FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 2008 ************************** MELLON GRANT SUPPORTS EXPANSION OF NEDCC'S DIGITIZATION SERVICES *********************************
THE NORTHEAST DOCUMENT CONSERVATION CENTER (NEDCC), in Andover, Massachusetts, announces that it has received a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to expand its digitization services. The goals of the initiative are to provide a broader range of digitizing capabilities for libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies and to strengthen NEDCC's position as a center for digital expertise. The grant will help support the costs of staff, equipment, and consultants to help with market research and planning. IN KEEPING WITH ITS PRESERVATION MISSION, the focus of NEDCC's digitization services is on the sustainability and preservation of digital collections. It specializes in making high quality images of materials that require special handling, such as oversize materials, art works, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and photographs. Scanning historic x-rays in museum conservation labs has also been identified as an area of potential growth. Digitization of historical materials at NEDCC is often performed in conjunction with conservation treatment of the original materials. The addition of digital services will reinforce and realign the Center's preservation services for the digital age. BY ADDING DIGITAL EXPERTISE TO ITS STAFF, NEDCC aims to integrate the production services of its digitization lab with its conferences and workshops as well as to develop further its consultations and surveys of the digital preservation needs of institutions. "NEDCC's clients have historically benefited from our Center's one-stop-shopping opportunities, including conservation treatment of original artifacts, film-based reformatting, training, and consultations," commented NEDCC's Director Ann Russell. "Now we can begin to offer one-stop-shopping for building digital collections." While NEDCC does not intend to offer long-term storage services, it plans to expand its one-on-one advisory services to help clients navigate the array of standards and specifications for digital reformatting and help them evaluate products and services for managing and storing their digital files. AS A NON-PROFIT, COOPERATIVE PRESERVATION CENTER, NEDCC'S MISSION is to help cultural institutions improve their preservation programs. Its services include paper, book, and photograph conservation; preservation microfilming, photographic duplication, and digitization of visual materials; workshops, conferences, disaster assistance, surveys, and consultations. For more information, visit NEDCC's Web site at www.nedcc.org. NEDCC IS EAGER TO HEAR FROM POTENTIAL USERS OF ITS SERVICES about their unmet digitization needs. TO DISCUSS A DIGITIZATION PROJECT, contact: Victoria Ellis, at vellis at nedcc.org or David Joyall, at davidj at nedcc.org, or call 978/470-1010. TO REQUEST INFORMATION ABOUT UPCOMING WORKSHOPS OR CONFERENCES contact: Julie Martin Carlson at jcarlson at nedcc.org.
