GUIDE: List of ancient correspondence of the Chancery and Exchequer preserved in the Public Record Office. List and Index Society, v. 15; Van Pelt Library Stacks: CD1040 .A25 no.15.
DESCRIPTION: "This set contains more than 12,400 individual documents spanning the reigns of King John to King Henry VII and includes State papers; correspondence of kings, bishops, Popes, knights, noblemen, royal servants, and Lord Chancellors, and medieval and other records. Topics covered by this collection include: the diplomatic relations between Britain and France; the political struggles between king and barons; ecclesiastical elections; sieging of castles; packing of wool; trading; escapes from imprisonment; protection of lepers; enclosures; keeping of servants and falcons; and even the slowness of letters in transit. It is a useful source for the study of economic, military, diplomatic, ecclesiastical, social and literary history. The originals are part of the records of the PRO Special Collections (PRO S.C. 1/1-64)."
Available from the Center for Research Libraries Through interlibrary loan.

Brighton, Sussex, England : Harvester Press Microform Publications, 1985.
GUIDE: Reference Folder #282, available from the Center for Research Libraries through Interlibrary Loan.
DESCRIPTION: The Center has received microfilm for the following parts: part 1: Arundel-Cotton Nero; part 2: Cotton Otho-Cotton Roll; part 3: Egerton-Lansdowne; part 4: Royal-Add. Roll.
Available from the Center for Research Libraries through Interlibrary Loan.

Cambridge, United Kingdom : Chadwyck-Healey, 1988.
GUIDE: Martin, G. H. The Husting rolls of deeds and wills, 1252-1485: guide to the microform edition. E-8613.
DESCRIPTION: This set contains transcripts of more than 22,600 deeds and testaments disposing of real property from the Court of Husting, the principal court of medieval London. The deeds specify details of the property, names of owners and tenants and other information about individual properties, streets, markets and other features of London.
Available through ILL from the Center for Research Libraries.

From the Cambridge University Library. Chronicles, genealogies, letters and other documents related to land, law, politics and religion.
Available through Interlibrary Loan from the Center for Research Libraries.

Brighton, Sussex, England : Harvester, 1985-.
GUIDE: British literary manuscripts from the British Library. Van Pelt Reference: Z6621.B86 E5 1984.
DESCRIPTION: This set includes material from the Sloane collection. Entries from the British Library's catalogs of manuscripts precede each reel. Prominent works include four texts of The Canterbury Tales (Sloane 1685, 1686; Add. MSS. 5140, 35286), The Legende of Good Women (Add. MS. 12044) and Troilus and Cresseid (Add. MS. 12044). There is also a rich cache of religious and devotional material. CRL owns Parts 1-2 of this Series.
Available through interlibrary loan from the Center for Research Libraries.

London : T. C. Hansard, 1806-20.
This set covers 1066 to 1803. It is also known as Cobbet's parliamentary history of England from the earliest period to the year 1803.
Available through interlibrary loan from the Center for Research Libraries.

GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Guide to the historical and archaeological publications of societies in England and Wales, 1901-1933. [This is the guide to publications of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, which are not included in Texts and calendars.] Van Pelt Reference: Z5055.G6 M8.
GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Texts and calendars: an analytical guide to serial publications. Van Pelt Reference: Z2016 .M8.
GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Texts and calendars II : an analytical guide to serial publications, 1957-1982. Publications of the English record societies and the Index Library on microfiche : analytical catalogue listing the title and price of more than 1300 volumes. Van Pelt Reference Z1003.M6P976.
DESCRIPTION: This microfiche set reproduces the texts and calendars issued in general collections or in series by English local societies, both public and private, that are listed in the Mullins' guides listed above. The originals (with a few exceptions) are part of the Library of the Royal Historical Society. The microfiche set is arranged by the Mullins' number assigned to each society. The publications of each society are or will be cataloged separately in CRLCATALOG.
Available through Interlibrary Loan from the Center for Research Libraries through interlibrary Loan. Many series are already owned by the Penn Libraries. Search for each series in Franklin to see if we own it.

GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Guide to the historical and archaeological publications of societies in England and Wales, 1901-1933. [This is the guide to publications of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, which are not included in Texts and calendars.] Van Pelt Reference: Z5055.G6 M8.
GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Texts and calendars: an analytical guide to serial publications. Van Pelt Reference: Z2016 .M8.
GUIDE: Mullins, E.L.C. (Edward Lindsay Carson). Texts and calendars II : an analytical guide to serial publications, 1957-1982. Publications of the English record societies and the Index Library on microfiche : analytical catalogue listing the title and price of more than 1300 volumes. Van Pelt Reference Z1003.M6P976.
DESCRIPTION: This microfiche set reproduces the texts and calendars issued in general collections or in series by English local societies, both public and private, that are listed in the Mullins' guides listed above. The originals (with a few exceptions) are part of the Library of the Royal Historical Society. The microfiche set is arranged by the Mullins' number assigned to each society. The publications of each society are or will be cataloged separately in CRLCATALOG.
Available through Interlibrary Loan from the Center for Research Libraries through interlibrary Loan. Many series are already owned by the Penn Libraries. Search for each series in Franklin to see if we own it.

This set of 27 microfilm reels reproduces the collection in the Newberry Library and is available through interlibrary loan from the Center for Research Libraries. The set includes ephemeral materials that reflect the politics of a period of religious wars and the establishment of the absolute monarchy. The set is arranged chronologically by pamphlet publication date. An Index to the reels is also available from CRL through interlibrary loan.
Microfilm set and guide available from CRL through ILL. Also see French political pamphlets, 1547-1648; a catalog of major collections in American libraries at Van Pelt Library Stacks: Z2177.5 .L54

French site providing access to digitized manuscripts from institutions accross France.

Project Management

p. 93 -- Illustration of a simple management structure that can be used by digitization projects and programs of any size

It is essential to have a single project manager who is responsible for the project, overseeing its daily management. In most cases the project manager provides the necessary project management experience, supplemented by internal or external advice. An institution needs to assign both accountability and authority to the project manager position, to avoid the process being bogged down by myriad interactions with the advisory group or groups to deal with daily operations.

The Digitization Process

Digitization Project Workflow chart

Outsourcing
Outsourcing is an attractive option for some institutions because the expense of an in-house digitization project can be considerable if the required infrastructure is not present. It may be the only possibility for institutions wishing to digitize unusual or over-sized materials (large architectural drawings, maps, or poster collections).

Cost Analysis and Impact on Institution

Digitization projects are exciting to undertake. Often times it represents a change of pace from the day-to-day work that you do, and there is a lot of room for creativity! However, it is important to understand up front what a digitization project "costs" and what the impact on your institution will be. Below is a table that covers the different kinds of "costs" that exist with digitization projects. Many of these expenses will be things that you already have, as discovered in your needs analysis. However, remember that resources that are allocated to a digital project are still an expense because they are diverted from their current work. This is especially true with staff time, which is often overlooked as a "cost" for a digital project.

Procurement and outsourcing

• Make sure you allow plenty of time to procure products or services, especially if you have to undertake procurement via OJEU (Official Journal of the European Communities)
• Where you are outsourcing work you must still have sufficient grasp of the technical details and standards to ensure that you get what you need
• Be absolutely clear about what the price covers and how it breaks down – you need to ensure that everything you require is included and you may discover some elements of the work that you could more cheaply undertake yourself
• When outsourcing, make sure you put in place proper agreements with agreed timescales and penalty clauses, quality assurance standards and procedures, and reporting requirements
• Be very clear about who owns the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for any work being undertaken by an outside organisation – ensure you are given an appropriate licence or assignment of rights

Staffing
In practice, many digital imaging projects will not have unique staff working on the project, but will utilize existing staff from other areas in the organization, student assistants or volunteers. It may benefit the project coordinator(s) to look at "transferable skills" that project staff members already possess that would be useful in any digitization project. Sufficient time for training, and opportunities to receive further education, should also be provided. Metadata creation and operating high-end scanners and/or digital cameras are labor-intensive activities.

