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DIGITIZATION PARTNERSHIPS

DIGITIZATION PARTNERSHIPS. The National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Digitization Strategy. NARA’s Strategic Plan, 2006-2016. Strategic Goal 4: We will provide prompt, easy, and secure access to our holdings anywhere, anytime.

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DIGITIZATION PARTNERSHIPS

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  1. DIGITIZATION PARTNERSHIPS The National Archives and Records Administration

  2. National Archives and Records Administration Digitization Strategy

  3. NARA’s Strategic Plan, 2006-2016 • Strategic Goal 4: We will provide prompt, easy, and secure access to our holdings anywhere, anytime. • By 2012, 1 percent of archival holdings are available online. • Strategy Two: NARA will establish partnerships with organizations from a variety of sectors to accomplish this.

  4. NARA Principles forDigitization Partnerships • Partners will digitize full series or file segments of records, not just selected documents: • To provide for full access and effective preservation. • To retain an “archival view” of the records. • Online access to the products of the partnerships will always remain free in NARA research rooms.

  5. NARA Principles forDigitization Partnerships • After an agreed-upon period of time, NARA gains unrestricted rights to the digital copies. • The partner shall pay all direct costs associated with the digitizing partnerships.

  6. National Archives and Records Administration Current Status

  7. Current Digitization Partners • iArchives, operating Footnote.com website • Family Search (formerly known as Genealogical Society of Utah) • The Generations Network, operating Ancestry.com website

  8. Current Digitization Partners • Digitized NARA holdings now online: • Footnote.com - 50 million images • Ancestry.com - 70 million images

  9. Digitization Partnerships for Archival Institutions Issues & Challenges

  10. Issues and Challenges: Start-up • Issue: Start-up of a partnership and each subsequent project requires significant resources: • Development of the initial partnership agreement • Selection of projects • Development of project plans • Challenge: Institutions must develop and use standard practices to the extent possible but remain flexible to adjust to unique circumstances.

  11. Issues and Challenges: Start-up (2) • NARA is committed to “non-exclusive partnerships”: We will have multiple partnerships but any original records series will be digitized only once. For any institution that follows suit, bear in mind: • Issue: Partners are competitors. • Issue: All records are not equal. • Issue: Partners are not equal. • Challenge: Institutions must develop a fair and equitable way of assigning records to be digitized by partners.

  12. Issues and Challenges: Start-up (3) Selected NARA Partnership Project Plan Elements • Information about records to be digitized • Work plan (equipment, formats, image sizes, etc) • Description metadata required to be delivered to NARA • Partner personnel for project • NARA personnel for project • Document preparation issues • Estimated NARA costs to be paid by partner • Special issues

  13. Issues and Challenges: Capture • The vast majority of the online images were obtained from NARA microfilm publications. • Issue: Digitizing original records is enormously more time-consuming for both partners and the archival institution, especially with older, less standardized records. • Challenge: Institutions should continuously strive to find appropriate ways to achieve greater efficiency in digitizing original records.

  14. Issues and Challenges: Capture • Issue: Many archival series will include records that require some specialized effort, such as those that are oversize or require treatment before imaging. • Challenge: Institutions must develop efficient and cost-effective ways to address special issues that arise during the capture process.

  15. Issues and Challenges: Capture • Issue: Partnerships bring certain costs to archival institutions in the areas of management, coordination, training, space requirements, and follow-up quality assurance and storage. • Challenge: An institution must realistically assess the impact partnerships will have on resources and work plans.

  16. Digitization Partnerships for Archival Institutions A Balanced View

  17. A Balanced View: Benefits • Institutions may gain from a partnership: • Increased understanding of digitization • Opportunities to see effect of different digitization and presentation strategies • Vast increase in numbers of documents digitized • Development of additional descriptive metadata • Enhanced public access to holdings • Preservation benefits as documents are retired from the research room

  18. A Balanced View: Cautionary Notes • Institutions entering into a partnership should be prepared for: • Significant coordination and management efforts • Less control than with an in-house project • Slower progress than anticipated • Ongoing discussions with the partner to overcome unexpected developments and ensure that the results match the promise

  19. National Archives and Records Administration • Web addresses for resources NARA Strategic plan: http://www.archives.gov/about/plans-reports/strategic-plan/2007/nara-strategic-plan-2006-2016.pdf NARA Digitization Strategy: http://www.archives.gov/digitization/strategy.html NARA Digitization Partnerships: http://www.archives.gov/digitization/partnerships.html

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