The reasons for implementing a digitization project (to be more precise, a digital conversion of physical documents) are varied and may overlap. A digitization project may be undertaken, for instance, to increase public access to documents. This is the most obvious reason and constitutes the main purpose of such a project, especially when there is a high demand for a particular collection. Another reason for undertaking a digitization project may be a desire to improve services to an expanding user base by providing remote, high-quality access to the institution’s resources. Still another reason is the desire to create a digital backup of fragile or unique materials to preserve those materials against further deterioration — in extreme cases, the digital copy may become the preferred mode of access (if, for instance, the original document is very fragile or valuable).

The benefits of digitization can be expanded (multiplied, in fact) if that digitization is used to permit the inter-institution sharing of unique collections of materials. Finally, digitization may be undertaken in order to take advantage of financial opportunities — the reduction of long-term costs associated with the display of physical documents or the upkeep of those documents, as well as the possibility of increasing revenue by making those documents available to a wider audience.It should, therefore, be clear, in a broad sense, why one might embark on a digitization project: in the most general sense, the goal of such a project is improving the quality and range of services provided while minimizing the costs associated with such services.

Because the digitization of documents has inherently high up-front costs (the scanning is labor-intensive and expensive), it is important to maximize the quality of the digitization on the first attempt.. Digitization technologies are subject to rapid and continuous development, which represents both an opportunity and a challenge for organizations that wish to embark on a project of digitization — organizations may profit from the increasingly accurate and economical technology available to them, but they also run the risk of pursuing a developing technology that requires too great a financial investment. Digitization is, therefore, a costly endeavor that requires careful planning.

To elaborate on what precisely is meant by digitization, consider this summary. Digitization includes the preservation of physical materials as images as well as scanning (which is distinct from imaging in that it is intended to create a digital document rather than a photograph), converting hard-copy documents into digital formats. Although “documents” appears to imply texts only, in this context a document could be visual or auditory media, or it could be the “traditional” textual document.

This process of digitization requires consideration of the equipment needs so for increased efficiency with minimal resource utilization. In this case, equipment for reading the old formats that are represented in their physical forms are required to take the relevant inputs into the system. Some of them include optical character readers, automated machines that can go through the materials with minimal human intervention, and the ones that can present the information in formats that are ready for utilization in the subsequent phases.

On the other hand, more equipment is required for managing the digitized materials so that it can be accessed by the readers. The equipmentinclude computing systems, networks, and implementation of platforms that support varied client nodes from users to increase the levels of access. However, the fundamental consideration is on the equipment that takes the raw inputs, convert them into readable formats, and index the digitized materials for faster searches and access. Combination of these requirements ensures that the intended outcomes are achieved with minimal interferences on the normal functioning of the facilities.

There are several standards available for digitization. One of them is called ISO-TR 13028:2010, which is an ISO standard used for the digitization of information. The ISO standard creates technical specifications for the digital capture of documents.To put it another way, the ISO standard primarily concerns itself with the technologies used in the digitization of documents rather than the procedures by which those technologies are used. Another standard used for digitization is ISO-TR 19005-1:2005. Completing the ISO family of standards for document digitization are ISO-TR 19005-2:2011 and ISO-TR 19005-3:2012, which primarily govern the document management and electronic document file formats used for preservation of documents in the long-term. For the digitization of textual documents, these standards prescribe the use of the PDF (the Portable Document Format) of the A3 family.

The ISO-TR 19005-2:2011 and ISO-TR 19005-3:2012 seem more appropriate in this situation since their provisions reflect the operating requirements at the time. Its appropriateness is anchored on the fact that this is a family of standards that govern how the documents are managed, presented, and distributed in the various electronic platforms. In the modern settings, documents are being propagated and accessed on generalized formats such as the PDF, as it is compatible in most of the capable gadgets. These advancements have made these considerations appropriate for this function.

Since the widely applied formats of textual documents is PDF, then the ISO standards are just providing the guidelines for long term preservation of the forms. The process of getting the formats is not relevant in this case, what is important is the outcomes that conform to the long term requirements in terms of presentations, distribution, and usage of the proposed document formats. As in the case of Sacagawea, where the resultant formatis a “look-up” collection, conforming to the PDF presentation ensures that the databases can be indexed uniformly through standardized metadata enabling people to have fast access irrespective of their diaprate platforms hosted by their network enabled equipmnent.

