Digital Collections and Archives: Digitization

Introduction

FLVC unlocks the world of digital archiving for members with a comprehensive Digitization in a Box set, available for in-house use at member libraries! Each set includes everything a library needs to digitize collections safely and efficiently. This effort increases the capacity of FLVC libraries across the state to digitize their local history and resources. The program includes a circulating collection of scanning equipment to digitize photos, documents, and slides.

Digitization in a Box’s contents are designed to make archive creation more accessible and give member communities the resources they need to begin sharing their stories digitally. This program provides libraries with access to scanning resources without having to invest in costly equipment and was designed to increase the capacity of FLVC’s libraries to digitize, provide access to, and preserve their local history collections. Participants work toward a shared goal of creating, maintaining, and expanding a successful and thriving statewide system that provides access to Florida’s digital collections and archives.

FLVC's Digitization in a Box program enables sustainable digital accessibility, cultural heritage resource exchange, incorporation of materials from a spectrum of locations and viewpoints, and research support for individuals seeking information and resources related to Florida’s history and unique communities.

Program Purpose

The Digitization in a Box Project allows FLVC Member Libraries to borrow scanning equipment, a laptop, and software from FLVC to start a new digitization project. Staff from institutions who participate in this program will be provided virtual training from DS+OER staff on best practices of scanning, workflows, metadata, and promotion. The purpose of this new program is to encourage members to make available digital collections to support the educational, research, and informational needs of our community members. Collections will need to be made searchable through the Florida Open Academic Library (FOAL) and may be made available to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Members may elect to host content with FLVC through our FL Islandora 2.0 platform.

The Digitization in a Box Project allows institutions with limited resources an opportunity to highlight their unique collections. Equipment will be loaned for 6 months with virtual training and set-up; this program is available to FLVC member libraries, which includes all 40 public post-secondary colleges and universities.  Many of which partner with local archives, historical societies, culture centers, and museums.

Digitization outcomes will provide members with increased access and preservations of their unique and special collections. Libraries, museums, and archives often have photographs, newspapers, local histories, maps, institutional records, and/or genealogical documents that could reach a wider audience if digitized and made available online. Digitizing collections is not only a great way to increase access to member’s materials it also engages patrons on a whole new level and helps communicate the library's value. This model of support builds on the success of several ongoing public library system-driven projects.

Note: Digitization in a box should be returned to the FLVC Tallahassee office once the loan period ends.  Send a message to help@flvc.org when you are ready to return the materials, and a DS + OER team member will give you the address and contact person at FLVC.

Contacts

Rebel Cummings-Sauls, rsauls@flvc.org

Elisabeth Ball, eball@flvc.org

Dedicated, permanent staff can be a critical first piece of a new program.  Temporary or student staffing should be used to support and not manage this type of service.  If you must rely on temporary staffing it is crucial to document the workflow and decisions, including where digital files are stored, which type of file you created (i.e. master, access, edited), content rights, use permissions, and all contracts/paperwork.

Can we use existing facilities/staff, or do we need to hire?

Dive into Digital

CARLI and FLVC were pleased to host the Summer Digitization Series: Dive into Digital!

Together we spent Wednesdays in June and July learning about integrating AI into digital collections, understanding the journey of transforming analog resources into digital formats, and attending showcases of four spectacular digitization projects at Northwestern University Libraries, University of Chicago Library, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Integrating AI into Digital Collections: Strategy and Practice at Yale Library

June 11, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

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Mike Appleby, Director of Software Engineering, and Jonathan Manton, Director of Digital Special Collections and Access at Yale Library, will explore the thoughtful integration of artificial intelligence into Yale Library’s digital collections ecosystem. 

Mike will introduce a prototype application, Digital Collections AI, which leverages large language models (LLMs) to analyze OCR-transcribed texts from Yale’s digitized collections. This tool can rapidly summarize content, extract entities such as people, places, and subjects, and even perform stylistic analyses, thereby enhancing researchers' ability to explore and interpret vast amounts of digitized material.

