education for digitization: how do we prepare?
TRANSCRIPT
GraQueens Co
The Journal of
Education for Digitization: How Do We Prepare?
by Claudia A. Perry
Available online 2 November 2005
This paper examines the characteristics andvariety of digitization training initiatives in
North America and to a lesser extent, Europe,and the growing development of credit-bearingcourses and programs within higher education
relating to digitization, with a specific focus onlibrarianship. Information was collected in
response to an inquiry posted in late July 2004on the ARLIS, JESSE, and DIGLIB listservs,supplemented by ongoing perusal of these
sources, Web searches, and suggestions fromcolleagues. It also briefly discusses the benefitsand challenges associated with the developmentof digitized library resources, and the need forgreater attention to professional development
for those working in digitization.
Claudia A. Perry is Associate Professor,duate School of Library and Information Studies,llege, City University of New York, Rosenthal 254,
Flushing, NY 11367, [email protected].
Academic Librarianship, Volume 31, Number 6, pages 523–532
INTRODUCTION
Information, and especially digital information, is becoming anincreasingly important component of modern life. More andmore individuals rely upon the Internet for routine informationgathering. It is particularly important for students: 78.4 percentof entering 2002 full-time freshmen reported using the Internetfor homework during the year prior to beginning college, ascompared with 74.5 percent in the fall of 2001.1 Naturally,librarians are playing essential roles in making electronicinformation resources and services more widely available to thepublic. This involves not just the selection, organization,presentation, and preservation of existing digital resources,but also the creation and management of newly digitizedcollections to ensure greater accessibility to traditional resour-ces. While digitization projects in specialized communities—especially government publications and maps—have an evenlonger history, the accelerating pace and wide range of digitalprojects throughout librarianship in recent years is particularlystriking. These new challenges highlight the need for greaterattention to professional development for those working indigitization.
The deliberations of the Metropolitan New York LibraryCouncil (METRO) advisory board, discussing regional digiti-zation planning initiatives in mid-2004, highlighted widedisparities of digitization experience among METRO members,who represent the full range of library types and specialties.While many METRO members were eager to get involved indigital projects, their lack of expertise was a major stumblingblock. Since the need for instruction in the greater New Yorkarea was perceived to be so substantial, it seemed likely thatlibrarians in other regions of North America face similarchallenges. These observations suggested the value of compil-ing an inventory of digitization educational opportunities tocomplement the vast range of existing resources on digitizationin general.
Foundation and government-funded initiatives have resultedin the development of impressive digital collections thatdemonstrate the broad potential and wide range of digitizationinitiatives within libraries, archives, and museums. In aremarkably short time, a plethora of standards, best practices,and case studies have been developed and distributed electroni-cally and internationally, forming a base of knowledge fromwhich others in the cultural heritage community can draw. Yetdespite this incredible progress, relatively less attention has beenpaid to the issue of how information professionals will develop
November 2005 523
and maintain the essential skills and competencies to staffdigitization projects. This is especially true as we move beyondthe ‘‘early adopter’’ phase to a more broad-based implementa-tion of digitization throughout the cultural heritage community.2
This paper examines the characteristics and variety ofdigitization training initiatives implemented worldwide, espe-cially those in North America, and the growing development ofcredit-bearing courses and programs in educational institutions.It will introduce this examination with a brief discussion of thebenefits and challenges associated with the development ofdigitized resources, as well as summarize existing resourcesand the current digitization infrastructure.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
With the bundling of online resources rendering many largeuniversity collections nearly identical, Sutton notes that thedigitization of unique collections can be a valuable promotionaltool for distinguishing a library from its peers.3 In their bookDigital Futures: Strategies for the Information Age, Deeganand Tanner devote an entire chapter to the question of ‘‘Whydigitize?’’ Among the benefits cited are the potential to displayinformation from inaccessible formats, such as large-scalemaps; the ability to enhance digital images; improved search-ability (e.g., full-text); ‘‘virtual reunification’’ of dispersedcollections; and the potential for integration of digitizedresources into teaching materials.4 These functionalities canbe especially important in an academic environment.
There are of course numerous, undeniable challengesassociated with digitization projects, chief among them beingthe related issues of costs, funding, and sustainability. TheNational Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH)has co-sponsored several conferences and resulting reportshighlighting economic issues relating to digitization, includingThe Price of Digitization: New Cost Models for Cultural andEducational Institutions (2003).5,6 A section in this reportselectively updates Puglia’s well-known 1999 article ‘‘TheCosts of Digital Imaging Projects.’’7 Puglia observes thatproduction costs are distributed approximately equally amongthree categories: digital conversion, cataloging and metadata,and administrative and quality control issues. The relativelysmall proportion of costs assigned to digital conversion issurprising to many neophytes, who assume that purchasing ascanner and associated software are likely to be the mostimportant cost considerations in a digitization project. Pugliafurther notes that long-term maintenance of digital images andassociated metadata is an all-too-often overlooked ongoing costthat many institutions fail to consider in their planning.
Other challenges relate to the long-term preservation ofdigitized information in a rapidly changing technologicalenvironment, as well as keeping pace with evolving andsometimes competing technical standards and best practices.The broad diversity of cultural heritage institutions interested increating digital collections creates difficulties in developingeffective collaborations. Nonetheless, as indicated previously,there are strong arguments for continuing our digitizationefforts. As noted in a 2002 IMLS report, Status of Technologyand Digitization in the Nation’s Museums and Libraries,
The American public has much to gain from the adoption and
implementation of technology by museums and libraries. Technology
connects more people to more of the services and information only
museums and libraries provide. It enables access to unique cultural,
524 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
scientific, and artistic collections; to vast information and research
resources; and to educational opportunities for students of all ages.8
Funding and leadership from national and internationalorganizations and agencies suggest a similar perspectivewidely held around the world.9 The questions then becomeas follows: Where do we stand and how best might weaddress future needs relating to digitization of culturalresources?
