--American Memory--

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1. Introduction

2. Substantive Writing
3. Mechanics of Writing
3.1 Abbreviations and Names
3.2 Illustrations: Captions and Legends
3.3 Notes and Bibliographies
3.4 Numbers and Dates
3.5 Punctuation
3.6 Spelling and Special Terms
 
4. Editorial Process
 
5. Editorial Support
 
6. Collection Framework
6.1 About the Collection
6.2 Acknowledgments
6.3 Building the Digital Collection
6.4 Cataloging the Collection
6.5 Copyright and Other Restrictions
6.6 Related Resources
6.7 Scope and Content Note
6.8 Selected Bibliography
6.9 Special Presentations
6.10 Other Components
 
7. Learning Page
 
8. Today in History
 
9. Glossary

6.3 Building the Digital Collection

This framework element is mandatory.

Building the Digital Collection is intended primarily for Library of Congress staff and national and international digital-library colleagues. It is usually written by the project leader with assistance from the production liaison. In view of the subject matter greater latitude for the use of technical language is permitted in this section than in other framework elements.

Content may:

Describe the digitization process and methodology, including:

  • Physical description of original Library materials used for scanning;

  • Selection as it relates to technical issues and workflow: for example, why the Copyright Sheet Music Collection was scanned from microfilm although originals exist;

  • Preparation and processing of the collection;

  • Selection and digitization of access aids including conversion of printed guides, database records, or finding aids;

  • Conversion process, including whether materials were converted in-house or by a contractor, onsite or offsite, or with batch or custom processes;

  • Post-processing steps required for Web presentation, such as splitting of page images captured from microfilm, cropping to show page edges, segmenting large images, or contrast stretching and noise reduction of images;

  • Archiving practices for storing and maintaining digital items, such as retaining original capture files for specific types of materials.

Describe special challenges, including constraints of capture-device technology, the condition of original materials, conservation practices, or changes in method of delivery or presentation of digital files.

Give specifications for digital files, including file format, compression, spatial and tonal resolution for images; sampling rate for audio; frames per second for video; and the average file size for each type of file.

Link to American Memory technical documents that explain processes and guidelines for digitization, including the Requests for Proposals (RFP), How to View page, text conversion, and finding aid Document Type Definitions (DTD).

Examples

"California As I Saw It"
Built in America
Panoramic Maps

        (Top)
September 1999