Digitization 101

Whenever I read part of Copyright Law which contains the word "phonorecord", a little voice inside of me says "w-h-a-t-?".  None of us every go into a store and ask to purchase a phonorecord.   In case, you've never looked up the definitions, here they are.

According to Circular 56:

Generally, a sound recording is a recorded performance, often of another work. A sound recording must be fixed, meaning that the sounds must be captured in a medium from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated.

 So a sound recording is what is recorded and what we listen to.  According to Section 101: 

“Sound recordings” are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work...

 Then what is the medium?  Turning again to Circular 56:

A phonorecord is the statutory term for a physical object that contains a sound recording, such as a digital audio file, a compact disc, or an LP. The term “phonorecord” includes any type of object that may be used to store a sound recording,including digital formats such as .mp3 and .wav files.

 As Section 101 says:

“Phonorecords” are material objects in which sounds, other than those accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, are fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Since 1790, when the U.S. enacted its first copyright law, the law has played catch-up with technology. Therefore, I like that it now try to include technologies that have not yet been developed ("any method now known or later developed").  So far, that forward looking phrase seems to be working for us!

Chatting with a colleague yesterday brought up these terms and reminded me that talking about the invisible web - what's in it, who is using it, how to get at it, etc. - is not necessarily entrenched in LIS education.  We teach students how to search online databases and the surface web, and likely don't mention that most of what is available is hidden, either because it has been purposefully hidden or because it just isn't connected to the Internet.  Consider if 3% of the Internet is findable, that is like being surrounded by 100 people, but only being able to see three of them. Scary, yes?

And so as a reminder - and perhaps to peek your interest - here are some definitions.

Clear web, surface web, or clearnet:

...the region of the Internet that most of us are familiar with, this is publicly accessible web pages that are largely indexed on search engines. - MarTech

Typical search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing actually access only a tiny fraction — estimated at 0.03% — of the internet. The sites that traditional searches yield are part of what’s known as the Surface Web, which is comprised of indexed pages that a search engine’s web crawlers are programmed to retrieve. - OEDB

Invisible web (includes the deep web and the dark web):

Quite simply, it is made up of information that search engines either cannot or will not add to their web indexes.  - The Guardian

Deep web:

The 'Deep Web' refers to all web pages that search engines cannot find. - IDG

Dark web or dark net:

The Dark Web is a term that refers specifically to a collection of websites that exist on an encrypted network and cannot be found by using traditional search engines or visited by using traditional browsers. - IDG

The dark net generally means using the internet in a manner that is difficult for authorities or non-state actors to monitor. This is usually achieved through encryption or by layering networks. - Australian Broadcasting Network

You may be thinking "of course, they are different!"  Still it is worth being reminded what the difference really is.  Richard M. Davis does a wonderful job discussing it in this blog post.


Boiling down his blog post to one sentence, digitization is about thinking about the entire process and then acting accordingly.  As Davis points out:

Without some conception of the end result, how the materials will be used and managed most effectively, all the scanning in the world isn’t going to amount to a successful digitisation project.

So true!

This week, I want to highlight a series of Digitization 101 blog posts that tried to define the term "digital library":

• What is a digital library? I need YOUR definition. - This contains three definitions.
• David Lankes on “Participatory Librarianship and Digital libraries”
• Paper: Collaboration Services in a Participatory Digital Library: An Emerging Design
• Thomas Frey on electronic outposts (a version of digital libraries)
• John Unsworth's definition of a digital library 

Those blog posts were a precursor to a graduate class that I taught in 2009 in which the students had to create their own definition as well as compile information on digital libraries.  Their work became a public wiki housed at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.

I'd also like to mention a blog post entitled Digital "librarians" from this past winter. The post was inspired by students who were interested in being a digital librarian, but who weren't sure if people really did that type of work!  Please be sure to read the comments which include information on more people who are digital librarians.

Want to dig into the archives yourself?  Use the "popular labels" on the right side of the blog OR use your favorite Internet search engine to search this site (e.g, site:hurstassociates.blogspot.com plus whatever terms are relevant to you).

In 2000, John Unsworth then the Director, Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia, provided this definition of a digital library in his paper "The Scholar in the Digital Library":

A "digital library," in this discussion, means something more than the Web at large: it means an intentional collection of digital resources assembled, catalogued, indexed, preserved, and presented to serve the needs of scholarship. The digital library can exist outside the university--and increasingly, we will see them come into being in the form of the archives of corporations (Corning, for example, has mountains of historical data about its own operations, its own research, its own innovations)--but even in those cases, the purpose is more or less the same (Corning wants their engineers to be able to bring past experience to bear on current research agendas). To be called a "digital library" in the sense that I mean it here, the institution in question would have to present full-text (and full-image) resources, not just finding aids that point to boxes on a shelf--not that these aren't very important: they're simply not what I'm talking about here.