ANOTHER CHALLENGE: PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
A workshop sponsored by the Institute of Museum andLibrary Services (IMLS) in August 2003 sought to grapplewith precisely these issues. A report based on this workshopsuccinctly assessed the state of progress in digitization andidentified key action items and recommendations to IMLS.10
The authors note the evolution of essential building blocksthat will make it possible to build more extensive,integrated, and sustainable digital collections on an ongoingbasis.
While acknowledging the many existing strengths of ourcurrent digital environment, the report also identifies fourspecific areas worthy of further attention and funding. Theseinclude (a) infrastructure (defining a national strategic agenda),(b) audience research and development, (c) collaboration, and(d) professional development. Of these, the most pertinent tothe present discussion is the issue of professional development.In particular, the report asserts the need to ‘‘improve access tohands-on learning, mentoring, and continuing education, aswell as formal education of a new generation of creators andmanagers of digital assets.’’11 An examination of existingeducational mechanisms and initiatives may provide a betterunderstanding of this call to action.
In an effort to explore current educational offerings, aninquiry was posted on July 30, 2004, on the ARLIS, JESSE,and DIGLIB listservs for information regarding trainingworkshops and/or credit-bearing educational courses pertainingto digitization and/or digital imaging for students or profes-sionals. (The first two represent the electronic discussiongroups of the Art Libraries Society and the Association ofLibrary and Information Science Educators, respectively. Thelatter is a discussion list for digital libraries researchers andlibrarians, sponsored by the International Federation of LibraryAssociations and Institutions (IFLA).) These were selected inthe hopes of reaching the majority of those individualsinterested in, or knowledgeable about, instruction pertainingto digitization: library educators and those involved with digitallibraries. Members of the art library community were targeteddue to the strong interest prompted by the digital conversion ofmany high profile image collections.
‘‘The inquiry emphasized requests forreferences to coursework providing
hands-on experience...’’
The inquiry emphasized requests for references to course-work providing hands-on experience, in view of the wide
range of existing courses on ‘‘digital libraries’’ that addressprimarily theoretical rather than practical issues, or the use ofdigital content. [For example, studies by Spink and Cool(1999) and Saracevik and Dalbello (2001) emphasize coursesin digital libraries in a fairly broad sense.]12,13 In particular,the inquiry requested information on credit or continuingeducation courses/workshops providing practical experiencewith scanning, optical character recognition, or digitalphotography and/or the creation of actual collections usingdigital collection management software (e.g., Greenstone,CONTENTdm, LUNA, etc.). A posted summary of responsesyielded additional feedback, including information regardingcourses where digitization was not a primary emphasis butwas included in some capacity. These responses are supple-mented by information identified through the author’songoing monitoring of these listservs, Web searches forcourses, and/or syllabi relating to digitization projects,recommendations from colleagues, and examination of theIMLS Web site. All Web sites identified were examinedindividually in compiling the resulting inventory.
The wide variety of topics relating to digitization (fromplanning to metadata to preservation) and disparate instruc-tional approaches made it difficult to narrow the scope ofeducational offerings identified. This overview thus is notintended to be comprehensive but rather to lay out a baselineof activity for comparison with other, more rigorous studiesof instruction emphasizing the creation, management, andpreservation of digital content. In addition, it endeavors toprovide a snapshot of evolving trends and alternative modelsthat others might build upon. The generous respondents tothis listserv inquiry and to other follow up requests forinformation are acknowledged at the conclusion of thearticle. The rapid pace of development ensures that newinitiatives have been introduced throughout the writing ofthis paper, which endeavors to be current as of early June2005.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR
DIGITIZATION—WORKSHOPS
By far the most commonly available approach to learningabout issues and skills relating to digitization is the workshopformat. These include intensive week-long immersion pro-grams, half- or full-day workshops on specific topics, andonline instruction. Many employ a lecture format, while someinclude hands-on practice and/or demonstrations or visits tonearby institutions with digitization programs. It is importantto note that changing needs and developments in the fieldresult in the format of workshops changing over time. Aselection of these workshops and their characteristics brieflyare discussed below. A summary listing of the workshopsexamined are presented in Table 1 (intensive workshops) andTable 2 (online, hybrid, and short-term instruction) with theirsponsors and URLs.
‘‘By far the most commonly available approachto learning about issues and skills relating to
digitization is the workshop format.’’
Intensive Workshops
One of the hallmarks of any discussion of informationdigitization initiatives is their dedicated commitment toinformation sharing, collaboration, and co-sponsorship, oftenwith a strong international component. A perfect example ofsuch collaboration is the weeklong Digitization for CulturalHeritage Professionals (DHCP) program.14 This series buildson the success of the Glasgow Digitisation Summer Schoolprograms held 1998 through 2003 at The HumanitiesAdvanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) atthe University of Glasgow. HATII also offers respectedprograms and coursework in information management andpreservation at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels.Typical of many such programs, the DCHP program includeslectures on topics ranging from selection of materials fordigitization and workflow planning, through metadata andrights management, to equipment selection, preservation,evaluation, and grant getting. An interactive workshop andhands-on laboratory sessions provide the opportunity topractice requisite skills such as image and text capture anddynamic Web delivery. Site visits to nearby digital installationscomplement the instruction.
A similar approach has been taken by several British andCanadian initiatives listed in Table 1. These include a choiceof week-long sessions (e.g., the Digital Futures Academy) orshorter workshops of varying length on specific topics atintroductory, intermediate, or advanced levels. All offer ablend of technical, theoretical, and practical ‘‘hands-on’’learning.
