Overview
The purpose of this class is to provide an overview of the reformatting technologies used in libraries and archives for preservation purposes. The class focuses on the historical, organizational, and technical aspects of reformatting, emphasizing reformatting principles and the role of reformatting as a preservation option for paper and nonpaper analog source collection materials.
The technical components of preservation reformatting are complex and cannot be fully explored in this three-hour class. The objective is to make students aware of issues and topics and provide them with resources for further exploration. The suggested amount of time indicated for each lesson section can be adjusted as necessary.
Preservation “photocopying” should be covered both as a paper-to-paper analog process and as a product of a digital process.
The lesson is divided into five parts:
Part I: Introduction to Reformatting. Covers types of reformatting, the history of reformatting for preservation purposes, principles of reformatting, and the organization and function of reformatting in libraries and archives.
Part II: Preservation Microfilming. Emphasizes standards/guidelines and selection. Covers work flow and technical considerations in brief.
Part III: Digitization. An introductory discussion of the questions that surround digitization as a preservation tool.
Part IV: Standards, Guidelines, and Best Practices for Digitization. Briefly describes standards, guidelines, and best practices for capture of photographic, manuscript, text, moving image (film and video), and audio source materials.
Part V: Hybrid Options. Briefly discusses the pros and cons of hybrid projects, and provides some examples.