Abstract

Digitisation projects are generally complex and usually turn out to be more time-consuming than initially expected. The exact nature of the desired results should be determined well before the project starts – partly because whoever is funding the project will usually have made this a condition of support, but also because many similar projects will already have been carried out and these can be used as a guide. Yet many digitisation projects are launched without harnessing the available synergies. New software is implemented. Data formats are redesigned. In some cases, the entire system of project organisation is reinvented and tailored to meet the demands of a single project. Why? This website describes some of the typical pitfalls associated with digitisation project workflows and explains how even very large projects can be managed without reinventing the wheel.

Dos and Don’ts

Learning from other in-house or external projects with comparable requirements is tremendously beneficial, especially where the methods used by those projects have become established as best practice. At the same time, they are a source of valuable information that can be difficult to find in articles and books – information that is all the more effective if it is passed on through personal contact or during visits and conferences. The resulting advice and support can take many forms and cover many areas, e.g.

• software tools
• hardware equipment
• room design
• advice on object processing
• photographic/imaging techniques
• data formats
• interfaces
• workflow sequences
• advice on quality control.

Alongside such tips on best practice, observations of numerous successful, large-scale digitisation projects repeatedly highlight various key points – things that must be avoided at all costs and others that really do need to be carried out. Based on our experience of advising on digitisation workflows at over sixty cultural institutions in fifteen countries, we are currently preparing a set of guidelines (dos and don’ts) for publication. The guidelines will cover every aspect of digitisation and highlight suitable options.

The corresponding paper was presented at the Archiving conference at National Archives in Washington 2018.

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