With funding from the National Endowment for theHumanities (NEH), Cornell University Library developedand presents a combination online tutorial and intensive five-day workshop series on ‘‘Digital Preservation Management:Implementing Short-Term Strategies for Long-Term Prob-lems.’’ The format was patterned after Cornell’s successfulworkshop series and tutorial, ‘‘Moving Theory into Practice:Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives,’’ offered from1995 through 2002. While the latter workshop series is notcurrently scheduled, both tutorials are publicly available onthe Web.
‘‘Document Imaging and Document Management’’ is anintensive three-day course designed for non-technical profes-sionals, which is regularly offered in the Los Angeles area by acommercial concern, Archive Builders. Like Cornell Univer-sity Library, Archive Builders makes its course materialsavailable freely available on the Internet for self-study (here, inPDF format) or for purchase in bound copy at a reasonableprice. Both the tutorials and course materials are potentiallyuseful tools to complement other learning opportunities,depending on the needs of the learner.
The Northeast Document Conservation Center’s (NEDCC)‘‘School for Scanning: Building Good Digital Collections’’celebrated its 10th anniversary in June 2005. Typicallysupported by numerous sponsors, it has been offered at varyinglocations throughout the years. Despite its title, the three-dayconference does not include hands-on training, but insteadconsists of lectures, panel discussions, and poster sessions. Itaddresses topics similar to those in other workshops describedabove. Many of the regularly featured speakers were contrib-utors to the NEDCC’s comprehensive, introductory text,Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for
November 2005 525
Table 1Digitization Workshops—Intensive Workshops
Program Name Sponsor(s) and URL
Creating Electronic Texts & Images; Summer Seminar
Series in Electronic Scholarly Communication
University of New Brunswick Libraries, CA,
http://www.lib.unb.ca/courses/
Digital Futures Academy King’s College, London, UK; OCLC PICA,
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kdcs/digifutures.htm
Digital Humanities/Humanities Computing Summer Institute University of Victoria, BC, CA,
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/institute/
Digital Preservation Management Workshop Series Cornell University Library;
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH),
http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/dpworkshop/
Digitization for Cultural Heritage Professionals (DCHP) University of Glasgow Humanities Advanced Technology
& Information Institute (HATII), UK; University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill, Rice University; Duke University,
http://www.ils.unc.edu/DCHP/
Rare Book School (RBS): L-70 Electronic Texts and Images; L-80 Implementing
Encoded Archival Description; L-85 Publishing EAD Finding Aids
University of Virginia at Charlottesville,
http://www.rarebookschool.org
School for Scanning: Building Good Digital Collections Northeast Document Conservation Center; Massachusetts
Board of Library Commissions & other co-sponsors,
http://www.nedcc.org/sfsbos/sfsdesc.htm
Length and characteristics Programs range from two to six days,
most incorporating lectures, discussion, demonstrations,
and hands-on lab practicals
If not otherwise specified, programs and sponsors are located in the United States. All links current as of June 4, 2005.
Preservation and Access (2000).15 Funded in part by theIMLS, the handbook is an accessible primer that can bepurchased in hardcover or downloaded in PDF or HTMLformat.
Intensive programs like the ones cited above have bothadvantages and disadvantages. Students have an opportunityto bond and network with like-minded professionals andsubject experts in a small group environment. The require-ment to travel to the workshop site, away from thedistractions of work and daily life, encourages an immersionin the topics that might be difficult to achieve in a series ofshorter encounters. At the same time, such an approach hasits drawbacks. The sheer volume of information presentedcan be overwhelming, especially for those new to the topic.Learning styles clearly differ, but for many individuals,information overload sets in after several days of intenseinstruction. And participation is limited to those who canafford to take the time and have the funds (or institutionalbacking) to support their registration, travel, and livingexpenses for the sessions.
ONLINE, HYBRID, AND SHORT-TERM INSTRUCTION
While concentrated instructional sessions play an importantrole in professional development, the number of registrants insuch programs often is limited, and schedules may not beconvenient, in addition to the other disadvantages cited above.For many individuals, more targeted programs of limitedduration better meet their needs.
Table 2 summarizes programs presented as short-termworkshops and/or in hybrid mode (partly online, partly face-
526 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
to-face), primarily, but not exclusively, in the United States. Alisting of selected online tutorials also is included.
An intriguing three-track alternative to the on-site intensiveinstructional model—‘‘Basics and Beyond’’—has been imple-mented by the Illinois Digitization Institute (IDI). One-dayonsite workshops presented throughout the state of Illinoisintroduce participants to the basics of digital imaging,planning, equipment choices, and standards. Additional optionsfor those desiring more in-depth instruction include a three-week asynchronous (distance learning) online course (Track 2),or a combination online course plus two-day hands-on work-shop (Track 3). Maroso’s detailed overview provides anextremely useful evaluation of the program’s background,development, and success in meeting its objectives and helpfultips for others considering implementing their own instruc-tional initiatives (both online and/or onsite).16
The three-track approach has a number of points torecommend it. The geographically distributed one-day work-shops bring the instruction closer to potential participants andprovide a way to introduce basic concepts which can then bebuilt upon in Tracks 2 or 3. Track 3 in particular, with acombination of online instruction and follow-up hands-onsessions, offers a variety of learning approaches that are likelyto meet the diversity of participants’ learning styles. On theother hand, not all individuals are equally comfortable withthe asynchronous approach to learning common in thesedistance learning courses, which has a steep learning curve ofits own.
