OPEN ACCESS TO HIDDEN COLLECTIONS
Digitising
Perhaps you’re just starting to build a digital repository, exploring recommendations for resolution, bit depth, and file format. Maybe you have digitisation workflows already established, but you need additional technology, staff time, on-site services, or expertise to convert a particular collection.
At The Tagging Team, we tailor our services to fit your needs. Whatever level of assistance you’re looking for in a digitisation partner, we can work with you to accomplish your goals.
Our start-to-finish imaging and metadata options can help you through any stage of the digitisation process:
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Collection consulting
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Condition assessment
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Project planning
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Material preparation
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Digital imaging
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Metadata creation
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Collection organization and upload
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Custom workplans
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WE CREATE DIGITAL IMAGES
Full-Service Imaging
The Tagging Team can create digital images from nearly any type of analog source materials, including:
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Bound Items:
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Newspaper volumes
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Magazines
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Theses and dissertations
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Yearbooks
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Scrapbooks
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Foldouts
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Diaries or journals
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Minutes and logbooks
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3D objects
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Oversized pieces:
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Posters
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Maps
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Blueprints
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Large-format books
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Loose Materials:
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Newspapers
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Manuscripts
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Correspondence
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Postcards
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Clipping files
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Disbound pages
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Photographic resources:
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Prints
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Slides
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Negatives
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Glass plates
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Microfilm rolls
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Microfiche
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Transparencies
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If you don’t see your material type on the list, let us know and we can discuss the best way to digitise your materials.
DIGITISATION
Our Process
Materials we receive are organised into our secure storage and inventory system. Each item is flagged with a barcode to track the chain of custody throughout its stay. Our technicians are trained in the proper handling of archival materials at all stages of the capture process.
Are you concerned about transporting your treasured collections safely? We can advise your staff on appropriate packing to minimize risk during transit and, for many sites, our team can pick up or deliver original materials via our dedicated van service. There are art shippers and other specialised freight carriers we can recommend as well. And, in situations where a collection simply cannot travel, we can come to you for on-site digitisation.
Digitisation is always performed to the specifications agreed upon, be those specific to your institution or a national guideline. We are also happy to make recommendations based on your material types and FADGI guidelines.
Prior to each digital capture session, we benchmark our equipment for image quality using industry-standard tools and guidelines. In addition to calibrating our cameras and scanners, The Tagging Team utilises high-resolution digital monitors designed for colour-critical graphic arts applications. Monitors are calibrated to meet ISO 12646 specifications. The digital studio is designed to maintain colour neutrality and light levels appropriate for archival processing work. During capture, technicians will note any anomalies found while scanning. Your Project Manager is alerted to any defects or problems in your original materials and will reach out to you to determine a plan of action as needed.
Communication is essential for successful collaboration. You’ll receive a weekly update throughout your project from your digitisation team, keeping you informed of our status, next steps, and due dates. We’re always a phone call or e-mail away if you have questions.
DIGITISATION
Quality Assurance
Quality control is vital to digitisation at all stages. This includes employee training, material handling – to include hand-placing each item for the camera – and a separate in-depth review of the image files. Cultural heritage collections can only be preserved safely, correctly, when we put ‘quality’ at the heart of our workflow.
Prior to capture, we benchmark our equipment for image and colour quality using the most up-to-date tools and guidelines in the industry. We do this at the start of every shift and new project, verifying that lenses are focused and cameras have the correct settings to generate high-fidelity digital reproductions. These target images can be included in your digital file delivery so that you can be assured you are getting the best quality for your digital collection.
Our approach includes a visual inspection of the images performed by a team of technicians separate from our camera operators. The quality assurance team will review 100% of your images to ensure your files have the correct technical specifications and images are not cut off, obstructed, or out of focus. Images with errors are corrected, and items can be rescanned as needed while materials are still in process, making sure we have the best capture possible.
DISCOVERY
Digital Image Metadata
Digital files without metadata are like hidden treasures in your collection without catalog records. They may be incredible, but if no one can find them, they hardly exist at all. We have dedicated teams working at the point of image capture and in post-processing that can collect and format the metadata your system needs to make your images searchable and accessible so that you can share your treasures with the world. Metadata options can include:
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OCR text conversion
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Structural metadata
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Descriptive metadata
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Transcription
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METS/ALTO mapping and article-level segmentation
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Headline correction
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EAD finding aids
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DACS compliant metadata
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MARC records
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Dublin Core records
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TEI field encoding
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CONTENTdm collections
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Authority control for digital collections
If you have metadata questions, or you don’t see a metadata option you need here, contact us and we can discuss your metadata needs.
GET IN TOUCH!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS, WE'LL BE ON HAND TO HELP.