This article is drawn from the report "An Approach to the Digitization of the Collection at The Museum for Textiles" (to obtain a copy of this report, contact the Ontario Museum Association Secretariat), which was based on research carried out in 1998-1999 with the support of the Museums Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The purpose of the study was to determine the best approach to undertake the planning and implementation of a digitization project at The Museum for Textiles. Visits were made to other museums involved in digitization projects, research on current sources and technologies was carried out, and a needs assessment and project plan for the Museum was completed. The following is designed as a general guide, its intent is to provide information to those museums planning or engaged in digitization projects. Whether a museum plans to digitize just a few images or the whole collection, careful planning and setting of standards at every stage to ensure quality and consistency will save time and money in the long run.
I would like to thank Sarah Holland, Museum for Textiles, for supporting the project, Andrea Ott, Ontario Museum Association, for providing valuable input into the article, Sheila Carey, Jim Fox, Ecaterina Geber and Erik Rask, Canadian Heritage Information Network, and Kathleen Christensen, Richard Gerrard, Helen Keeler, Jim Leonard and Kathryn Rumbold for providing helpful comments on the article.
Thank you also to the Collections Management Working Group for their useful suggestions during the initial stages of the project.
Present day computer technology makes creating digital images relatively straight forward, objects can be photographed with a digital camera, or photographs or slides of objects can be scanned and then mounted on a web page or linked to a collections management system. However, beyond the technical questions of which hardware, software, scanning method, etc. to use, by carrying through the digitization of a museum collection, what are we trying to create and for what purposes?
In order to answer this question, there are several steps in the process. Before embarking on a digitization project, adequate resources of time and money should be allocated for assessing the needs of the institution, researching technological options, and planning the implementation of the digitization of the museum collection. Future requirements of the museum should also be considered, so that the rapid change in technologies will not limit future options. Implementing a digitization project in several stages can often provide flexibility to accommodate possible alternatives along the way. The museum should begin with a very clear idea of what the digitization of the museum collection will achieve for the museum, and how it will further institutional goals.
Needs Assessment
Uses and Users of Images
The first step in constructing an image database, before a single image is digitized, is to determine the intended uses for and users of the database. It is important to establish both the institutional goals for utilizing digital images, and the departments and staff that need to be involved. Interview those staff members, volunteers and others who will use museum images, and consider not only immediate uses, but uses that may occur in the future. Does your museum require images to link to your collections management system in order to illustrate artifacts and collection records for loans, insurance and other collections management functions? Will you use images for publication purposes, to illustrate newsletters, brochures and postcards? Will you mount images on the web site or museum public access terminal, or create CD-ROMs of your collection? Will the uses of images by your institution be incremental and gradual, or will all of the uses of images be required immediately? It is important to know the answers to these questions at the outset, because the use of the images will determine the quality of the image and the resolution required, which will subsequently condition both your choice of scanning technology and your overall system requirements.
Audit of Visual Resources
In order to create digital images, the nature and condition of the source material (i.e., slides, transparencies, photographs, artifacts, etc.) must be determined. An inventory and catalogue of all the museum's photographic resources should be done with proper recording in the collections management system, noting the following: unique identifier number, type of photograph (slide, transparency, etc.), copyright, location, size, date, condition and whether the quality is good enough for digitization. The quality of your digital image will only be as good as your source material. Do your slides and photographs look professional, with a standard colour background, colour bar and grey scale, and proper framing? Photography equipment should also be audited, lighting options reviewed (consider conservation requirements) and equipment needs outlined.
The results of this audit will suggest options for digitization. If your museum has few photographs of the collection, or the quality of existing photographic resources is poor, you may choose not to use film as an intermediary, rather to proceed directly to photograph your collection using a digital camera. Alternatively, you may decide to build a slide or photograph archive of your collection, or parts of it, by doing original film photography and then scanning the source material to a CD-ROM or other storage medium. Again, image quality desired should be determined at the outset, as well as the equipment, and human and financial resources available to your museum.