In the United States, perhaps the most widespread source ofshort-term digitization-related workshops is the education andplanning component of OCLC’s Digital Collection and Preser-
Table 2Digitization Workshops—Online, Hybrid, and Short-Term Instruction
Program Name Sponsor(s), URL
Hybrid and Short-Term Instruction
Colorado Digitization Program (CDP) CDP; Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR),
http://www.cdpheritage.org/resource/workshops/index.html;
http://www.bcr.org/training/workshops/
Electronic Resource Preservation
and Access Network (ERPANET)
European Commission; HATII, Nationaal Archief van Nederland, Istituto
di Studi per la Tutela dei Beni Archivistici e Librari, Schweizerisches
Bundesarchiv, http://www.erpanet.org/
Illinois Digitization Institute: Basics and Beyond Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS); University of Illinois;
Illinois State Library; Illinois Heritage Association,
http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/IDI/Index.HTM
Joint Conference on Digital Libraries
(JCDL) workshops and tutorials
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society, and other co-sponsors,
http://www.jcdl2005.org/
KCDS Training King’s Digital Consultancy Services (KCDS), London, UK,
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kdcs/content/training.htm
OCLC Professional Development: Seminars
& Workshops, Digitization and Preservation
OCLC Digital Collection & Preservation Services;
Regional OCLC Service Providers,
http://www.oclc.org/education/workshops/default.htm
Characteristics Workshops range from half to multi-day workshops, some with hands-on
work. Web sites may include materials for self-study and/or other helpful
resources
Online tutorials
Capture Your Collections; Creating
and Managing Digital Content
Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN),
http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/capture_collection.html
Digital Preservation Management Cornell University Library; National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH), http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/tutorial/dpm/index.html
Introduction to Imaging: Issues in Constructing
an Image Database (Besser & Trant, 1995)
Getty Information Institute Imaging Initiative,
http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/introimages/Tbl.html
Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging Tutorial Cornell University Library; NEH,
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/contents.html
If not otherwise specified, programs and sponsors are located in the United States. All links current as of June 4, 2005.
vation Services Division. These instructional programs aretypically one-day sessions delivered on-site both through OCLCand its regional service providers (e.g., NELINET, Nylink,SOLINET). Topics range from ‘‘Basic Copyright Issues’’ and‘‘Digital Project Infrastructure’’ to hands-on instruction withCONTENTdm digital collection management software. TheColorado Digitization Program (CDP) offers a similar array oftopical one-day workshops in its geographic region. Both theCDP and OCLC Web sites also provide numerous usefulresource materials and links pertaining to digitization.
Regional OCLC service providers may provide slightlydifferent variations and delivery options on these and relatedtopics. For example, Amigos Library Services (Texas and theSouthwest) offers a two-day hands-on ‘‘Introduction toImaging and Imaging Technology’’ that is a prerequisite forthe one-day ‘‘Project Management for Digital Imaging.’’17 Thelatter also is available as four two-hour online sessions. OCLCCAPCON (the Washington, DC, area) has an eight-sessionseries on ‘‘Planning for Digital Projects,’’ in which ongoing
participation is predicated upon completion of each priorsession.18 Although more difficult to manage from admin-istrative, scheduling, and planning perspectives, these areamong the few examples identified by the author that buildon other offerings in a series; an obvious strength from apedagogical standpoint.
The Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL), an annualinternational event combining the ACM Digital LibrariesConferences and the IEEE-CS Advances in Digital LibrariesConferences, is yet another excellent source of tutorials andworkshops, offered in conjunction with the conference proper.In addition to tutorials on such topics as ‘‘Using Standards inDigital Library Design & Development’’ and ‘‘EvaluatingDigital Libraries,’’ JCDL 2005 featured the first of three annualworkshops on ‘‘Developing a Digital Libraries EducationProgram,’’ funded by IMLS and hosted by Indiana Universityand University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.19 This work-shop and its implications will be discussed further below in thesection on credit-based courses and programs.
November 2005 527
European Training Initiatives
Established in 2001, the Electronic Resource Preservationand Access Network (ERPANET) has been prominent inefforts to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on state-of-the-art developments in digital preservation, and the transfer ofexpertise among individuals and institutions within the Euro-pean community and beyond.20,21 HATII at the University ofGlasgow is a leader in this initiative, with Seamus Ross servingas Director of HATII and also as one of four directors ofERPANET. Other partners are listed in Table 2.
One of ERPANET’s key objectives has been to conductthematic workshops and training seminars, aimed at expertsand practitioners, respectively. Thematic workshops bringtogether groups of experts to explore such topics as ‘‘XMLfor Digital Preservation,’’ ‘‘Long Term Preservation of Data-bases,’’ and ‘‘Trusted Digital Repositories.’’ All workshopsresult in a report posted on the ERPANET Web site, whichprovide useful overviews of state-of-the-art thinking on issuesof current concern. Ross observes further that ‘‘[w]hat isevident from these workshops is that the community is hungryfor practical case studies and reports of real world experi-ences.’’22 It is indeed a challenge to bridge the gap betweentechnical experts and practitioners, who often lack substantialexpertise in digital management and preservation.
Consequently, and of more direct relevance to this paper,ERPANET also sponsors two-day training sessions (or ‘‘devel-opmental seminars’’) at various locations throughout Europe.Geared to library, archival, information, and museum profes-sionals, the seminars focus on topics such as Web archiving,workflow, business models, metadata, and persistent identi-fiers. These seminars also are posted on the Web site both inreport form and as audio, PowerPoint, and PDF versions of thepresentations. ERPANET’s effort thus extends well beyond thedirect audience of attendees, to include the entire universe ofInternet-connected individuals.
