Some of the responses already bring up other issues to think about:It's not
just the digitization rig and the accompanying software. Once you have
something that handles the production end, you have to manage all of the
files.And, if you want them to be accessible, you have to have a way to capture
and manage the image metadata.Both of these things can be costly. Do people
have the network space for hundreds or thousands of images? Do they have an
effective backup system to protect the files? How are people to going to gain
access to the files, both to manage them and as end users? If you really want
an effective turn key system, it can't just be the digitization rig -- it's got
to take into account what happens downstream. I know the Mellon Foundation has
been supporting some open source solutions on the data side. Are you
envisioning one of these dovetailing with the "hardware/software" package
you're talking about here?Deb WytheBrooklyn MuseumDigital Collections and
Services deborahwythe at hotmail.com > Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 18:06:10 -0400>
From: CJM at mellon.org> To: mcn-l at mcn.edu> Subject: [MCN-L] Low-cost
digitization rig> > Hi all; I'm writing today on behalf of Mellon's IT funding
program (not> our Museums and Art Conservation Program, which is a different
entity).> We're looking at an opportunity to fund a different kind of
digitization> project, and I wonder if I could ask for your thoughts about its
likely> usefulness in the museum/cultural heritage communities?> > What
we've got in mind is a digitization rig for small or medium-sized> 2D
digitization projects. The project would use off-the-shelf hardware> and open
source software, packaged carefully to be extremely easy to set> up and use,
even with no prior training. It would be able to handle> almost any kind of 2D
material up to a certain size (books, flat pages,> images) non-destructively,
would OCR the results, and would then deliver> the documents as special,
searchable PDFs that could reformat for any> display devices (i.e., the text
would 'flow' so that you could, e.g.,> read on your iPhone without having to
scroll side-to-side or flip> pages). Let me emphasize that it would be built to
be operated by people> with no digitization training whatsoever: staff,
volunteers, students,> etc. > > The system would be easy to set up and
self-calibrating; it would use> pairs of consumer-grade cameras ($250-500) from
any of several> manufacturers. The software would run on any standard PC or
laptop> (Mac/Win/Lin), support one-button operation, provide automatic page>
de-warping, include automatic OCR, allow computer-assisted addition of>
metadata, and otherwise be set up to produce professional quality output> even
when used by complete amateurs. We anticipate the final cost of all> hardware
and software (including the cameras and PC or laptop to run> everything), to be
sub-$2,000. > > As you can infer from the above, this is not a system for
digitizing> fine art at very high resolution, but it is a curation-quality>
digitization system for text, whether diaries or handbills in a> historical
society or books in a museum library. Our goal is to bring> digitization to the
"Long Tail" of smaller collections out there in the> world that are of
potential cultural significance but where the likely> audience is not large
enough to attract the big, for-profit> digitizers--or where the value or
fragility is such that the works could> not leave the institution to be
scanned. Think of it as "Google Books> for the Rest of Us...." :-)> > I'd
really appreciate the thoughts of those of you who know museums and> cultural
heritage organizations well, on three separable questions:> > 1. Does anyone
know of any other project, currently available or in> development, that might
deliver the same functionality and> price-performance?> > 2. If we build this,
will institutions come? Are there many institutions> out there with collections
(including museum libraries) that their> leaders would like to digitize, and
which have labor (in some form)> available to do the work, but for which the
capital costs, expertise> requirements, or other challenges of the current
technology are the> limiting factor?> > 3. If institutions do take advantage of
this service, will they make the> resulting content freely available? (I'm not
looking to rehash barriers> like copyright, but rather to solicit
information/thoughts that bear on> the *willingness* of museums and cultural
heritage organizations to> publish such content freely.)> > Two logistical
matters. First, may I ask that replies go to the list> unless you really need
confidentiality? I'd like to get as many> different views as possible,
including responses-to-responses. Second,> please note that I'm soliciting
feedback on these questions, not> proposals or offers to be a test site. If we
do move forward, I think we> may indeed want to invite institutions to become
test sites, but if so> I'll be back in touch via the MCN list: I'm not prepared
to start a> wait-list today. > > (I'm also asking these questions of our
friends in the library and arts> communities, so apologies in advance for any
redundancy in your inboxes> :-)> > Thanks! --Chris> > Christopher J. Mackie>
Associate Program Officer> Research in Information Technology> The Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation> --> 282 Alexander Rd.> Princeton, NJ 08540> --> 140 E. 62nd
St.> New York, NY 10065 > --> +1 609.924.9424 (office: GMT - 5:00)> +1
609.933.1877 (mobile)> +1 646.274.6351 (fax)> cjmackie06 @ AIM> cjmackie5 @
Yahoo> --> http://rit.mellon.org; http://www.mellon.org> > >
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