Collections Analysis
An analysis of the museum's collection should be done in order to discover the physical characteristics of the objects. What are the types of materials and categories of objects that are represented in your collection, are the objects two- or three-dimensional, how small or large are they, what is the condition of the objects? Can all of the objects be photographed with a regular or digital camera? The size, condition, material, type and quality of artifacts, as well as the need for support or mounts will factor into their suitability and priority they hold for digitization, and the time and cost required to prepare and photograph them.
Imaging Priorities
Decisions need to be made as to what artifacts in the museum's collection should be digitized, and what timetable for the work should be set in place. What percentage of the collection should be digitized? Priorities should be considered within the context of institutional goals and intended uses. Some criteria for selection may include: good quality source material, objects with high informational value and high interest, objects currently on exhibition or to be in the future, objects of high value for insurance purposes, fragile and deteriorating objects, and digitization as a part of ongoing collections management processes (scanning images of new acquisitions, loans, etc.).
Collections Documentation
Any plan for digitization should consider the state of documentation of the objects. At present, until technology advances, for the most part we can only retrieve image information based on text queries. In order to successfully retrieve images, the information on the objects must be complete and consistent. Assess the current state of documentation in your database and ensure those objects to be digitized are properly catalogued using data standards. The creation and use of authority lists in your database insures a consistent approach to data entry, providing entry rules that will result in clean data and accurate data retrieval.
Technological Infrastructure
The process of digitization should be fully integrated within the institution-wide automation and information technology plan. Will the present technology support the present and future requirements of an image database? In conjunction with the design of your digitization project, develop a long term plan for technological upgrades at your institution, that will allow an eventual increase in storage capacity and provide user access to the image database, whether through installation of networks, web site or public access terminals.
Organizational Analysis
It is important to assess how the digitization project will fit into the overall organization at the museum. Are there staff members to carry out the project and provide support? Is there space to set up a digitization work area? Can the museum support additional demands such as increases in the use of electricity or more frequent maintenance of the museum's computer systems? Does the project have the approval and support of management and the Board of Directors?
Image Capture and Storage
Factors that need to be considered when choosing the appropriate scanning and storage method for your collection are: what quality of image to scan, what quality of image to deliver on-line, what type of material will be scanned (photo, slide, original source material), cost and storage capacity at your institution.
Image Quality
Ideally, all images should be captured at the highest possible quality that technology and budget permit. Higher quality capture produces an image that compresses better, and quality affects all subsequent generations of use (Ester, 1994).The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN, 1995) recommends that the original be scanned in 24-bit colour (16 million colours) with a minimum resolution of 2000 x 2000 pixels. If using a slide scanner, 150 dpi is recommended.
Different types of images require different qualities and resolutions. For example, if you want to link a thumbnail image to your database, you will only need a low resolution jpeg (100 x 148 pixels or 5 to 10 kilobytes) image for identification purposes. Images for your web site, also need only be low resolution jpeg (400 x 480 pixels or 30 to 75 kilobytes). However, if you want to produce brochures, pamphlets or CD-ROMs, or have a good quality image for researchers, then you need to scan at a high resolution. The best option is to capture images at a high resolution, and derive lower resolution images from the original scan to be used in the database or web site.
Storage
Higher quality "archival images", which create a large file size and images from a digital camera, can be stored on CD-ROM, magnetic tape or a large (gigabyte) hard drive. Smaller images, such as those required for the database or web site, could be derived from the large image file, by copying the image into a program such as Adobe Photoshop, and reducing it to a lower resolution (or downloaded directly from a digital camera into Photoshop). These lower resolution images could be stored on-line on a server or a large hard drive, and linked to the database and the web site. It is a good idea to maintain back-up copies of images and store the copies off-site.
Scanning
In general, flatbed and slide scanners are easiest to use, digital cameras may require more operator training and greater care, and the best results are from more expensive cameras. An alternative to doing your own scanning on-site is to send photographic material out to a service bureau to be scanned off-site. One option currently being used off-site is the Kodak Photo CD-ROM, where slides or film are scanned onto a CD-ROM which can each hold up to 100 images at five resolutions. Some museums are using a combination of on-site digital capture (camera) and off-site scanning. Other options include partnering with another museum to share equipment and staff costs, or scanning images in-house on CD-ROM using a CD-Writer.