CREDIT-BASED COURSES AND PROGRAMS AT
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Structured Programs
The ‘‘Librarians for the 21st Century’’ grant programsponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Serviceshas provided a powerful stimulus for the development ofstructured certificate and degree programs in programs oflibrary and information studies in the United States. (In theinterest of limiting the scope of this article, courses andprograms outside the United States are mentioned onlyselectively.) Among the six priorities for funding currentlyemphasized in the program overview is ‘‘Priority 5: Programsto Build Institutional Capacity’’:
Develop or enhance curricula within graduate schools of library and
information science. In particular, develop new courses and programs in
critical areas such as leadership, research methods, and digital
librarianship.23
In addition, other IMLS grant categories (e.g., NationalLeadership Grants for Libraries—Education and Training) alsopotentially provide opportunities for funding in support ofeducation relating to digital libraries and digitization. It is notsurprising that four of the eight existing structured programsidentified in this paper are at least partially supported by IMLSfunding. (However, note that IMLS grant guidelines require
528 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
matching funds for 50 percent of total project costs, excludingfunds requested for student support.)
‘‘While most programs are based in departmentsof LIS, a two-year master’s program...at New
York University’s Tisch School of the Artssuggests a future direction for LIS
programs to explore...’’
Table 3 provides a summary of existing structured instruc-tional programs pertaining to digital libraries or digital imaging(see listed Web sites for additional detail). Programs includeconcentrations within an existing master’s program, dedicatedmaster’s degrees, advanced certificates, and programs ofdoctoral study. Many of these programs incorporate collabo-rations with Library and Information Studies (LIS) or relatedprograms at other institutions, and/or with libraries that havedeveloped their own extensive digital collections. While mostprograms are based in departments of LIS, a two-year master’sprogram on ‘‘Moving Image and Archive Preservation’’ at NewYork University’s Tisch School of the Arts suggests a futuredirection for LIS programs to explore, as the digital landscapebecomes increasingly more diverse in terms of multimedia.Recent activity on the DIGLIB and JESSE listservs alsoidentified some evolving and/or new initiatives relating todigitization education, included in Table 3 under ‘‘forth-coming.’’
Individual Courses for Credit
As noted earlier, many LIS programs have implemented orare considering implementing courses in ‘‘Digital Libraries,’’related areas pertaining to aspects of digitization, and/orintegrating discussion of digital libraries into existing courses.As digital collections have become an evermore visiblecomponent of libraries and librarianship, it is hard to dootherwise. Nonetheless, courses differ substantially in theiremphases. Examination of theoretical and research aspects ofdigital libraries and collections is far easier to implement thancourses incorporating a substantial hands-on instructional orproject component. This supports the IMLS report’s observa-tion of the need for hands-on learning. To the degree revealedby responses to the author’s listserv inquiries in August 2004,production courses are relatively uncommon in higher educa-tion but are being contemplated or incrementally introduced atan encouraging pace.
Table 4 provides a summary of individual credit-basedcourses related to digitization hosted by colleges and uni-versities in the United States. Due to the large number of‘‘Digital Library’’ courses taught in LIS programs, only thosecourses identified which appear to incorporate a hands-on orproduction component were included. Two relevant courseswere included from programs in Museum Studies andComputer Science, respectively. Course requirements variouslyincluded a group or individual digital collection project, hands-on instruction in scanning and image manipulation, evaluativecase studies of existing digital libraries, and/or collaborativework with other cultural institutions. Among software packages
Table 3Credit-based Instruction—Structured Programs
Institution Program name, URLT
Indiana University (IU), Bloomington, School of Library and
Information Science, in collaboration with University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign and the Digital Library Program
Digital Libraries Education Program; Master’s Program in Digital
Libraries,
http://lair.indiana.edu/research/dlib/
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, NY Moving Image and Archive Preservation Program (Master’s),
http://cinema.tisch.nyu.edu/object/cs_miap.html
Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, NY Certificate of Advanced Studies in Digital Libraries,
http://www.ist.syr.edu/academics/graduate/mls/digitallibraries/index.
asp
University of Glasgow Humanities Advanced Technology &
Information Institute (HATII), Glasgow, Scotland
Arts & Media Informatics (UG); Information
Management & Preservation (MPhil); PhD Program,
http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Certificate of Advanced Study in Digital Libraries (Post-MLS),
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/gslis/degrees/cas_dl.html
University of Pittsburgh, School of Information Sciences;
Collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University
MLIS with concentration in Digital Libraries and Information
Management,
http://www.sis.pitt.edu/programs/DLIM.html
University of North Texas School of Library
and Information Sciences
Digital Image Management Program of Study,
http://www.unt.edu/slis/programs/pos/digitalimaging.htm
University of Texas (UT) at Austin, School of
Information & UT Libraries
Digitization in the Round: Educating Digital
Librarians for the 21st Century. Master’s, PhD programs,
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~digitize/
Forthcoming programs
Rutgers University, School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies, New Brunswick, NJ
Online MLIS in Digital Libraries,
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/programs/lis/OnlineMLIS.jsp
University of Strathclyde, Graduate School of Informatics,
Glasgow, Scotland
Master’s, Postgraduate diploma in Digital Libraries,
http://www.gsi.strath.ac.uk/gsi/dl-info.html
*URLs are provided for as much information as could be identified regarding the program/course. In selected instances this was limited to the school or departmental Web site.All links are current as of June 4, 2005.
used were Greenstone (open source) and CONTENTdm digitalcollection management software, Photoshop, and ABBYY-FineReader Optical Character Recognition software. Studentsin some courses did their own programming and interfacedesign. As previously noted, the rapid pace of change is thisarea practically ensures major structural changes each time acourse relating to digital library projects is taught. Due to a verylow response rate regarding LIS-based continuing education(CE) courses, this component of the inventory has been omitted.As was true in other tabular presentations, reference to the Websites listed will provide more specific and more current detail onindividual courses than can be examined here.
