2.9 PHASES OF DIGITIZATION
2.10.4 Digitization strategy and policies
Liu (2004:338) recorded that more and more libraries are digitizing their collections.
As a result, policy concerns and technology problems surrounding digitization are becoming very important. Liu (2004:338) felt that many of the libraries digitizing their collections seem not to have strategies and policies in place. According to Liu (2004:338), the Institute of Museum and Library Service survey report in 2001 suggested that “libraries need to implement policies regarding the standards, preservation, and selection of digitized material”.
Pickover and Mohale (2013:2) reported that development of digitization policies, strategy frameworks and standards are some of the challenges commonly faced by libraries and archives engaged in digitization projects. The University of KwaZulu- Natal was one of the 20 South African and three German institutions and organizations which attended the South African Digitization Initiative (SADI) workshop, in which ways to overcome policy issues were discussed as one of the aims of the workshop (Pickover and Mohale, 2013:2).
The literature review conducted by the present researcher supports Liu’s (2004:338) comment that most libraries digitizing their collections lack digitization strategies and policies. The literature shows that UKZN library is no exception in this regard, in that there is either no digitization policy or the policy is not readily available for access.
The UKZN Vice-Chancellor, Professor M.W. Makgoba, however, signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in 2012, which supports open access to research materials (Bass, 2012:Berlin Declaration signed). According to Bass (2012:Berlin Declaration signed), by signing the Berlin Declaration, the institution agrees to the principles of the Open Access movement, as set out in the Berlin Declaration. These are:
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To encourage researchers to make their materials available in open access (through self-archiving in open access repositories or publishing in open access journals);
To encourage the holders of cultural heritage to support open access by providing their resources on the Internet;
To develop means and ways to evaluate open access contributions to maintain the standards of quality assurance and good scientific practice;
To advocate that open access publications be recognized in promotion and tenure evaluation;
To advocate the intrinsic merit of contributions to an open access infrastructure by software tool development, content provision, metadata creation, or the publication of individual articles.
(Bass, 2012:What is the Berlin Declaration …)
According to Layton (2011:Summary):
A digitization strategy is a statement for how an institution positions itself into the world of digitization and what it is planning to do about this. It provides a library’s approach in relation to the digitization activities.
Layton (2011:Summary) added that the library digitization strategy is an essential document aimed at providing focus and direction to meeting a goal, as well as the means for measuring progress towards meeting that goal. According to the John Rylands University Library (JRUL) (2009:2) digitization strategy, the JRUL strategy is a result of extensive “dialogue between library staff and schools to clarify their priorities for digitization and external funding”, thus emphasizing the importance of communication throughout the process of the project.
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Chaparro (2004:Slide 12) pointed out that the availability of adequate information access and digitization policies helps in addressing and reducing challenges faced by academic libraries of not having direction and information on why digitize.
According to Layton (2011:Summary) it is crucial that a library has digitization strategy and policies, as the institution’s guide towards “getting digitization done,”
and as a marketing strategy for the digitization project. Institutions must create their own digitization strategy that is in line with their goals and objectives. Layton (2011:Summary) pointed out that the library management must identify and make decisions on whether digitization must be done for the entire collection, or select certain materials, whether to do the project in-house or to outsource the digitization process, and so on. Layton (2011:Summary) added that the digitization strategy and policy must be reviewed on regular basis, either annual, bi-annually, to reflect changes that may have come up in the digitization process. Layton (2011) provided guidelines to the drafting of the digitization strategy as a set of minimum information elements, to include:
Know what you have
Know your users
Determine your selection principles and rules
Describe the digital items and collections
2.10.4.1 Know what you have
Layton (2011:Know what you have) stressed that it is important to know the type of collection you have, to understand what the threats are to the collection and what needs to be prioritized. This includes the usage of the collection, how often it is used and what the risks are to damage and loss of items in the collection. The frequently used items can be identified as of priority. Layton (2011:Know what you have) recommended that the strategy must highlight and include the issue concerning rights; “what rights are held by who and how these rights are to be managed?”
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2.10.4.2 Know your users
According to Layton (2011:Know your users), knowing your users makes it easy to understand their needs and decide how digitization of specific materials will benefit them, as well as how to present it to them. Beagrie (N.d.:User needs) stated that understanding user needs can be essential in developing a digitization strategy.
2.10.4.3 Determine your selection principles and rules
Layton (2011:Determine your selection …) argued that the fact that digitization of materials is expensive, in-as-far as time and financial and human resources are concerned, the digitization strategy must set up rules to determine what and how to go about digitization within the selected collection. Layton (2011:Determine your selection …) cautioned that it may not be possible to digitize everything within the collection and different rules may be set for different collections and institutions, as the strategies and policies are not a “one size fits all” kind of thing.
2.10.4.4 Describe the digital items and collections
According to Layton (2011:Describing the digital …), it is important to clearly specify the format, media and metadata to use for the collection. The strategy must specify in which repository the digital collection will be housed.