Digitization projects require a combination of skills from a variety of staff with different areas of expertise. The following areas and skills may be important to any digitization project:

• Project management skills
• Knowledge of cataloging, registration methods or metadata schema
• Familiarity with conservation methods
• Understanding of photographic techniques and methods
• Subject matter specialists (curators, archivists, scholars, librarians, faculty, etc.)
• Database development and administration skills
• Computer programming skills
• Web design and development skills
• Artistic/graphic design skills

By nature, digitization projects require a team approach, bringing together diverse sets of skills from different areas of the organization, perhaps more than any other project. Administration, technical services staff, cataloging specialists, the information technology department, subject specialists, curators, librarians, preservation/conservation staff, faculty and others may all be involved.
Sample project staff and their roles:

• Project Manager
• Selector, Conservator, Preparations Technician
• Cataloger, Metadata Analyst
• Scanning Technician or Photographer, Quality Control Technician
• Programmer or other Database Developer to integrate metadata and images
• Systems Administrator, Network Administrator
• User Interface Developer or Designer
  

In-house or Outsource?
Every organization should carefully consider the pros and cons of outsourcing digitization projects or conducting them in-house.  For projects being considered for outsourced digitization, a vist to vendor facilities is recommended to ensure that the workspaces provided meet the criteria above.
Following are some points to consider for both strategies:
In-house pros:

In-house cons:

Outsourcing pros:

Outsourcing cons:

Costs
It is difficult to predict just how much a digital imaging project is actually going to cost, and little hard data on the cost, cost effectiveness and costs over time of digital projects is readily available. Generally, capture and conversion of data often comprises only one-third of the total costs, while cataloging, description and indexing comprise two-thirds of the total costs. Upfront and ongoing costs can be significant, and economic advantage may be better realized through collaborative initiatives or cooperative/regional digitization initiatives, where costs, resources, goals and expertise can be shared. Initial investment in equipment, staff training, capture and conversion, handling, storing and housing originals, producing derivative files, cataloging, building the image database system and developing web interfaces are all possible areas of cost for any digitization project. However, the costs of a project do not end after conversion. Some ongoing costs that an institution must commit to include the costs of maintaining data and systems over time, including media migration costs and infrastructure costs.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STAFFING
    All digital library projects at the UM Libraries are coordinated through the office of Digital Collections
and Research which, in turn, draws on the skills and expertise of individuals throughout the library as
appropriate. Generally, the head of DCR, in conjunction with key personnel, will decide who will
comprise the project team. Once a project is accepted by DCR, content holders should build project
time into their Work Plans, or, indeed, the Work Plans of their Team or Unit, if it is anticipated that
the project will draw on staff beyond the content expert or archivist.
    Projects under DCR's supervision typically range from six months to two years, with five months to
one year the optimal project timeframe. Of course, as mentioned elsewhere in this document, the
project is expected to continue utilizing local resources after this initial start-up phase, with minimal
input from the initial project team.
    Individuals wishing to pursue a project with DCR should be aware that during this start-up phase
there are periods of intense collaboration, with many aspects of the project moving forward
simultaneously. During these periods, it is essential that all those involved, particularly those from
the originating unit, be able to make work on the project a priority. This may involve negotiation with
the indivudual's supervisor and possibly a decision to delay the start of the project so that other unit
priorities are not impinged upon.

DIGITIZATION OPTIONS: IN-HOUSE VS. OUTSOURCING
    Both in-house and outsourced alternatives should be considered when embarking on a digitization
project. Whether to digitize in-house or via outsourcing depends on the scope, nature, fragility, and
uniqueness of the materials, on the project budget, and on in-house resources. Although some
materials may be unique and fragile, the project team may deem it necessary to outsource as the
most time-effective way to undertake the project. On the other hand, a project with scarce financial
resources may undertake to digitize over a longer period of time, using in-house resources as they
become available.
    Both options should be thoroughly investigated before undertaking a digitization project.

BUDGET
    The project budget may be the one of the most important strategic documents for a project team to
create. Not only should costs be considered for initial digitization and mounting in a repository, but a
strategy must be in place for continuing the project after the grant-funded project phase or after the
initial phase of working with DCR.