An additional and deliberate omission of this section of thecurrent paper is any examination of the prevalence of thebroader range of credit courses and topics integral to a solidunderstanding of digital librarianship, such as metadata,copyright, intellectual property issues, digital preservation,XML, grant writing, programming, database design, andrelated areas. These may or may not be included in individualcourses identified here. The slightly dated but very compre-hensive Guide to Digital Library Education is thus a usefulcomplement to the current paper.24 It provides links todepartmental Web sites offering courses relating to all aspects
of digital library education, both in the United States andinternationally, both within and outside the field of librarystudies.
Ideally, programs in LIS and cognate fields will strive todevelop a systematic sequence of courses that build upon andcomplement each other, much as do some of the workshopseries discussed earlier. The IMLS Grants awarded in 2004provide substantial encouragement to further these objectives.The funded projects suggest the potential for continuedexpansion in the availability and diversity of educationalopportunities relating to preparation for digital librarianship,experimentation with possible models for others to emulate, andfurther development of the research base so essential to futureprogress.25–28
A particular highlight of the 2004 grant projects is an annualworkshop devoted to issues of digital library education, to behosted by Indiana University and University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign, as noted above.29 The workshops presentan opportunity for individuals throughout librarianship andlibrary education—and not just those fortunate to have receivedIMLS funding—to share ideas and discuss ideas of mutualconcern. Specific topics for discussion include researchinitiatives, defining the scope of digital librarianship, how best
November 2005 529
Table 4Credit-based Instruction—Individual Courses Incorporating Digital Projects
Institution Course Name(s) and Instructor, URLa
Catholic University of America, School
of Library and Information Science
Foundations of Digital Libraries (Hejin Shin),
http://slis.cua.edu/courses/catalog.cfm
George Washington University, Museum Studies Program Digital Imaging for Museums: Policy & Practice (Robert Leopold),
http://voom.si.edu/class/mstd297.htm
Kent State University, School of Library and Information Science Digital Image Processing & Collection Management
(Marcia Lei Zheng), http://class.kent.edu/public/kent529/
Louisiana State University, School of Library and Information Science Digital Libraries (Cavan McCarthy), http://slis.lsu.edu/faculty/
McCarthy/2005spring/diglibsbb00syllabus.htm
Old Dominion University, Department of Computer Science Introduction to Digital Libraries (Michael L. Nelson),
http://www.cs.odu.edu/~mln/teaching/cs695-f04/
Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science Projects in Digital Archives (Carrie Bickner; John Parsons),
http://www.pratt.edu/sils/
Queens College, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies Introduction to Digital Imaging (Claudia Perry),
http://qcpages.qc.edu/GSLIS/
Rutgers University, School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies
Digital Library Technology (Michael Lesk), http://www.scils.
rutgers.edu/courses/listing.jsp?CID=17%3A610%3A558
San Francisco State University, Museum Studies Program Information Technology and Museums (Christopher Clark),
http://www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/courses.html
Simmons College, Graduate School
of Library and Information Science
Digital Libraries (Candy Schwartz),
http://web.simmons.edu/~schwartz/462-outline.html
State University of New York at Buffao, Library
and Information Studies Department
Digital Libraries (June Abbas), http://informatics.buffalo.edu/
faculty/abbas/bms/Makingof.htm
Swedish School of Library and Information Science
at Gotenburg University and Hfgskolan i Bor3sDigitizing the Cultural Heritage (Mikael Gunnarsson),
http://www.hb.se/bhs/bhs-eng/
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate
School of Library and Information Science
Digital Libraries (Bruce Schatz, with Xiao Hu),
http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/spring04/LIS450DL/index.htm
University of Missouri-Columbia Digital Libraries, http://sislt.missouri.edu/descriptions.php
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
School of Information and Library Science
Digital Libraries (Gary Marchionini; Jeff Pomerantz),
http://ils.unc.edu/~march/courses/235_s04/syllabus.html
University of Wisconsin at Madison,
School of Library and Information Studies
Special Collections Topic: Digital Libraries (Kim),
http://www.slis.wisc.edu/academic/fall04.html
Characteristics Courses listed include some degree of hands-on assignments,
and/or digital library project work, as indicated by listserv
respondents or perusal of course descriptions.
aURLs are provided for as much information as could be identified regarding the program/course. In selected instances this was limited to the school or departmental Web site.Links were current as of June 4, 2005.
to balance theory and practice in the teaching/learning process,and especially the identification of ‘‘core competencies.’’30 Thedevelopment of accepted standards has been one of the keyoperating principles behind the progress made in digitallibrarianship. Standards for core competencies in digitalinformation management are thus a logical and essential nextstep for ensuring consistency in future progress.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Following a brief discussion of digitization issues and chal-lenges in general, this paper endeavors to provide an overviewof the wide array of professional development and educationalopportunities currently available for those interested in working
530 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
in digitization and digital librarianship. Despite recent progress,there still exists a need ‘‘to improve access to hands-on learn-ing, mentoring, and continuing education, as well as formaleducation of a new generation of creators and managers ofdigital assets.’’31 Nonetheless, examination of existing courses,workshops, and other instructional approaches can beextremely useful in prompting innovations within one’s ownpedagogical repertoire or preparation for evolving responsibili-ties in digital librarianship.
In addition, a limited, but increasing array of certificateand degree concentrations at institutions of higher educationalso are available. Support from the Institute of Museum ofLibrary and Information Services promises to greatly expand
the quality and variety of educational approaches to digitiza-tion instruction likely to be available in the future. Ideally,the development of consensus on core competencies andmodel curricula, based on input from researchers, educators,and practitioners, will continue to influence the broad arrayof professional development opportunities in this importantarea.
