We have conceived of a process through which Middlebury College community members can propose LIS resources for digitization, and also conceptualized a committee that would evaluate those proposals and prioritize projects.

The first step is the nomination of a project.  This can be done by a curator of a collection or any faculty or staff member or student who feels an LIS resource should be digitized.   The form for nominating such a project is here and we would like to get feedback on it from anyone who has it to offer.  The final version would presumably be a web-based form, but this would be up to the committee.

Here are the guidelines we suggest the committee use to evaluate nominated projects.  Numerical points (on a scale to be established by the committee) would be assigned to each element.  (The guidelines will be made available to nominators so they are aware of the judging criteria when they fill out their nomination form.)

Please pass along your thoughts either in a comment here or email me at holzapfe AT midd….

Anyway, the EFF posts are informative and well-written.  Take a look.

Part 1, Evaluating the Pros and Cons

Part 2, Evaluating Access

Part 3, Evaluating Competition

Part 4, Evaluating Privacy

LIS has acquired from DLSG (http://www.dlsg.net/) a digitization system that will simplify and speed up interlibrary loan processing. It consists of a Bookeye 2 Color Planetary Scanner with overhead scan design and scan/print electronics that include auto-focus and book-fold correction to safeguard book bindings and to increase scanning efficiency. The scanner also has automatic centering and border removal, as well as text and photographic scan modes. The second component of the system is BSCAN ILL production capture software designed for interlibrary loan departments. It permits staff to scan, review, and rescan items very rapidly, while its image cleanup features provide optimum image quality. It also reads barcoded loan request sheets and automatically sends scanned articles to requestors through Ariel or ILLiad, a highly desired combining of processing steps will make ILL staffers smile! ILL will use the grayscale and color modes sparingly, as they produce files often too large for libraries to receive; however, since this refurbished machine cost less than a new black and white model with a smaller bed, we thought the additional size and features could be used to support in-house projects. The scanner has a 400 DPI maximum, as it is not the manufacturer’s newest model.

Government Information Resources

More than 50,000 historical digitized maps are now available online at http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?db=SSMAP.  The original maps are part of the U. S. Congressional Serial Set and they include a broad range of themes and cover from the early 1800′s to about the 1950′s.  Early maps were created by expeditions that surveyed the American west, Alaska, and other parts of the world, as well as early surveys of cities, harbors and other geographic features for most of the country.  Among the maps of local interest are a 1904 soil survey of Addison County and maps of Silver Lake, Lake Dunmore, and Otter Creek.  Other maps provide detail of specific battles in the Civil War and some early city plans.  Although the maps may be of greatest interest to geography majors, they may also be useful in supporting student research in geology, American history, and ethnic studies, among other disciplines.