A question of cost: choices on the road to digitisation Simon Tanner Director KCL Digital...
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Transcript of A question of cost: choices on the road to digitisation Simon Tanner Director KCL Digital...
A question of cost:
choices on the road to digitisation
Simon TannerDirector
KCL Digital Consultancy Services
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.kcl.ac.uk/cch/kdcs
Introduction
The key factors
Retention intention and digitisation
Selecting alternative digitisation routes
Costs of possible routes
Making decisions
Retention intentions revisited
The key factors
Factors to be balanced for planning digitisation:
the nature of the original materials
the information goals from the digital resource
the balance to be struck between costs, technology and
benefits
Digitisation starts with preservation considerations
requires skilled input from conservators
advice from agencies such as the NPO
safe handling of originals may define the most suitable
mechanism
Retention intention and digitisation
What is the retention intention for the originals?
short or medium term value
eternal value in the original
zero value in the original but content must be available
Cornell University www./library.cornell.edu/preservation/index.html
Without having a preservation policy or knowing the retention intention then all other digitisation questions are mute.
Without it how do we effectively resolve:
transport, conservation, preparation, indexing, handling, potential damage,insurance and risk management?
Selecting alternative digitisation routes
Photographs
Microfilm
Photocopies
NOT ALL SOLUTIONS ARE EQUAL!!
“Forensic” imaging
“Representative” imaging
Costs of possible routes
Consider the cost versus preservation versus benefit axis.
Microfilm and scan
Photograph and scan
Costs of possible routes: Microfilm
Good for bound volumes and large formats such as maps and newspapers.
Generally cheaper to microfilm and scan than to use bookscanners or digital cameras.
Bonus: preservation microfilm for long term storage.
Some limitations:
bi-tonal or greyscale results – no colour
old, scratched or damaged microfilm may mean poor images
35mm is the best format
microfiche is relatively expensive to scan and is poor quality
know the reduction ratio or physical dimension of the original to get good results.
NPO Guide to Preservation MicrofilmingNPO Guide to Preservation Microfilming
Microfilm cost scenarios
Assume broadsheet newspapers with aim to produce 300 dpi B&W or greyscale TIFF image files.
Microfilming: range from £0.04 - £0.15 per frame
Scan from microfilm: from £0.05 - £0.45 per frame
(high end indicates greyscale)
Direct scan: from £0.75 - £2.00 per page side
(high end indicates greyscale)
Remember that variables, such as number of items will have a large impact on price.
Costs of possible routes: Photographs
Used for colour especially
Good for bound volumes and large formats such as maps and newspapers. Plus installations, 3-D objects and for the very fragile.
Experienced professional photographer+
drum scanned transparency=
high quality digital camera
Costs benefit for fresh analog photography over digital is finely balanced
Wins on cost when photographs already exist.
Photographic indicative costs
Professional photography: £6 per shot£550 per day
Direct digital photography: £4 - £25 per shot
Drum scanned 35mm transparency: >£8 each. (4500 dpi, 24-bit RGB colour TIFF)
35mm slides in slide scanner: >£1.75 each. (2700 dpi, 24-bit RGB colour TIFF)
5” x 4” transparencies: range from £1.50 - £4 each
Glass plate photographs: direct scans at >£8 each (1200 dpi, 8-bit greyscale TIFF)
Remember that variables, such as number of items will have a large impact on price.
Making decisions
Clear understanding of preservation requirements?
Consider surrogates if preservation requirements limit digitisation mechanisms.
Can surrogates be procured?
Do you have permission to scan?
Are the available surrogates suitable for imaging?
Costs and benefits of creating surrogates if they don’t exist.
Is there money available if have to outsource digitisation (e.g. for microfilm scanning)?
Is the plan good enough to cope with the work elements to use surrogates?
Retention intention revisited
“Managed storage costs are not fixed, but arrived at collection-by-collection by judicious decision-making. The choice of repository, the scope of service, the repository pricing model, and owner’s decisions regarding formats, number of items, number of versions, and number of collections to deposit: all are potential variables…
These variables apply equally to traditional and digital repositories, and in both cases one potentially finds that some formats (content types) are more favored than others.”
S. Chapman (May 2003)Counting the Costs of Digital Preservation: Is Repository Storage Affordable?
http://jodi.ecs.soton.ac.uk/?vol=4&iss=2
A question of cost:choices on the road to digitisation
Simon TannerDirector
KCL Digital Consultancy Services
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.kcl.ac.uk/cch/kdcs