Collection digitisation policy

August 2009

1. Introduction

The National Library of Australia Act 1960 provides the Library with a mandate to build a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of material relating to Australia and the Australian people. The collections include books, journals, newspapers, maps, printed music, pictures, manuscripts and oral history recordings. The Act also requires the Library to make its collections available for use.

Digital technology has enabled the Library to employ innovative ways of providing access to its collections and to meet specific access objectives. Collection digitisation has been identified in Directions for 2009-2011 as one of the key ongoing activities enabling the Library to meet the needs of our users for rapid and easy access to our collections and other information resources.

This policy outlines the Library’s approach to digitisation of its collections and to providing access to and managing its digital collections.Definitions of the key terms can be found in section 11.

2. Why we digitise

Digitisation is an integral part of the Library’s activities. By digitising its collections, the Library aims to:

2.1 Enable people, regardless of location, to directly access, use and publish, where copyright and agreements allow, a range of collection materials without having to visit the Library.

2.2 Preserve rare and fragile collections and those at risk of format obsolescence, while also improving access to their content by providing digital surrogates of the items for use.

2.3 Build a critical mass of digital content relating to Australia’s documentary and cultural heritage to support research and the Library’s education, publishing and exhibition programs.

2.4 Engage with new audiences by making the Library’s collections available in the online environment for use by different communities, including those who employ social networking and other new technologies.

3. How we digitise

While digitisation of unique material is undertaken in house by Library staff, digital capture may be outsourced for some projects. The Library has established a panel of service providers for the provision of scanning and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) services. This arrangement allows for flexibility, minimises risk and provides the capacity to support large volume digitisation programs for text based materials over the next three to five years.

The Library employs widely accepted national and international standards and practices for digital capture, metadata, storage, preservation and access. The Library’s digitisation activities are guided by principles which take into account access and preservation considerations, as well as efficiencies of the digitisation processes. The following principles are applied:

3.1 Digital master images are created by digitisation of analogue materials from the Library’s collections. The Library is committed to managing the master images for long term access.

3.2 Collection materials are digitised according to the Library’s Digitisation Capture Standards. Digital master images are created to a resolution appropriate to the item and the type of use it is likely to attract. Quality assurance is undertaken as a routine task to ensure adherence to the Library’s standards.

3.3 Digital master images are not digitally manipulated or enhanced, except to compensate for defects in equipment. Quality assurance processes are applied to ensure that digital versions of material from special collections represent the original item as closely as possible. Images are delivered online in a way appropriate to the format of the collection material.

3.4 Collection material is digitised once only and the digital copy images can be reused for many purposes including online exhibitions, publications and educational activities. Where lower quality master images exist (created according to early digitisation practices and capture standards), the original items are re-digitised to the current standard when requested by an internal or external customer.

3.5 When partial digitisation of a multi-part item or collection is required, the Library prefers to digitise it in its entirety. For practical reasons it is not always possible.  The relevant collection manager makes the final decision, taking into account significance, homogeneity, fragility, ease of digitisation and other processing, as well as available resources. Manuscript collections are rarely digitised in their entirety due to their complex nature and size.

3.6 Resource descriptions and metadata are created using established international bibliographic standards and standard protocols. See Metadata for images created by the National Library of Australia for more information.

3.7 Digitisation takes account of Australian copyright law and other relevant legislation and protocols. The Library takes a risk management approach in cases where all reasonable efforts have failed to identify and locate the copyright owner(s). Any person who believes they are the copyright owner of material made available online is encouraged to contact the Library.

3.8 The digitisation of items in the collection does not diminish the Library’s commitment to the preservation and care of these items. Digital surrogates reduce the need for future handling of the collection items which are maintained in appropriate preservation conditions. .

