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Digitization

Digitization is simply the conversion of materials into a digital format. Those items might include historical materials but might also include more recent materials such as institutional files, photographs of your library, board minutes, and anything else you want accessible online either to your users or to your staff. Below are a list of resources that will assist you in your digitization efforts.

Digitization CoP

CoP

Join others to discuss everything and anything related to Digitization or simply the digital conversion of materials. It is so important to make your resources available to your users in an electronic format. Discuss issues, best practices, what's new and noteworthy, and anything else remotely related.

Digitization Center

NSLS Digitization Lab
NSLS offers its members access to our state-of-the art digitization lab.

Digital Past

Digital Past offers a treasure trove of photographs, postcards, diaries, oral histories, documents, movies, interpretive exhibits, and other historical materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural venues throughout Illinois.

Training

Training provided by NSLS

Find classes offered by NSLS that are related to digitization.

Training throughout Illinois

Find classes offered throughout the state related to Digitization. Online classes may be available.

The Illinois State Library's classes through WebJunction Illinois

The Illinois State Library currently subsidizes many online classes for Illinois libraries. Take advantage of the online classes offered through WebJunction Illinois.

Podcasts

Listen to conversations with Roy Tennant, Jill Hurst-Wahl, and others as they talk about the nuts and bolts of digitization and where the future may lead. Podcasts are available on Library Beat.

Consulting

Kay Schlumpf

Kay is available to consult with you on your digitization efforts.

Grants

Federal Government Grants

This is your source to find and apply for federal government grants on over 1000 grant programs and $500 billion in annual rewards.

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Not only does IMLS award grants for digitization efforts to museums and libraries, they provide many useful resources on their website if you are applying for any type of grant.

LSTA Grants

Every year, when funds allow, the Illinois State Library provides millions of dollars to libraries via the Library Services and Technology Act with funds distributed through IMLS. The specific grants vary by year but usually there is support for the digitization efforts of libraries in Illinois.

National Endowment for the Humanities

The NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the U.S. Government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation and public programs in the Humanities.

Articles

Digitization Survey Results

Article by Mary Witt details the results of the January 2009 and the plans NSLS has made as a result.

Preserve Your materials For The Future

Read this article by NSLS staffer Debbie Baaske to understand why it is so important to digitize materials and make them accessible to your users.

Blogs

Digitization 101

Jill Hurst-Wahl, digitization consultant blogs regularly on everything digitization. If you want to read only one blog on the topic, this is the one.

digitizationblog

Mark Jordan, Head of Library Systems at Simon Fraser University focuses his blog on digitization and related activities (such as electronic publishing). It is meant to be a source of news to those implementing and managing digitization projects.

Hanging Together

The hangout spot for libraries, archives, and museums. Staff at RLG programs (a division of OCLC) talk about the intersections they see for these three types of institutions. The content is not strictly digitization.

Tennant: Digital Libraries

Roy Tennant, senior program manager for OCLC Programs and Research authors this blog for Libraryjournal.com. Great resource and the posts are not lengthy.

Copyright

ALA Copyright Slider

An electronic tool that that allows you to select a work's date of publication and tells you whether the item is protected by copyright. A good place to start!

Copyright Advisory Network

An online community sponsored by ALA where librarians can discuss copyright concerns and seek feedback from other librarians and copyright experts.

Copyright Clearance Center

An international licensing expert, the CCC works with government leaders and policy makers to streamline copyright licensing. Academic libraries will find many useful resources on here for course management systems and e-reserves and great resources on copyright basics. Also check out this video created by the CCC.

Cornell University Copyright Information Center

Cornell's Copyright Information Center provides great resources on everything Copyright. Resources include copyright news, pending legislation, information on fair use, International copyright, and many other useful tools.

United States Copyright Office

The official page of the U.S. Copyright Office covers everything you need to know about Copyright and links to necessary resources such as the ability to search copyright records. You'll also find FAQs, the official copyright law, copyright basics, and information on patents and trademarks.

Vendors for Outsourcing

Vendors listed below provide services to libraries in outsourcing their digitization efforts. All have been used by some NSLS libraries with success, but are not officially endorsed by NSLS.

• Backstage Library Works
  
• Northern Micrographics
  
• OCLC