Factors to be considered when deciding on a scanning method and whether to scan in-house or off-site include:
1) What are the nature of the artifacts you will be scanning?
2) Does your institution have the equipment and storage capability and trained staff to scan on site? Are you able to invest in start-up costs and extra staff?
3) Can you afford the support required to maintain equipment?
4) Will you be able to replace equipment as it becomes obsolete?
5) Do you have the space to set-up a digitization project?
Image Management
Each image should have a unique identifying number to be entered in the database, along with its location. Keep hard copies of image location information. Technical information that should be recorded when the image is scanned, which is called header information or metadata, should follow standards set up at the beginning of the project to control terms entered into each field and should include the following:
1) Source material
2) Scan date
3) Scanner make and model number
4) Resolution
5) Compression
6) Bit depth
7) Scanning personnel
The image database will maintain its long-term usability if technical documentation is accurately recorded.
Quality Control
As the image database is developed, regular routines should be established to maintain quality control. Regular checks to ensure proper file naming and archiving are taking place are essential. Images should be consistent in resolution, file size and colour management profiles. The museum should develop a common image standard so that users will know what to expect.
1) Use colour bars and grey scales when doing photography.
2) Set standards for image manipulation in Adobe Photoshop or other similar software, and record manipulations for each image.
3) Calibrate monitor frequently.
Access
How will your viewers be able to access the images? Will you want to view multiple images at one time and be able to view details of images? Will you have an interface for collections research and one for public access? Will there be a gallery kiosk with access to the database and images? Depending on what type of collections management software you are using, you will have to investigate how your software can handle images and accompanying text and if you need to develop additional user interfaces for the web site or other applications.
Copyright and Security
The museum must ensure that the rights to the photographs of the artifact collection belong to the institution. When a volunteer takes photographs, or a photographer is contracted to do the work, a contract should be drawn up ensuring that the rights to the photographs are retained by the museum.
When images are put on-line, the creator or institution such as a museum holds the reproduction and exhibition rights to those images. If the museum creates a CD-ROM, as a multi-media presentation, these are considered copyrightable because of the new visual arrangement of the material that was digitized (Flelden, 1995/1996). The subject of copyright is extensive, and museums should do further research on issues that pertain to their particular collections.
With regard to the security of a museum's images, archival images on CD-ROMs should be stored in a secure safe place and copies stored off-site. The derivative images that are mounted on the web site should be at a sufficiently low resolution to discourage inappropriate use and could be easily watermarked, using Adobe Photoshop or similar software. An institution can protect itself to some degree, by putting a copyright disclaimer on a web site, stating that it is the viewer's responsibility to adhere to copyright laws.
Planning The Project
When you have completed your needs assessment and looked at the scanning and storage options and related issues of quality, image management, display, access, copyright and security, you should be positioned to decide on the best approach to take to digitize your collection.
1) Begin by establishing a mandate and objectives of the project. Keep in mind, that the scope of a digitization project can be very large.
2) Assess the time and resources required, and try to create a reasonable time frame for implementation.
3) Establish the scope, staffing, workflow and financial plan.
Scope
1) Contact other museums that have planned, are in the process of or have carried out a digitization project. Share information.
2) Do some research in the literature.
3) Decide how many images of the collection you will digitize and establish a list of priorities.
4) Choose the scanning and storage method you will use. Consider your hardware requirements and related equipment and service costs. Do some test scans using different scanners and different resolutions and compare results.
5) Create an implementation plan, in stages if necessary.
6) Plan how images will be made available after digitization: database, web site, public access terminal, Artefacts Canada of the Canadian Heritage Information Network, or CD-ROM.
Staffing
1) Involve those staff members from the beginning that will be involved in the project.
2) Investigate hiring staff, interns or students from a community or technical college to do the image manipulation for you.
Workflow
1) Establish how you will record all the necessary information on images, image file naming, etc. and create forms to properly track information at each stage, before you begin the project.
2) Establish a workflow using proper recording procedures at each stage.
3) After each stage, evaluate the project to date.
Financial Plan
1) Identify possible funding sources.
