Library information provider OCLC Research, US, recently conducted a webinar that featured streamlined methods for scanning and delivering digital copies of special collections materials at the request of users.
Changes in technology and the increased visibility of special collections have resulted in a deluge of requests for digital copies of special collections materials. A steady stream of digitisation requests for one item here, two pages there can be labour-intensive, and policies for user requests vary widely across institutions.
To address these issues, OCLC Research and the OCLC Research Library Partnership's Working Group on Streamlining Photography and Scanning sought methods for reducing cumbersome digitisation-on-demand workflows and policy obstacles. The result is detailed in the report, 'Scan and Deliver: Managing User-initiated Digitization in Special Collections and Archives'. It calls for a flexible, tiered approach to delivering digitised materials that acknowledges differences in user needs, collections, institutions and resources.
In this webinar, members of the working group shared their creative experiments aimed at scanning and delivering user-requested digital copies of special collections materials. San Diego State University offers self-serve scanning in its reading room. At the University of Chicago, special collections and interlibrary loan colleagues are working together to use existing infrastructure and expertise. The Getty Research Institute developed a tiered approach to capture and post digital files created by fulfilling user requests. The presenters discussed workflows-in-progress, lessons learned, and how they learned to stop worrying and love digital copy requests.
Webinar presenters included Anne Bahde from the San Diego State University; Julia Gardner from the University of Chicago; Anne Blecksmith from the Getty Research Institute; Francine Snyder of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Shannon Supple from the University of California at Berkeley; and Jennifer Schaffner from OCLC Research. The webinar was held on September 22, 2011. The recording, available on the OCLC Research webinars page and in iTunes, is 64 minutes long and includes questions and comments from participants throughout.
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