Consider, for instance, the digitization of a collection on Sacagawea, which I would format as a “look-up” collection. That is to say, people could go to the website of the Idaho State Board of Education. There might be a link on the homepage entitled “digital collection on Sacagawea.” From the linked page, users could search for the names of Sacagawea, Lewis, Clark, or other related figures to access scanned documents that would relate to those individuals. For more detailed information, they would have the option of performing a more advanced search (in which they could indicate dates of original publication or keywords to include or exclude) to access additional letters, photographs, and so on. To accomplish this, I would use a digital archival system like Minimis M2A or Cuadra STAR.

To begin the process, I would first contact the Idaho State Board of Education and inquire about whether they wanted to digitize their collection on Sacagawea — let’s stipulate, for the purposes of example, that they would agree to this. I would plan to have the collection digitized within five years: three years to organize the physical collection and two to create the digital collection. I would, of course, need physical access to the collection without disturbing its current usage; that is to say, I would need to travel to the location of the physical archives. I would organize the items, according to the type of digitization appropriate for them. I might divide them, for instance, into textual documents, photographs, artifacts (like clothing), and so on. For the purposes of the digitization, it would be necessary to store the collection to be digitized offsite, both to ensure the safety of the documents being digitized and to prevent the distortion of the digital outputs because of dirt, heat, or other environmental factors.I would generally need the storage area to adhere to the following specifications: a temperature between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with fluctuations of no more than two degrees; a relative humidity of 35-45%, with fluctuations of no more than 5%; protection from ultraviolet light, air pollutants, vermin, disaster (water, fire, etc.), and theft.

Although the digitization process seems beneficial to the involved entities, it is important to consider the possible copyright issues they may arise in the process. For the documents that have the copyright notification from the year 1977 to date, clearance from the authors is required before digitizing and hosting them for access from the public domain. On the other hand, documents published in 1922 or earlier, published in the 1989 without notice, and published without the copyright notice do not require permission and clearance posing no litigations due to reproduction and distribution. Adherence to these provisions is important for avoiding legal issues since the rights holders have given permission for their work to undergo digitization without alteration on the original context.

If more than one copy of a particular document existed, I would reduce the number that I stored in the digitization area to reduce the impact on the organization using the collection and to prevent duplication of effort.In beginning to archive the items, I would need two things: a paper copy of the item information written in pencil and a digital copy of the same information, entered into a computer database using the software Past Perfect. Past Perfect is a collection and contact management software for use by museums and other organizations to share information (metadata) about objects. In preparing this information, two main considerations must be remembered: first, one must take care not to overlook any features of the objects to document; second, one must take care not to damage the objects. To elaborate on the kind of information recorded, consider the case of a letter. One might record not only the text of the letter, but also some contextual information like the author, the date, the background, and so on.

To now examine the impact of digitization capabilities, we can consider both a short-term point of view and a long-term point of view. In the short term, as mentioned earlier, the significant up-front costs of digitization far outweigh the short-term benefits of having digital copies. In the long term, however, the use of digitized documents tends to produce a cost savings. When considered together with the additional non-financial advantages of digitization, the long-term impact of digitization is strongly positive for the institution that chooses to employ it. Consider, again, the case of the Sacagawea collection.

According to MacGregor, this particular expedition to the west was very influential. Although we might normally say that the Lewis and Clark expedition, if not performed, would have been replaced by another expedition with similar effects, the timing of the expedition aligned well with the prevalence of manifest destiny as an American outlook on exploration.Also to the exploration of the historical impact of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Sacagawea collection could also be useful in exploring the history of feminism in America or the history of Native Americans. The importance of this particular collection to a variety of fields of research, therefore, makes its digitization a winning proposition for the Idaho State Board of Education.

According to Sam Roberts of The New York Times, library and museum collections should be digitized to promote their availability, through the internet, at the international level.The Idaho State Board of Education, through digitization of its collection, would be sharing its resources not only with a broader audience of American scholars and academics but also with historians around the world.Considering the size of the Sacagawea archives, the digitization of the archives would take approximately two years, and could be expected to cost about $1 million (a figure that could be further reduced through commercial partnership with corporations that are branching out into digitization, like Microsoft or Google).

The one million cost project is justifiablebecause it includes digitization, procurements, creation of metadata, and generation of other essential structural document data that enhances the whole system efficiency.

These costs can be reduced significantly if strategic partnerships can be established with hosting companies, equipment providers, and funding institutions that support the digitization process. With help from the major technological companies, it is possible to reduce the budget by up to 30% of which is acceptable in developing the Sacagawea project whose outcome is a “look-up” collection that is easily accessible from the web.