Requesting collections digitization services from Imaging Services

Digitization project proposal

Interested in initiating a digitization project with Imaging Services? 

The best first step is to complete a project proposal form. The forms are designed to gather essential information needed for a first consideration focused on feasibility.
If a proposal seems feasible, we will work together to gather more detailed information to select the right services and library infrastructure needed to realize your ambitions and to estimate costs and production timelines.

Project proposal / intake forms

Please complete the Harvard Library Digitization Project Proposal form, noting:

• For proposals intended directly for Imaging Services, please select "Imaging Services"  on question 2, "Proposal is for ...".
• Selecting (question 2, Proposal is for ...) EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, BELONGING, AND ANTI-RACISM (EDIBA) or Harvard Library Collections Digitization Program (HLCDP) will route your proposal to the appropriate proposal review team for consideration, and subsequently to Imaging Services or Media Preservation, as appropriate.

What can you expect after you complete the form?

• You will receive a brief email message right away, just to confirm that your inquiry has been received.
• Within two weeks we should reply asking for more information, or to schedule a meeting, or both.

Who evaluates project proposals?

Each school-based library organization (FAS/HCL, Radcliffe, Business, Divinity, Medical, Law, Design, Education, Government) will evaluate their proposals, with Imaging Services and Preservation Services providing technical support.

Who develops project workflows and specifications?

Based on the school's prioritization, Imaging Services will—together with our library partners—develop the detailed project plans and cost estimates needed to move projects into production.

Contracting with Imaging Services for project-scale services: Eligibility criteria

1. Imaging Services supports project-scale requests, characterized by advance planning and scheduling, and production batches sized so that many items can be processed with a single workflow. Processing groupings of similar library materials dramatically increases production efficiency.
   • For small-scale imaging requests (digitization of a few images, a single item, or requests for prints), Imaging Services offers fee-based over-the-counter services. The cost of these services is significantly higher than our project-scale work, as single requests require individual consideration and custom camera setups. Note: Over-the-counter requests cannot be funded using a library's annual imaging allocation.
2. All digitized content must be stored within the DRS. Content may be replicated elsewhere.
3. All digitized content must be described in and linked to one or more of the following HL descriptive metadata systems: ALMA / HOLLIS; JStorForum / HOLLIS Images; ArchivesSpace / HOLLIS for Archival Discovery; Harvard Geospatial Library. Descriptive metadata may be replicated elsewhere.
4. The content must be made accessible to researchers, and the content must be made as widely accessible as possible, limited only by intellectual property statutes, license agreements, and HU data security policies.
5. Rights metadata association with DRS-deposited content is strongly recommended.

Collections digitization capacity and annual, school-based, project planning allotment-supported services

Annual imaging-planning allotments are based on each school’s HL assessment, the extent to which collections include rare materials, degrading and obsolete formats, and collections that are out of copyright.

Each imaging allotment represents a portion of Imaging Services’ collections digitization production capacity.

NOTE: If a collection digitization project requires outsourced services, the cost of those services is not a component of the HL budget and therefore those costs cannot be covered by a school’s annual imaging-planning allotments.

Digitization allocations and externally funded projects

Many digitization projects will be funded from internal or external grants, with donor gifts or endowment income. HL Financial Services can work with local finance officers to ensure that specified funds are charged and the work applied to a school’s imaging-planning allocation while ensuring that the local unit receives the full benefit of the external funding.