[Eril-l] Primary Research Group has published the Survey of Academic Library & Museum Efforts to Digitize Rare Book/Document Collections, ISBN 978-1-57440-691-7

[Jose Mavarez]

Primary Research Group has published the Survey of Academic Library &
Museum Efforts to Digitize Rare Book/Document Collections, ISBN
978-1-57440-691-7



44 organizations discuss their efforts to digitize their rare book and
document collections, specifying future plans, providing data on budgets
and use of staff time, among other issues. The study provides data on the
extent of digitization efforts of rare materials such as illuminated
manuscripts, parchment and inscriptions in hard surfaces such as metal or
stone, as well as the overall percentage of resources devoted to
pre-Gutenberg texts.  It also looks at efforts to market digitized
collections through social media, digital repositories, and dedicated web
sites and e-newsletters. Participants also discuss safety and security
during digitization, both in-house and through vendors



In open ended questions, participants discuss the kind of equipment that
they use and plan to purchase, how they assure material safety and security
during digitization, as well as how they prioritize which collections to
digitize and who influences these decisions. They also list outside service
companies that they have worked with and describe how they handle
digitization of special materials such as textiles or engineering
blueprints, among others. The study also presents highly detailed data on
sources of funding for digitization and current and planned levels of
spending as well as expectations of  the level of staff resources that will
be devoted to digitization efforts in the near future.



Just a few of this unique 105-page report’s many finding are that:



·        For 13.6% of survey participants digitization of pre-Gutenberg
texts were an important or critical part of their work.



·        For participants from the UK/Ireland 23.1% of their work concerned
works developed prior to the development of book printing.



·        41.67% of survey participants with more than 6 FTE employees in
their rare book/document departments had a separate budget for digitization
work.



·        The outlook for obtaining outside funding for digitization work
was much better in the United States than in other countries.



·        48% of the colleges and universities in the sample have outsourced
digitization efforts to a consultant or outside service company.



29 college/university libraries, predominantly research universities, as
well as 15 other organizations that maintain significant rare book
collections – museums, historic sites, and public and special libraries –
contributed extensive data and commentary to the study.  Data in the report
is broken out by region and is presented separately for the USA, for the
UK/Ireland, and for all other countries.  In addition data is broken out
for museums/historic sites, R1 universities, R2 universities, colleges, and
for public and special libraries – as well as by size of rare book
department staff.



For a table of contents, list of participating institutions, the
questionnaire and an excerpt – view the product page for this report at:
https://www.primaryresearch.com/AddCart.aspx?ReportID=666



View our website at www.PrimaryResearch.com.
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