[NHCOLL-L:3993] Fwd: [aic-board] Federal Digitization Initiative

[CAHawks at aol.com]

Catharine Hawks
Conservator
2419 Barbour Road
Falls Church  VA 22043-3026 USA
t/f 703.876.9272  

 
  
____________________________________
 From: ewentworth at aic-faic.org
To: aic-board at mailman.Stanford.EDU
Sent:  10/10/2008 8:04:57 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [aic-board] Federal  Digitization Initiative



FYI 
FEDERAL AGENCIES  COLLABORATE ON DIGITIZATION GUIDELINES 
A dozen federal agencies  are launching an initiative to establish a   
common set of guidelines  for digitizing historical materials. Basing    
its efforts on a  combination of collaborative research and combined    
experience, the Federal  Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative    
will address a variety of  issues related to the complex activities   
involved in the  digitization of cultural heritage items. 
Two working groups have  been formed, one addressing content that can    
be captured in still  images, the other involved with content   
categorizing sound, video,  or motion-picture film. The initiative   
includes a just-launched  Web site, _www.digitizationguidelines.gov_ 
(mip://04ced298/www.digitizationguidelines.gov) . 
The Federal Agencies Still  Image Digitization Working Group will focus    
its efforts on content  such as books, manuscripts, maps, and   
photographic prints and  negatives. Its members include the Library of    
Congress, the National  Agricultural Library, the National Archives and    
Records Administration,  the National Gallery of Art, the National   
Library of Medicine, the  National Technical Information Service, the    
National Transportation  Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the US    
Geological Survey, and the  US Government Printing Office. An  Advisory   
Board of technical experts  from industry and academia will also   
contribute to the  initiative. 
The Federal Agencies  Audio-Visual Working Group, which will address    
standards and practices  for sound, video, and motion picture film,   
includes the Defense  Visual Information Directorate of the Department    
of Defense, the Library of  Congress, the National Agricultural   
Library, the National  Archives and Records Administration, the   
National Library of  Medicine, the Smithsonian Institution, the   
Government Printing Office  and the Voice of America. 
The agencies began meeting  in 2007 to identify common practices for   
digitizing cultural  heritage materials in a sustainable way.   
Establishing guidelines is  expected to increase the quality and   
consistency of digitized  documents and media that are made available    
to the public, streamline  workflows and reduce costs, promote the   
exchange of research, and  encourage collaboration across agencies. The    
guidelines will also  provide common benchmarks for digitization   
service providers and  manufacturers. 
The Web site currently  features two documents developed by the Still    
Image Digitization Working  Group that are open for comment until mid-  
November. The first  proposes a minimal set of embedded TIFF metadata    
for use in historical and  cultural heritage digital imaging. The   
second two-part document  presents a taxonomy of digital image   
characteristics and  provides corresponding metrics and criteria to    
describe and validate  imaging performance and quality. 
The Web site also provides  a glossary of digitization terms and   
concepts, and presents  digitization-related news and events on the    
subject from the  participating agencies. 
This collaborative effort  initially formed under the sponsorship of   
the National Digital  Information Infrastructure and Preservation    
Program (NDIIPP), a  Library of Congress-led program initiated by    
Congress in December 2000  to develop a national strategy to collect   
and preserve digital  content. 
Additional information is  available at: 
_http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2008/08-177.html_ (http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2008/08-177.html)    
. 
 
Eryl P.  Wentworth 
Executive  Director 
American Institute for  Conservation 
of Historic  & Artistic Works (AIC) 
Foundation of the American  Institute for Conservation (FAIC) 
1156  15th Street, NW - Suite  320 
Washington,  DC  20005-1714 
202.661-8060 
202.452.9328  fax 
_www.aic-faic.org_ (http://www.aic-faic.org/)  
Making it Last   
saving our treasures through  conservation



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