Jonathan will provide strategic context, outlining how this tool aligns with Yale Library’s broader goals for responsible innovation and sustainable stewardship of the library’s digital collections. Together, they will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of embedding AI in cultural heritage workflows, offering insights for institutions navigating similar paths.

This webinar began the Summer Digitization Series: Dive into Digital, a joint effort of FLVC and CARLI to share digitization programming on Wednesdays in June and July.

Speakers: 

Michael Appleby is the Director of Software Engineering in Library Information Technology at Yale University Library.  His previous roles at Yale include Head of Information Technology at the Yale Center for British Art, and Associate Director in Yale's Information Technology Services unit.  He is also an editor of the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) technical specifications.  Michael has an M.Phil. in Classics from Yale.

Jonathan Manton is Director of Digital Special Collections and Access, for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, at Yale University. In this role he leads a unit that provides leadership, services and strategic direction that facilitates access to digitized and born digital special collections content across Yale Library. Jonathan’s previous roles include Associate Director for Special Collections at the Gilmore Music Library at Yale University. In this role he oversaw Music Special Collections (including Historical Sound Recordings and Oral History of American Music) at Yale, including arrangement and description, preservation, digitization, access, research services, and exhibits. Before joining Yale, Jonathan was Sound Archives Librarian at Stanford University's Archive of Recorded Sound. Jonathan serves on the Executive Committee of the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) consortium. Jonathan received his MSc in Information and Library Management from the School of Computing, Engineering, and Information Sciences at the University of Northumbria, UK and MMus in Electroacoustic Music and Sonic Arts from the University of East Anglia, UK.

From Analog to Digital: The Journey of Digitization

July 2, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

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Slides | Handout

This presentation explores the transformative journey from physical to digital formats, using the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida as a case study. We will walk through the step-by-step digitization process, from selection and preparation to capture, metadata creation, and long-term digital access. Attendees will gain insight into the key tools and technologies that power modern digitization workflows. The session will also highlight critical questions institutions should ask before launching a digitization project—such as identifying priorities, planning for scalability, and ensuring accessibility. Whether you're just beginning or refining your digitization strategy, this session offers practical guidance rooted in real-world experience.

Speaker:

Laura Perry is the Head of Digital Services at the University of Florida, where she leads a team dedicated to the digitization and digital preservation of scholarly and cultural heritage materials. In this role, she oversees the ingestion of content into the UF Digital Collections (UFDC) and the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), ensuring broad access to digital resources that support research and education. 

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology and brings over fifteen years of experience in program management and digital services. Her work continues to advance the accessibility, sustainability, and impact of digital collections in academic and global contexts.

Digitization at the National Archives

July 9, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

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Denise Henderson will discuss the history of the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA’s) digitization program, including the design and creation of a state-of-the-art Digitization Center at the agency’s College Park facility. She will also highlight some of the major digitization projects that NARA has undertaken to make more records available online and available to everyone.

Speaker:

Denise Henderson,  is the Director of Digitization for Research Services at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In her role, Denise coordinates digitization efforts in Research Services to align with NARA's strategic goals and initiatives. These efforts include centralized mass digitization projects involving Research Services holdings, including textual, special media, and microfilm materials. From 2011 to 2018, Ms. Henderson worked in NARA's Office of Innovation in various roles. From 2007 to 2011, Ms. Henderson was a processing Archivist in the Textual Services Division where she successfully completed the Archivist Development Program (ADP) in 2010 before attending the Archives Leadership Institute in 2011. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Masters of Library Science with a focus on archives in December 2006.

Digitization Projects Showcase 1

July 16, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

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The CARLI Preservation Committee is delighted to showcase digitization projects at Illinois libraries as part of the Summer Digitization Webinar Series: Dive into Digital in partnership with the Florida Virtual Campus. 