I am still collecting definitions of what a digital library is. If you have one that I should see, please let me know. Thanks!

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

In Information Outlook (v.13, n.4, June 2009), Thomas Frey wrote:

Even before the widespread use of book readers, libraries will begin to experiment with a version of the digital library I've termed "the electronic outpost." An electronic outpost is a type of library designed to inspire the mind, to serve as a forum for intellectual spontaneity and a safe haven for creative ideas where visionary thinkers can find solitude and support.

The size, shape, and ultimate purpose of each outpost will vary. Many will be planned with a homey, living room-like feel to them, while others will go with a more eclectic atmosphere to inspire industry-specific thoughts. Electronic outposts will evolve over time around the core services most relevant to a particular user group.

Note that this definition is about a physical place that has an emphasis on the digital.

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

This 1999 paper - Collaboration Services in a Participatory Digital Library:
An Emerging Design - talks about the American Front Porch Participatory Digital Library. Included on page 1 is this information on what a digital library is (or could be): [ emphasis added]

Like other innovations, digital libraries will go through phases that emulate, replicate, extend, and finally augment existing practices. To date, most digital library projects have focused on replicating and extending the development and delivery of a library collection. Problems associated with digitization and storage of materials, retrieval methods, and delivery of electronic documents have been addressed in various ways, and some of the worst problems have been resolved (e.g., Digital libraries 1998). However, such digital libraries have not addressed several services often provided by physical libraries, e.g., opportunities for conversations and collaboration among colleagues. In addition, they have not exploited the digital infrastructure to augment their services in ways not possible in a physical library, e.g., in supporting collaboration among users and staff across distances to locate and create information resources.

Do you have a definition of digital libraries? I'm collection them!

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

On July 30, I asked how YOU define digital libraries. Here is an 18 min. video from David Lankes which includes a couple definitions. He also touches on the point that some digital library people do not see themselves as being in the library field.

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

According to the report Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices:

“Orphan works” is a term used to describe the situation in which the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner.

---

Technorati tags: Copyright, Definition

What is a digital library? The answer seems easy, but is it?

In Building Digital Libraries: A How-to-do-it Manual , Reese and Banerjee use these words when talking about a digital library:

It is not just the information itself, but the organization, structure, and presentation of that information, that give a repository its value.

Many others have also tried to describe a digital library, such as:

CESA8 in Wisconsin:

A digital library is a collection of documents in organized electronic form, available on the Internet or on CD-ROM (compact-disk read-only memory) disks. Depending on the specific library, a user may be able to access magazine articles, books, papers, images, sound files, and videos.

World Technology Evaluation Center Inc. (WTEC):

an integrated set of services for capturing, cataloging, storing, searching, protecting, and retrieving information

Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS):

A library in which a significant proportion of the resources are available in machine-readable format (as opposed to print or microform), accessible by means of computers. The digital content may be locally held or accessed remotely via computer networks.

All of these definitions are similar, but there are differences. For example, the ODLIS includes non-digital content in its definition. WTEC includes activities that occur outside of the public eye, like cataloguing. Intriguing.

In reality, many things are named digital libraries. A library may name its online presence a digital library. A specific online collection may be called a digital library (e.g.). A database may be considered a digital library (e.g.).

So given the differences in definitions that exist and how the term is actually used, how should we be defining digital libraries? Is it true, as David Lankes has insinuated, that that the more we know about digital libraries, the harder they are to define?

And so my challenge. I would like to collect from you how you define digital libraries and what you use as good (and bad) examples of what a digital library is. Not only do I want your words and examples to help educate us all on what digital libraries are, but I also want to point graduate students to your ideas as they learn about DLs.

With all of that in mind, I hope you'll take up my challenge....

Please create a blog post, audio (podcast) or video (vodcast) where you talk about your definition of a digital library and provide examples that support your definition. Please include a little information about yourself and what you do, which will help to provide context for your definition.

And please include in the resultant web page a link back to this blog post, which will help me (and others) find your work.

If you do not have a blog and would like to do a blog post defining digital libraries, please contact me about having your post become part of Digitization 101.

Question? Let me know!

Now I'll begin sitting on pins-and-needles waiting for your thoughts on this!

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

Digital curation is not a term that is broadly used yet. What is it? (emphasis added)

Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use. (DCC)

The term digital curation is...the actions needed to maintain digital research data and other digital materials over their entire life-cycle and over time for current and future generations of users. (DCC)

... it is the active management and appraisal of digital information over its entire life cycle. (Pennock)

---

Technorati tag: Digital Curation

In his blog post "Digital Preservation" term considered harmful?, Chris Rusbridge argues that "digital preservation" is a process, not an outcome. He believes that we should be talking about the outcome of this process and using words to describe the outcome. An outcome might be phrased as "usability over time".