Indiana University Confluence Wiki -- link to Project Planning Process Overview document

1. Accepted Proposals: After review of preliminary proposals, the Digital Projects Review Committee will invite Project Managers of selected projects to develop full project plans. Projects that need external funding will be invited to develop full grant proposals which will require additional development of work plans and budgets. At this stage, the DLP staff will be available to assist Project Managers in the development of proposals and work plans, to recommend systems and services, and to provide technical specifications for the project.

2. Project Management: Over the past several years, the DLP has gained a great deal of experience in managing digital projects. Because the single largest success factor is project management at the unit level, each unit must designate a unit project manager. Coordinating with DLP staff, the unit project manager engages in project planning; documentation; coordination of unit staff, activities and scheduling; oversight and reporting. In this stage of the Digital Library Program's development, projects are collaborative in nature and are likely to entail participation in the planning and development of new systems and services with DLP staff. The position of project manager demands between 20% and 30% of the workweek, with an average of 10 hours/week. For projects of a large scope, management may require up to 50% of the Project Manager's time. As more systems and services become operational, the level of commitment in this area may change. To ensure project success, consult the Digital Library Program about the likely commitment required for specific projects and about options for hiring and/or sharing the responsibilities.

3. Meetings and Reports: The Digital Library Program staff and the Project Manager will meet regularly to assess project status and track progress. Most projects will meet bimonthly, but some short-term projects will require more frequent tracking. The appropriate number of meetings should be scheduled as part of the work plan.

Budgeting for Digital Capture -- TASI

How much should I budget for digital capture equipment?

What do I need to buy in addition to the camera?

Are there any other expenses I should be aware of?

Is it possible to rent digital photographic equipment?

Managing the Project -- TASI

Good project management is a key part of the success of any digitisation project. There are many diverse skills required within a well-managed digitisation project and the project manager will need both technical knowledge and project management skills to keep everything on track.

Managing the Workflow -- TASI

The building of a digital image collection is a complex process but it should, with careful planning and consideration at the outset, prove to be a straightforward one. To help determine each stage and the decisions to be made within that stage, it is useful to sit down with project stakeholders and staff to discuss the proposed workflow. Once agreement is reached on the key stages of the project and the tasks involved, these decisions should be carefully documented. They will form the backbone of the 'project specifications'.

It is useful to consider the workflow in two parts: the overall 'Project Workflow', which covers the large, general tasks that need to be undertaken for the project, many of them only once; and the 'Capture Workflow' which details the day-to-day procedures, such as clearing copyright or capturing, optimising and indexing the images.

Project Management for a Digitisation Project -- TASI

No two digitisation projects are the same. Each will vary in the type of materials being digitised, the timescale, budget, staff skills and project 'scope'. Some may be large collaborative ventures requiring frequent meetings and complex workflow control mechanisms; others will be small budget, independent projects, meeting the needs of a narrow user group. Consequently there are no off-the-shelf solutions, what follows are recommendations that can be adapted to your circumstances.

Digitisation: To Outsource or Not? -- TASI

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing

Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access

Stephen Chapman, Harvard

Considerations for Project Management

Librarians and archivists are experts at project management. They routinely process groups of materials in selection, processing, cataloging, and preservation workflows. Digital projects, however, create new challenges. Perhaps the most difficult challenge is establishing clear boundaries, particularly stopping points. Managers of several noteworthy projects have written about their experiences in creating collections that require constant modification to keep pace with improvements in technology (Thomas, 1998).

This is not to say that digital conversion projects cannot be well planned in advance and successfully managed to conclusion. Many questions and challenges can be anticipated, and much of the workflow can be structured as batch activities with predictable outcomes. The purpose of this chapter is to give managers a clear understanding of the decisions that are typically under their control so they can form effective strategies to design, fund, and manage digitization projects.

Project Planning: Creating a Plan of Work and Budget

Setting goals represents the thinking or brainstorming first phase of a project, and a good manager knows when to make the transition to planning, the second phase.

Costs

Costs are difficult to generalize due to the wide spectrum of digital processes and products. Even when source materials and digital reproductions are comparable, investments can vary considerably in activities such as project planning and management, as well as in the infrastructure to store and deliver digital objects.