A key theme of most of the education, training, andinformation dissemination initiatives discussed here has beenthat of cooperation and sharing: of resources, expert knowl-edge, and support. Disparate agencies and organizations havecollectively sponsored major conferences, workshops, tutorials,and publications on both national and international levels. Itwould seem that the digitization community is very much morethan the sum of its parts, a principle that has been widelyimplemented since its beginnings.
The Web sites of such pioneering digitization projects asthe American Memory Project32 as well as organizationssuch as the Canadian Heritage Information Network, theDigital Library Federation, ERPANET, Nestor, PADI, andmany other organizations and institutes constitute a contin-uously evolving treasure trove of shared knowledge andexpertise. If the diverse community of educators, researchers,and practitioners concerned with professional developmentand education for the next generation of digital librarians cansustain a similar practice of cooperation and sharing, we allwill benefit.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
As noted throughout this paper, this is far from a stringentlydesigned survey of professional development and educationalinitiatives relating to digital librarianship. Future inquiriesmight do well also to survey subscribers to the Archives andArchivists Listserv, maintained by the Society of AmericanArchivists; Museum-L, a discussion list for those interested inmuseum related issues; and especially VRA-L, the discussionlist of the Visual Resources Association, a multi-disciplinarycommunity of image management professionals. Other com-plementary methodologies clearly should be considered aswell.
Respondents to the listserv inquiries were volunteers,presumably interested in the topic, and obviously subscribersto one of the three targeted discussion groups. The timing ofthe inquiry, in late summer, may have limited participationfrom individuals away on vacation or preparing for the busyfall semester. These drawbacks are to some degree compen-sated by the author’s continuing listserv monitoring, as manycourses and programs were announced during the period fromSeptember 2004 through early June 2005. Web searches andfollow-up inquiries were also helpful.
Details of individual courses and workshops were limited bythe amount of information provided by institutional Web sites,in those instances where respondents did not share a copy oftheir syllabus. Lastly, in the interest of limiting the scope of thearticle, the author restricted examination of stand-alone coursesto those featuring hands-on instruction (e.g., in scanning or useof digital collection management software) and/or digitalcollection project creation. A more structured survey of schoolsand programs, updating earlier work by Spink and Cool, andSaravek and Darbello, and targeting courses relating to thewide gamut of skills and issues pertaining to digital librarian-ship will surely be welcome.33,34
Other topics of potential interest for further researchinclude structured investigation of position descriptions andjob requirements in posted advertisements, as well as therange of job titles and their responsibilities in areas relating todigital librarianship. Data on placement of graduates fromvarious programs (LIS, computer science, archival, and/ormuseum studies) and longer-term career tracks also would behelpful. Two ongoing studies described at the DigitalLibraries Education Program at JCDL 2005 (Choi and Ras-mussen, Indiana University/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), using a number of these methodologies andapproaches, suggest a promising expansion of our knowledgebase in these areas.35 Examination of changes in thesecategories over time, and the relative demand for technical,programming, administrative, archival, and preservation skills,will certainly help to inform trainers and educators hoping tostay ahead of the curve in preparing digital librarianship forthe future.
Acknowledgments: Many thanks to the following individuals,without whom this paper would not have been possible. Mysincere apologies to anyone whose name was inadvertentlyoverlooked.
Ian Anderson (Humanities Advanced Technology andInformation Institute (HATII)), Roberta Brody (Queens Col-lege), Christine Barrett (recent graduate), Lydia Bauer (H&RBlock), Tom Clareson (OCLC), Steve Dalton (NortheastDocument Conservation Center), Joy Davidson (ERPANET),Steve Gilheany (ArchiveBuilders.com), Abby Goodrum (Syr-acuse University), Mikael Gunnarsson (Swedish School ofLibrary and Information Science), Samantha Hastings (Uni-versity of North Texas), Kevin Hawkins (University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor), Russ Hunt (OCLC PICA), AnneKenney (Cornell University), Richard Kim (METRO, NY),Michael Lesk (Rutgers University), Elise Lewis (University ofNorth Texas), Nancy Loescher (Verizon), Amy Lytle (OCLC),Gary Marchionini (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill),Amy Maroso (Illinois Digitization Institute), David Mattison(Victoria, BC), Cavan McCarthy (Louisiana State University),Jane Pearlmutter (University of Wisconsin, Madison), MarieRadford (Rutgers University), Aimee Surprenant (PurdueUniversity), Candy Schwartz (Simmons College), Hui Sheng(Westchester Library System), Hejin Shin (Catholic Univer-sity), Stefan Strathman (Gottingen State and UniversityLibrary, Germany), Simon Tanner (King’s College London),Helen Tibbo (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), andJana Varlejs (Rutgers University).
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. University of California-Los Angeles, Graduate School of Educa-tion & Information Studies, Higher Education Research Institute,‘‘The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2002—Official Press Release’’ (January 27, 2003), 1, http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/findings.html (accessed February 6, 2005).
2. For more on characteristics of different categories of adopters ofinnovations such as digitization, see Everett M. Rogers. Diffusionof Innovations, 3rd ed. (New York: Free Press, 1983).
3. Shan Sutton, ‘‘Navigating the point of no return: Organizationalimplications of digitization in special collections,’’ portal: Librariesand the Academy 4 (2004): 235, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/toc/pla4.2.html (accessed February6, 2005).
November 2005 531
4. Marilyn Deegan & Simon Tanner, Digital Futures: Strategies forthe Information Age, (New York: Neal-Schuman, 2002) pp. 32.