4. What we digitise

4.1 Collection materials selected for routine digitisation

The Library routinely digitises collection materials selected by collection managers primarily from the Library’s pictures, maps, printed music, newspaper and oral history & folklore collections. While there is a particular focus on Australian material, digitisation of unique and high use overseas material may also be undertaken. The following selection criteria are applied:

  • historical and/or cultural significance of material;
  • uniqueness and/or rarity of material;
  • high demand for the material;
  • out of copyright status or permission to digitise obtained;
  • restricted access to the material due to its condition, value, vulnerability or location; and
  • adding value through providing online access, such as complementing other collection material or increasing research interest in relatively unknown material.

An annual workplan provides details of the material to be digitised each year under the routine digitisation program (see Current priorities for more details).

As stated in Directions for 2009-2011 the Library intends to further increase the scale of its digitisation by continuing to digitise newspapers (see Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program), and commencing digitisation of selected Australian journals and magazines.

4.2 Collection materials requested by users

The Library supports national and international access to its collections through interlibrary loans, the document supply service and Copies Direct service (see Using the Collection). These services enable users to purchase digital or print copies of items in the Library’s collections subject to copyright and other access restrictions. Users may request a copy of the entire item or a portion of the work. Digital copies of items that are out of copyright are retained and made accessible online through the Library’s catalogue.

In order to meet turn around time requirements a specific set of standards is applied to digitisation undertaken in response to user requests for published materials.

4.3 Collection materials in fragile state

In line with the Library’s Policy on Preservation Copying of Collection Materials material may be selected for digitisation to reduce the risks associated with physical handling of fragile and/or valuable material, and/or where there is a high risk that the original would deteriorate. The Library may also digitise material unable to be kept in its original format and/or at high risk of not being able to be accessed into the future. The Library has adopted both microfilming and digitisation as preservation reformatting methods depending on the nature of the material concerned.

To ensure sustainable access to the content of its recorded sound collections, the Library is undertaking digitisation of this format for preservation purposes. A program to migrate archival sound recordings to an internationally recognised archival digital audio file format for long-term preservation and storage, with access to derivative copies, is ongoing.

4.4 Collection materials used in public outreach programs

Collection materials are also digitised to support the Library’s public programs and outreach activities such as exhibitions, publications, cultural events and educational activities. Digitisation for these purposes enables the Library to engage new user communities and target a range of audiences using innovative approaches.

5. Access to digitised collections

The Library provides access to digital copies of collection items but does not generally interpret them. Instead, the digital copies are made available for others to use as required. The use and reproduction of items in the digital collections is in accordance with Library policies on access and user charging, and incorporates a requirement that the user attributes the work, acknowledges the Library as the source, and complies with any copyright or other access restrictions (see Using the Collection).

5.1 Discovery services and delivery systems

The Library’s digitised collections can be searched and accessed through a range of discovery services. Browsing and searching of the digitised collections is available through the Digital Collections on the Library’s website. Integrated access to print and digitised collections is provided through the Library’s online catalogue and the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) in Libraries Australia.

Collection material is bibliographically controlled prior to digitisation so that all digital surrogates are accessible through a link in the catalogue record and/or through a finding aid linked to the catalogue record for the original item. Digital copies of material from the Library’s print collection have separate catalogue records to improve their discoverability. Manuscript collections are described in catalogue records or a combination of a summary catalogue record and a detailed finding aid. Map series collections may be described in catalogue records or a combination of a summary catalogue record and a graphical series index.

Discovery and access is also facilitated through the use of open standards which allow the harvesting and indexing of the Library’s metadata by search engines such as Google™ and other services. The Library’s digitised collections are exposed through a number of national resource discovery services, including Music Australia, Picture Australia, Australia Dancing, Maps of Australia and Australian Newspapers, which enable users to search for resources and link to their digital copies.

5.2 Persistent identifiers

To ensure ongoing access, a unique persistent identifier is assigned to every digitised collection item and to each deliverable part of every digitised collection. The use of persistent identifiers ensures that every item in the Library's digitised collections is citable in a persistent manner. The identifier can be used in a variety of contexts including the Library's catalogue, federated resource discovery services, bookmarks, and hyperlinks from other web pages, with confidence that this citation will always resolve to the location of the digital object on the Web.

More information on the Library’s Persistent Identifier Scheme is available on the Library website.

