Preparation of library materials for digitization

Materials Preparation Services 

Services include the preparation of materials for digitization, quality assurance tasks, and the production of the metadata essential for managing, discovering, and delivering electronic resources: 

  • Creation of holdings and/or adds links within Harvard’s bibliographic database (Alma / HOLLIS), catalog of visual resources at Harvard (JSTOR Forum / HOLLIS Images), finding aids (Archives Space / HOLLIS for Archival Discover), and other specialized collections catalogs to provide access to digital objects in accordance with established guidelines. 

  • Maintenance of item-level tracking inventory of all source materials throughout the digitization process. 

  • Preparation of materials for digitization using appropriate techniques to make each item “camera ready” (e.g., by removing fasteners, unfolding pages). 

  • Review and enhancement of the metadata that accompanies source materials for use in downstream processes to describe digital objects and to structure their component parts.          

  • Preparation of job tracking and billing paperwork for queued production batches. 

  • Coordination of the transfer of materials from conservation and imaging production areas. 

  • Quality assurance review of digital objects for consistency and completeness and application of remedies for errors.