I like the idea of using a different phrase. When we talk about usability over time, for example, we get the idea that there is a reason for digital preservation. We also then can discuss not only preserving the digital asset, but also preserving the metadata and ensuring the viability of the hardware and software. The proper phrase not only focuses us, but also broadens our understanding of what digital preservation is.

I wonder if the digital preservation community would be willing to begin using a new term en masse?

---

Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

On Monday, June 16, there was a session at the SLA Annual Conference entitled "A Digital Microfilm Road Map" sponsored by the News Division. Each of the speakers talked about their experience with digitizing newspaper microfilm. Presentations will be available on the News Division web site. Here are some quick notes from the session:

• Microfilm equals preservation. Digitization equals access as well as the ability to create new products.
• When considering a project, check to see what similar organizations have done.
• Survey your vendors and compare their answers.
• the more human involvement in the project, the higher the cost. For example, if you want your OCR to be 100% accurate, that will require people to review the OCR and the cost of the project will increase.
• Think about the return on investment (ROI) for your project.
• Newspaper digitization is still problematic, according to the presenter from the California newspaper Project. Standards still have not been developed, but should be developed soon.
• Preserving the microfilm master negative is important.
• Is the Library of Congress's National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) a sustainable model? To date, it is expensive and time-consuming.
• Page-level access is less costly than article-level access.
• 8-bit (grayscale) seemed to work better for OCR than 1-bit (black-white).
• Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) has created definitions of digital preservation. The medium-length definition says: "Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure access to reformatted and born digital content regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time."

---

Technorati tags: SLA2008, Definition, Digitization

I often find myself defining these two words during a workshop and trying to make a distinction between the two. We talk about digitization projects as well as digitization programs, but what is the difference? This is what I say...

A project has a defined beginning and end. Resources -- e.g., staff and funding -- are allocated specifically for the length of the project. Projects are often not integrated into an organization's mission and goals. Many digitization efforts have been projects.

A program is ongoing. It is part of what the organization does both now and in the future. A program is part of the organization's mission and not something that might be considered an after-thought. A program receives ongoing funding. It has people to attend to it ongoing basis. Although some digitization programs are called projects, a look at the details will tell you if it is something that is meant to end or something that will be ongoing.

---

Technorati tag: Metadata, Definition

What is metadata? Metadata means data about data. Although the definition sounds simple, metadata is anything but. Metadata is used to describe the context, content and structure of materials. Those materials might be books, photographs, archival records, audiotapes, video, etc. Often it is the metadata that is searched thus leading you to the item that you desire.

While there are metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core and MARC), often metadata can be flexible. Flexibility allows the metadata to be geared towards a specific project or application. However, some people find the flexibility to be frustrating.

Others are frustrated knowing that metadata must be created and that its creation takes time. Some project managers may need to be convinced that robust metadata will be important to their projects, and that doing without it will be harming to information access.

While it is possible for anyone to create metadata, generally it is someone who has been trained in metadata creation who is charged with that responsibility. Metadata creation can be outsourced successfully, if the institution takes time to communicate its needs and expectations.

Although metadata is similar to indexing, cataloguing and tagging, it is different. A person who knows how to index, for example, does not automatically know everything about metadata creation.

Other Digitization 101 posts on metadata include:

• The "M" word
• IL2007: Searching, Metadata, and my final post about the conference
• Are we engaging in overkill?
• Metadata is more than just cataloguing
• Talking across time and space
• Metadata is still not understood
• Article: Almost 30 percent of Internet users tag online
• Article: One Picture, 1,000 Tags
• Taxonomies
• Small digitization projects with no metadata

---

Technorati tag: Metadata, Definition

Once an area is established, we tend to forget that some people don't know the basic terms or might not use the same definitions as the rest of us. So, this is the first of several posts of definitions.

What is digitization? Digitization is the process of converting analog information into digital format. The materials to be converted could be letters, manuscripts, books, photographs, maps, audio recordings, microforms, motion pictures, ephemera, etc. Three-dimensional objects can also be digitized. The goal of digitization is improve access to the materials. To that end, most digitized materials become searchable via databases on the Internet.

In order for the materials to be digitized, they must be converted using a method to capture the material digitally (e.g., scanning, digital photography, digital recording) without altering the information that the material contains. That means that the digital representation contains the same information/data as the analog representation.

A wide variety of equipment is available to assist in this process. Standards and guidelines exist in order to ensure that the conversion processes used are consistent and that the results are of a high-quality.

Other Digitization 101 posts on digitization include:

• Trends mentioned at talks at Pratt Institute, Sept. 29
• Digitization workflow documentation
• Maintaining your digitization project after its completed
• Can I destroy my originals after I digitize them?
• Digitization vs. Digitalization
• The cost of digitization

---

Technorati tag: Digitization, Definition