience

This course is particularly aimed at those with little or no digitisation skills in order to prepare them for implementing the CLA scanning licence. However, this workshop will be relevant for anyone requiring fundamental skills in capturing text and images using a scanner and using OCR technology.

Content

  • What is the CLA scanning licence?
  • What you can and can't do under the CLA licence
  • Buying a scanner - what to look for
  • Scanning basics - understanding how your scanner works
  • Creating PDFs
  • Using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software
  • Isolating images from text based materials
  • Optimising scanned images for use on the web or in presentation software

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: copyright | cla | optical character recognition | scanning | training |

Digitising Grooved Discs and Open Reel Audio


New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Aim

This course is designed to meet the requirements of staff in libraries, archives and other related institutions needing to digitise existing analogue collections. The course builds on our Digitising Analogue Audio workshop, by introducing a range of legacy audio media and examining them in more detail.

The workshop will provide the opportunity to both handle these media and configure the equipment needed for their successful playback. A recommended, pragmatic workflow will be followed.

Essential theoretical and interesting historical information is included which together contribute to understanding: the development of audio recording technologies; how to handle and best reproduce each medium; how to digitise each medium to archival standard.

Audience

This course is aimed at those digitising audio collections - including librarians, archivists, and support staff - who wish to gain more media-specific audio knowledge. It will be of interest to those involved in digitising all types of acoustic and magnetic media, including tapes and grooved discs, and those with an interest in audio recording history. It will also help project designers identify the scope of their audio digitisation workflow.

Content

  • History of Recorded Sound
  • Reel-to-reel tape - Identification, care and playback
  • Grooved Media - Identification, care and playback
  • Example workflows - creating Digital Objects from Analogue Artefacts
  • Introduction to digital restoration

Dates and locations

  • New dates to be confirmed. Please contact us to express an interest in future dates.

Tags: analogue collections | digitisation | restoration |

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