Material Preparation Services for Collection 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: 

• Evaluation of catalog records for compatibility with the repository’s digitization request.
• Creation of holdings records and/or addition of 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 Discovery), and other specialized collections catalogs to provide access to digital objects in accordance with established guidelines.
• 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 materials for digitization using appropriate techniques to make each item “camera ready” (e.g., unfolding pages, placing unstable items in mylar sleeves). 
• Evaluation of conservation needs and coordination of conservation treatment.
• Creation of instructions for imaging technicians and photographers.
• Preparation of job tracking and billing paperwork for queued production batches. 
• Quality assurance review of digital objects for consistency and completeness and application of remedies for errors. 

For our materials preparation practices, please see “Preparation of manuscript materials for digitization by Imaging Services” page.

Provisioning Materials Preparation Services and Associated Costs

• Project materials preparation needs will be determined during the development of project specifications and work plans.

• Within the context of an Imaging Services project, materials preparation services are provided at no cost, based on need and available staffing.