Staff Roles for Digital Collection Building -- NJDH

There are three strategies for an organization to accommodate the different roles and skills needed for a digital library project. These three strategies are generally used in combination by successful digital collection projects:

In-house staffing: The benefits of in-house staffing are many, including maximum control of quality and quantity; the ability to set
and manage timetables; the ability to postpone or abandon a project if necessary; and the ability to completely customize the
project to support the needs of your organization and its users.

Outsourcing: There are many vendors who can provide components of digital collection building.

Collaborative Development: Another way to fill some of the requisite roles and expertise is to engage in collaborative development
with a consortium or organizational partner.

Staffing Roles: Staffing roles are provided in a chart, with an explanation of skills and recommendations for filling the roles.

IMLS -- NISO

See Initiatives section (starts on p. 86)

Initiatives Principle 1: A good digital initiative has a substantial design and planning component.
Initiatives Principle 2: A good digital initiative has an appropriate level of staffing with necessary expertise to achieve its objectives.
Initiatives Principle 3: A good digital initiative follows best practices for project management.
Initiatives Principle 4: A good digital initiative has an evaluation component.
Initiatives Principle 5: A good digital initiative markets itself and broadly disseminates information about the initiative's process and outcomes.
Initiatives Principle 6: A good digital initiative considers the entire lifecycle of the digital collection and associated services.

Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving and Presenting the Past on the Web -- Cohen & Rosenzweig

Assessing the Costs of Conversion: Making of America IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3
The University of Michigan Making of America 4
Conversion methods and process 5
Content Selection 5
Basic Principles of Conversion 6
Some notes on interpreting costs 8
Overview of digitization activities: 10
Details of digitization activities: 10
Retrieval and charging out of volumes 10
Identification, collation and repair/disbinding/packing 11
Issues with missing pages 13
Scanning and CD creation 13
Quality control and metadata creation 14
Sampling issues in QC 16
OCR and SGML generation 18
Costs of conversion: Real and Possible 19
Per-page costs 19
Side by side comparison of fours costs: total for project, three month average one year into project, best
month, and sum of component 20
A technical infrastructure to deliver digital library texts: Issues of equipment, implementation and
long-term viability 20
Data Loading 20
Online implementation by collection coordinator 21
The XPAT Search Engine and the Textclass delivery system 21
Hardware and Attention to Issues of Long Term Viability 22
Appendix 1: Cost Calculation Spreadsheets 23
Appendix 2: The Variability of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Costs 26
Appendix 3: TIFF Header Specifications 28
Appendix 4: Preparation and QC Staff Descriptions 29
Appendix 5: Resources for Project Planning and Costing 30
Appendix 6: MOA DTD 31
Appendix 7: RFP 33

Digitisation: Strategic and Management Issues -- Smith, HEDS

p. 4:

The costs of digital preservation

~ The added cost of creating data that can be preserved

~ Review and migration of data

~ Data storage space and staff to run it

The costs of not using digital preservation

~ The expense of writing off a product after a short number of years

~ The risk of needing specialist skills to retrieve your data

~ The risk of having to do it all again

Digitisation: How much does it really cost? -- Tanner & Smith

~ What makes up a digitisation project and what are the major cost factors?

~ How will the factors such as the choice of original and the technical specification effect costs?

~ Some reasons for choosing whether to outsource or use in-house resources.

~ Examples of comparative costs between the two approaches.

SUNY Buffalo -- bibliography of Resources for Digitization

The Costs of Digital Imaging Projects -- Steven Puglia

Analyzing Digitization Costs
What are digital imaging projects really going to cost? Each project will be different, but we are starting to gather data that can be used as a reference to determine whether specific project costs are "in the ballpark." Tables 1-5 present both estimated and actual costs and percentages from a number of different projects.

Ongoing and Maintenance Costs
Only a few models for estimating the costs for maintaining digital images and data have been published, and they vary considerably.

Rome : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1960-.
Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: CT1123 .D5 Second copy in Rare Book and Manuscript Library.