2) Investigate possibilities of partnering with other museums and sharing a digital camera or a scanner.
3) Identify human and equipment resources (software, CD-ROMs, film, computers, scanners) required.
4) Identify the costs of storing images and the development of user interfaces.
5) Write a business plan.
Bibliography
Besser, Howard and Jennifer Trant, Introduction to Imaging: Issues in Constructing an Image Database, The Getty Art History Information Imaging Initiative, 1995. Available on the web at http://www.gii.getty.edu/intro_imaging/tbl.html.
Canadian Heritage Information Network, Procedures and Practices for Scanning. Available on the web at www.chin.gc.ca/Resources/ Publications/Howard_Eng/index.html.
Donovan, Kevin, "The Anatomy of an Imaging Project: A Primer for Museums, Libraries, Archives and other Visual Collections", Spectra 23, No. 2 (Winter 1995/1996): 19-22.
Ester, Michael, "Digital Images in the Context of Visual Collections and Scholarship", Visual Resources 10, No.1 (1994): 11-24.
Flelden, Lyndsay, "The Colour Grey: Copyright and Digital Imaging (And How to See It In Black and White): A Canadian Perspective" Spectra 23, No. 2 (Winter 1995/1996): 22-26.
Case Study: University Health Network Artifact Collection Digital Photography Project
The University Health Network Artifact Collection is developing a digital image archive of our artifacts (12,000 objects of healthcare history). We decided to purchase a digital camera (Olympus D-600L) because the goals of our project were solely to create images for our database, web sites and create a visual inventory. Also, few photographic resources of quality or consistency existed in our slide or photo library. We created a small photography studio area with 2 hanging backdrops (slate grey and arctic white) and visual standards were set after experimenting with artifact materials and sizes. Images are downloaded into a souped up Compaq Deskpro computer and loaded into Adobe Photoshop for manipulation. Images are standardized, excess backgrounds cropped, and colour corrected and sharpened. Some metadata including the accession number, image manipulator initials, image capture method is added to the "file info" dialog box in Adobe Photoshop. Images are saved using the accession number as the file name (periods replaced by dashes). Two sets of images are created, a database copy (30-50k jpeg files) and an archive for long term storage (up to 400k jpeg-mid quality image files). The larger format images and some metadata are stored on CD-ROMs which we write ourselves using a CD-Writer (two disks, one goes to off-site storage). Images will be integrated into our Microsoft Access'97 based collections management database at the end of the project. Funds for this one year project (including equipment) were granted by the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine (Associated Medical Services, Inc.).
For further information, contact Kathryn Rumbold, Manager, University Health Network Artifact Collection (Canadian Museum of Health and Medicine), (416)340-4800, ext. 8557, e-mail: krumbold@torhosp.toronto.on.ca.
Case Study: The Museum for Textiles Digitization Project Plan
The Museum for Textiles has a collection of 8,500 textiles from many different cultures. The fragile nature of textiles places restrictions on handling and limits periods of exhibition to minimize damage from light and exposure. Digital technology, however has the potential to support the Museum's goals to seek a broader audience for its collection, fulfill its educational mandate and provide equity of access to the collection. The collection is only partially photographed and less than 1000 of those slides are of a quality suitable for digitization. The intent of the Museum has been to continue to develop a slide archive, when resources are available. Slides store large amounts of visual information (suitable to the wide visual appeal of textiles), are portable, have a long life span, and fulfill research, lecture and some publication needs of the Museum. Consequently, the long-term plan for the digitization of the collection has been developed in three stages in conjunction with ongoing photography. Film is being used as an intermediary, and the scanning of existing good quality slides onto CD-ROM will be combined with new photography, and these new slides will be subsequently digitized in the same manner. The quality and resolution of images obtained through this method meet the Museum's objective of creating a high quality digital archive, from which lower resolution images can be derived for the collections database and web site.
For further information, contact Roxane Shaughnessy, Curatorial Assistant, The Museum for Textiles, (416)599-5321, e-mail: roxanes@interlog.com. To receive the full report via e-mail, contact the OMA at omachin@planeteer.com.