6. Digital collections infrastructure

The Library’s digitised collections are managed through the Digital Collections Manager (DCM) system. This system supports the entire activity cycle for digital collections including capture, storage, management, and long term preservation.

To enable users to view digitised items, the Library has developed format specific delivery systems that provide contextual bibliographic information, navigation pathways, and display and delivery options. Users are able to navigate across multiple pages, zoom in to view fine detail for selected material and see the metadata for each digitised item.

The Library employs digital preservation principles to ensure the safe storage and management of digital objects. Appropriate architecture and processes are in place for long term storage of digital master images within the Library's Digital Object Storage System (DOSS). In line with the Digital Preservation Policy, the Library is also investigating the development of additional preservation strategies and processes to ensure that digital collections remain usable over time, even when the current technologies to access them change.

7. Internal governance

The Library’s Corporate Management Group oversees the Library’s digitisation activities. Policy direction and advice, as well as management of the operational activities for still image digitisation, is provided by the Digitisation and Photography Branch. Management of the Library’s audio digitisation activities is with the Oral History Branch.

The Digitisation Issues Working Group is responsible for monitoring and progressing issues relating to digitisation of the Library’s collections, such as enhancements to workflows, procedures and the Library's digital infrastructure systems. The group reports to the Collection Development and Management Committee.

The outcome of the Library’s digitisation activities is reported to Government through the Annual Report and the program reporting framework. Internally, digitisation activities are reported and monitored through the Library’s performance management framework.

8. Collaborative activities

The Library aims to minimise duplication of its digitisation activity and to increase the quantity and diversity of digital content available to users at the national level, by sharing information about its digitisation plans and working collaboratively with other Australian institutions as appropriate.

Digitisation activities may be undertaken in collaboration with other organisations that have similar digitisation goals and objectives. This can include cases where material that enhances the Library’s collections is lent by another organisation or individual to the Library for digitisation and/or where digitisation of Library material is funded or undertaken by another institution or individual through donation or sponsorship. The Library will consider carefully the costs and benefits of any external partnership projects prior to committing to them.

The Library will endeavour to provide links in its catalogue to significant Australian items that are in the collections of another institution and have been digitised by them.

9. Care and handling of collection materials

Digitisation activities undertaken by the Library take into account preservation requirements of the collection items. Digitisation procedures follow the principles outlined in the Library’s Preservation Policy to ensure that material is not damaged during the digital capture process. Library staff and contractors are trained in the care and handling of collection material. Digital capture is undertaken using equipment appropriate to the format of material being digitised.

The Library aims to digitise collection material in its best possible physical condition. Therefore, preservation assessment and any treatment of collection materials are undertaken prior to digitisation whenever possible.

10. Promotion

The Library’s digitisation activities are promoted to ensure wide exposure of the digitised collections. Promotional activities are undertaken for specific user communities as appropriate. A range of strategies are employed including using the Library’s website to highlight newly digitised collection material, presentations to users, staff and colleagues from other institutions, tours of the Library’s digitisation work areas, and preparation of articles for professional publications.

11. Definitions of key terms

For the purpose of this policy the following key terms are defined:

  • Digitisation – a process of creating digital surrogates of analogue materials from the Library’s collection.
  • Digital surrogate – digital manifestation (or version) of an analogue item from the Library’s collection.
  • Digital still image – digital data represented as an image with a static pixel arrangement (pixels are rendered once during the viewing process).
  • Digital master image – a digital still image that is intended to be preserved archivally over time and can serve as template for producing derivatives or performing other preservation actions.
  • Digital copy image (derivative) – a digital still image that has been derived from the master for the intent other than becoming an archivally preserved object (e.g. for viewing, Web delivery, printing etc.).
  • Digital object – digital data stored in a binary format, consisting of a bit-stream and relevant metadata, which comprises a persistent identifier and authenticity checks.

12. Related policy documents

Other Library’s policy documents related to the Collection digitisation policy are:

13. Policy review

A review of this policy will be undertaken annually.

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