An Overview of Planning and Implementing Large-Scale Digitization

This document outlines the steps and considerations for planning and implementing a large-scale digitization project. This document was given to the participants who attended the Nevada Statewide Large-Scale Digitization Workshop on May 18, 2018 held at UNLV Libraries

Digital Preservation Efforts at UNLV Libraries

A discussion of UNLV’s current digital preservation environment and our recent investigations of the digital preservation software suites Archives Direct and Preservica

Developing Scan-And-Return Collecting at UNLV Libraries

This presentation discusses how UNLV is providing access to primarysources that would otherwise remain in the hands of private individuals.Through their innovative “scan and return” process, UNLV is borrowingimportant historical documents, digitizing them, and then returning theoriginals to the owners. The digital surrogates become available throughUNLV’s Digital Collections

Getting to Know Digital Collections Users

Use and user studies can provide valuable information to archivists and librarians who wish to improve their services and systems. However, studying the use and users of digital archival collections can be challenging. This study describes the methods and findings of a study conducted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to explore questions such as, who is using UNLV Digital Collections? How are they using the materials? What are their user interface preferences? Are they satisfied? The methods used include web analytics, an online survey, and interviews. The author shares lessons learned to aid other repositories in designing and implementing digital collections assessments. The findings reveal some consistencies with past studies in user preferences over time and across different user and collection types. Study participants desired intuitive but customizable interfaces and searching and browsing functionality. They wanted the ability to easily and quickly understand the scope of the collections, and to efficiently review search results. Support for downloading high resolution files, citing materials, and creating personal collections was also apparent. Overall, study participants indicated that they are satisfied with UNLV Digital Collections, but this type of research can contribute to improvements that could attract new users and expand the reach of digital collections

Scan-and-Return as Part of the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project

This presentation describes the implementation of Scan-and-Returnas part of the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project for creating access tovaluable local Jewish community documentation, while developing appropriateguidelines and procedures for acquiring and returning originals anddescribing and preserving digital surrogates

Review of risk from potential emerging contaminants in UK groundwater

This paper provides a review of the types of emerging organic groundwater contaminants (EGCs) which are beginning to be found in the UK. EGCs are compounds being found in groundwater that were previously not detectable or known to be significant and can come from agricultural, urban and rural point sources. EGCs include nanomaterials, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial compounds, personal care products, fragrances, water treatment by-products, flame retardants and surfactants, as well as caffeine and nicotine. Many are relatively small polar molecules which may not be effectively removed by drinking water treatment. Data from the UK Environment Agency’s groundwater screening programme for organic pollutants found within the 30 most frequently detected compounds a number of EGCs such as pesticide metabolites, caffeine and DEET. Specific determinands frequently detected include pesticides metabolites, pharmaceuticals including carbamazepine and triclosan, nicotine, food additives and alkyl phosphates. This paper discusses the routes by which these compounds enter groundwater, their toxicity and potential risks to drinking water and the environment. It identifies challenges that need to be met to minimise risk to drinking water and ecosystems

Assessing Large-scale Digitization Using Web Analytics

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the use of digital collections created via the large-scale digitization of archival collections. The large-scale digitization method specifically examined is the reuse of archival description from finding aids to create digital collections that consist mainly of compound digital objects, equivalent to a folder of items, minimally described at the aggregate level. This article compares web analytics data for two large-scale digital collections and one digital collection with rich, item-level description. Design/methodology/approach: This study analyzed one year of web analytics for three digital collections. The main research question of this study is: Are digital collections of minimally described compound objects used less than digital collections of richly described single objects? Findings: This study found that the large-scale digital collections analyzed received less use than the traditional item-level collection, when examined at the item-level. At the object-level, the largescale collections did not always receive less use than the traditional item-level collection. Originality: This article is unique because it employs web analytics to compare the use of large-scale digital collections to the use of traditional boutique digital collection

Microfilm, Manuscripts, and Photographs: A Case Study Comparing Three Large-Scale Digitization Projects

This article is a case study comparing three large-scale digitization projects at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries: the Culinary Union Workers Local 226 Photographs, the Nevada Digital Newspaper Project, and the Entertainment Project. The authors compare the project management, workflows, and decision-making related to the many aspects of digitizing special collections and archives materials. The projects used both outsourced vendors and in-house labor and equipment to digitize microfilmed newspapers, mixed-materials manuscript collections, and photographic prints and negatives. Roles and responsibilities; grant funding; copyright, privacy, and confidentiality; arrangement; formats; and metadata are all discussed in relation to large-scale digitization

Say Yes to Digital Surrogates: Strengthening the Archival Record in the Postcustodial Era

Shein and Lapworth demonstrate how employing “scan-and-return” practices to strengthen and diversify archival collections is a creative and responsible way to provide researchers with equitable and ongoing access to a more inclusive and democratic historical record. The authors review some of the main archival theories and practices of the postcustodial era to show how their position is built on professional values and widely-accepted premises. They explain how and why UNLV Special Collections has joined a community of practice that validates stewardship of digital surrogates in support of the preeminent mandate of archives to preserve and provide broad access to cultural history. The theoretical discourse is followed by real-world examples and practical considerations related to collecting digital surrogates, including locally-developed guidelines and procedures, positive outcomes, and concerns that were raised and addressed along the way

The Archives at the Tip of Their Fingers: Exploring User Reactions to Large-Scale Digitization

Advances in digital image capture technology and the adoption of More Product, Less Process methods have resulted in special collections and archives large- scale digitization that creates a new kind of digital surrogate. Mirroring and reusing aggregate archival arrangement and description, these digital surrogates represent multiple items and are minimally described as a whole. The authors conducted interviews to explore user reactions to this digitization method at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This study found that large-scale digitization does have a positive impact for users, although additional strategies may be required to maximize the usefulness of the resulting digital objects