5. Lorna Hughes, The Price of Digitization: New Cost Models forCultural and Educational Institutions (Washington, DC: NationalInitiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH), 2003),http://www.ninch.org/forum/price.report.html (accessed February6, 2005).
6. Building and Sustaining Digital Collections: Models for Librariesand Museums (Washington, DC: Council on Library andInformation Resources, 2001), http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub100/pub100.pdf (accessed February 6, 2005).
7. Steven Puglia, ‘‘The Costs of Digital Imaging Projects,’’ RLG Digi-News 3 (October 15, 1999), http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews3-5.html#feature (accessed February 6, 2005).
8. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Status ofTechnology and Digitization in the Nation’s Museums and Libraries(Washington, DC: IMLS, May 10, 2002), http://www.imls.gov/reports/techreports/intro02.htm (accessed February 6, 2005).
9. David Mattison, The Past in Your Pocket: Digital HeritageCollections in Canada and Abroad, Searcher 10 (September2002): 54–67.
10. Angela Spinazze, Nancy Allen, and Liz Bishoff, DigitalResources for Cultural Heritage: A Strategic Assessment Work-shop on Current Status and Future Needs (Washington, DC:Institute of Museum and Library Services, June 8, 2004), 2–3,http://www.imls.gov/pubs/pdf/LibraryBrochure.pdf (accessedFebruary 6, 2005).
11. Ibid., p. 6.12. Amanda Spink and Colleen Cool, ‘‘Education for Digital
Libraries,’’ D-Lib Magazine (May 1999), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may99/05spink.html (accessed May 30, 2005).
13. Tefko Saracevik and Marija Dalbello, A Survey of Digital LibraryEducation, Proceedings of the American Society for InformationScience and Technology 38 (2001): 209–223.
14. University of Glasgow Humanities Advanced Technology &Information Institute (HATII), UK; University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Rice University; Duke University, ‘‘Digitization forCultural Heritage Professionals: An Intensive Workshop’’ (n.d.),http://www.ils.unc.edu/DCHP/ (accessed February 6, 2005).
15. Northeast Document Conservation Center, Handbook for DigitalProjects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access (2000),http://www.nedcc.org/welcome/pubs.htm (accessed February 6,2005).
16. Amy Lynn Maroso, ‘‘Educating Future Digitizers: The IllinoisDigitization Institute’s Basics and Beyond Digitization TrainingProgram,’’ Library Hi-Tech (in press).
17. Amigos Library Services, ‘‘Course Catalog: Digital Imaging,’’(n2005), http://www.amigos.org/learning/catalog/shopping/?id=42 (accessed February 6, 2005).
18. OCLC CAPCON, ‘‘Browse Courses by Category,’’ (n2004),http://www.oclc.org/capcon/training/courses/category/default.htm(accessed February 6, 2005).
19. Dan Albertson, ‘‘Developing a Digital Libraries EducationProgram’’ (JCDL Workshop Invitation, May 12, 2005), http://
532 The Journal of Academic Librarianship
infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/arc/diglib/2005-05/msg00026.html(accessed May 30, 2005).
20. Electronic Resource Preservation and Access Network (ERPA-NET), ‘‘About ERPANET,’’ (n2002–2004), http://www.erpanet.org/about.php (accessed February 6, 2005).
21. Seamus Ross, ‘‘The Role of ERPANET in Supporting DigitalCuration and Preservation in Europe,’’ D-Lib Magazine 10 (July/August 2004), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july04/ross/07ross.html(accessed February 6, 2005).
22. Ibid., p. 4.23. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), ‘‘Librarians for
the 21st Century’’ (n.d.), http://www.imls.gov/grants/library/lib_bdre.htm (accessed January 29, 2005).
24. Michelle Drain and Hui Sheng, Guide to Digital LibraryEducation (Department of Information and Library Science,Southern Connecticut State University, n1996–2003), http://home.southernct.edu/~shengh1/dled/index.htm (accessed February6, 2005).
25. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), IMLS Awardsover $19 Million to Nation’s Museums and Libraries in SecondGrant Round for FY2004 (July 15, 2004), http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/071404.htm (accessed February 6, 2005).
26. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Over $14.7Million to Recruit New Librarians for 21st Century: FederalGrants Help Offset Looming National Shortage of LibraryProfessionals’’ (Press Release, July 13, 2004), http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/071304-3.htm (accessed February 6, 2005).
27. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), April 2004Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st CenturyGrant Announcement (n.d.), http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/stategrants0704lib.htm (accessed February 6, 2005).
28. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), ‘‘July 2004Continuing Education, Curriculum Development, and TrainingGrant Announcement’’ (n.d.), http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/stategrants0704et.htm (accessed February 6, 2005).
29. Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, ‘‘Developing a DigitalLibraries Education Program,’’ Joint Conference on DigitalLibraries 2005 (n.d.), http://www.jcdl2005.org/workshops.html(accessed May 30, 2005).
30. Copies of selected handouts from the first workshop on ‘‘Devel-oping a Digital Libraries Education Program,’’ held June 7, 2005,are available at http://lair.indiana.edu/research/dlib/jcdl05/index.php (accessed June 20, 2005).
31. Spinazze et al., p. 6.32. The Library of Congress: American Memory, ‘‘About American
Memory: Technical Information,’’ (various dates), http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ftpfiles.html (accessed February 6, 2005).
33. Spink and Cool.34. Saracevik and Dalbello.35. Presentation slides for ‘‘Research on Education for Digital
Librarians’’ and the Indiana University/University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign presentations, available at http://lair.indiana.edu/research/dlib/jcdl05/index.php, provide more detail regardingthese ongoing research studies (accessed June 30, 2005).