Producing Online Heritage Projects

4. Product Maintenance

4.3 Other Applications for Digitized Materials

One of the benefits of digital content is that it can be re-used in other types of media. Images that have been digitized at a sufficiently high resolution are now part of a collection that you could re-use to prepare materials like an annual report or a marketing poster.

The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) Web site ³⁷ provides resources that you may find of interest, especially if you plan to use your digital content in alternative media.

The virtual display case: making museum image assets safely visible

This study explores the issues related to the management and protection of images in a network environment. It analyses various technical options for protecting digital imagery such as watermarking, encryption and digital signatures. It also discusses a variety of rights management systems. It includes a checklist that identifies and discusses key issues to be addressed in a licensing agreement between an institution and someone who wants to use gallery images and/or information when creating a commercial or consumer product. The study is updated periodically on the CHIN Web site.

Like light through a prism: analysing commercial markets for cultural heritage content

This report analyses established and potential commercial markets. Five different North American market sectors are examined: broadcasting, publishing, multimedia, corporate and advertising. Each sector is assessed in terms of the positioning of intellectual property and the service standards required to meet market demands.

Expert Advice

Technological change can lead to problems in working with files created using older technologies. Also, computer files themselves deteriorate over time. The deterioration is abrupt. One day the files are readable, and the next they start degrading rapidly. It is important to keep backup copies and always do data transfers in a way that keep data intact.