How to Implement a Digitization Program eCourse

eCourse Press Release

Chicago—ALA Editions announces a new facilitated eCourse, How to Implement a Digitization Program. Susanne Caro will serve as the instructor for a 4-week facilitated eCourse starting on July 11, 2016.

Learning outcomes



After participating in this eCourse, you will:

• Understand the best practices for scanning
• Know the products available for scanning, OCR, and preservation
• Understand the different metadata options
• Be familiar with basic copyright issues and how they applies to digitized content
• Know the best practices and options available for digital preservation

Digitization is a rapidly growing area of librarianship. Whether you’re a community repository or you need to digitize old materials to save space, the ability to start a digitization project is becoming an essential skill for the modern librarian.

In this eCourse, Susanne Caro, a former state documents librarian and digitization expert, will show you what you need to get started if you are new to digitization. Through hands-on exercises and instructor interaction, you’ll learn about how to assess different materials for digitization as well as how to get buy-in and resources for your project. You’ll become familiar with different tools that can help you do the work.

eCourse outline

Week 1: Planning and Scanning: options and requirements

• Polices, procedures and planning
• Scanning best practices
• Equipment
• OCR, ADA, and transcription
• File naming

Week 2: Metadata

• Donation forms
• Embedded Metadata
• Standards Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (METS) and Visual Resources Association Core (VRA)
• Metadata Schema: Dublin Core, MARC XML, MODS, and METS
• Copyright Statements

Week 3: Access

• Copyright
• Access options: independence or collaboration?
• Appearances, access, and searchability
• Connecting your catalog
• Products: Lyrasis, Internet Archive, Dspace, Murkutu, contentDM (OCLC)

Week 4: Maintaining files

• What can go wrong: bit rot, bronzing and other hazards
• Limitations of media formats
• Master images and working copies
• Backup and migration
• Emulation
• LOCKSS

About the Instructor

Susanne Caro is the government document librarian at the University of Montana, Missoula. As a government document librarian, she promotes state and federal publications, including the growing digital and digitized material available. She has presented at library conferences regarding how to access digitized educational resources. Previously she was the state document librarian and coordinator at the New Mexico State Library where she planned and implemented the creation of a digital collection of El Palacio magazine, the oldest museum publication in the country, dating back to 1913.

Registration for this ALA Editions facilitated eCourse, which begins on July 11, 2016, can be purchased at the ALA Store. Participants in this course will need regular access to a computer with an internet connection for online message board participation, viewing online video, listening to streaming audio (MP3 files), and downloading and viewing PDF and PowerPoint files.

ALA Editions publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at editionscoursehelp@ala.org.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.

Related Links

Course Registration Purchase Page