Project 1: “Using Multispectral Imaging to Augment Digitized West African Manuscripts” presented by Stephanie Gowler and Nicole Finzer, Northwestern University Libraries

The Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University Libraries (NUL) is home to over 3,000 Arabic script materials from West Africa. The size, scope and uniqueness of these collections, along with increasing global scholarly interest, make them a priority for conservation and digitization. The NUL Preservation Department has begun capturing multispectral images (MSI) of the collections using a VSC®80 forensic questioned document examination workstation.  The VSC®80 allows us to quickly and consistently capture and annotate a wide range of MSI which make visible watermarks, inks, evidence of burnishing, and other materiality of the manuscripts.  These MSI are being integrated into the digital repository alongside the digitized West African manuscripts and offer new avenues for research. This talk will highlight the collaborative efforts to treat, re-house, and image Paden 417 (مختصر في فروع المالكية), a copy of the “Mukhtasar” of Khalil b. Ishaq b. Musa al-Jundi, a fourteenth-century handbook of Maliki legal principles.

Project 2: “Collaborative Preservation at the Crossroads of Science and History: Digitizing the Barnard Atlas” presented by Christina Miranda, University of Chicago Library

The Yerkes Observatory Glass Plates Digitization Project at the University of Chicago Library highlights the unique intersection of scientific and historical significance in its collection of historical astronomy glass slides. Christina Miranda will discuss strategies to support astronomy researchers and historians through thoughtful digital preservation and enhanced access to the glass slides featured in Edward Emerson Barnard’s A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way, commonly known as the "Barnard Atlas."

Speakers:

Stephanie Gowler is the Book & Paper Conservator for Northwestern University Libraries.

Nicole Finzer is the Lead Digital Projects & Outreach Librarian for Northwestern University Libraries.

Christina Miranda is the Head of Digitization at the University of Chicago Library, overseeing all preservation digitization activities. Her work focuses on building digital collections that preserve and enhance access to the Library's physical collections. Christina holds an MS in Historic Preservation with specializations in Digital Cultural Heritage and Recordation. In 2023, she led the digitization efforts for the NEH Mapping Chicagoland grant, ensuring the preservation and fidelity of the digital files. Prior to her current role, Christina directed a project for the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Foundation, digitizing the Henry Ford photographic archive to assist in the restoration of the Henry Ford Home in Dearborn, MI.

Digitization Projects Showcase 2

July 23, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

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Slides

Join the CARLI Preservation Committee for a second showcase of impressive digitization projects at Illinois libraries. This webinar is part of the Summer Digitization Webinar Series: Dive into Digital in partnership with the Florida Virtual Campus. 

Project 1: “Picturing Lincoln: Digitizing a Physical Collection at the ALPLM” presented by Kelsey Wise and Matthew Deihl, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

The initiative to digitize the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s ‘Picturing Lincoln’ collection was a large undertaking but well worth it for the preservation and accessibility of the collection. The Picturing Lincoln online collection reduces the wear and tear of handling the physical materials while also removing the barrier of location-based, in-person only access to audiovisual materials related to Abraham Lincoln. A generous grant from the Illinois State Library made the work possible. Kelsey Wise and Matthew Deihl will cover the entire process of digitizing this archival collection; from applying for the grant that funded the work and procuring a vendor to scan the materials to creating and promoting the online collection.

Project 2: “Building a 3D Archival Collection: Experiential Student Learning with the Curtis Trout Collection” presented by Abigail Mann, Liz Bloodworth, and Dagan Turcotte-Cutkomp, Illinois Wesleyan University

Rooted in the goals of preserving and presenting university history by creating a digital archive of the Curtis Trout Collection, Abigail Mann and Liz Bloodworth will share Illinois Wesleyan University’s endeavor to address the challenges of 3D digitization and narrative storytelling in the digital humanities through an experiential learning opportunity for an undergraduate student.  Over his 30-year career as a scenic designer and theater professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, Curtis Trout created more than 100 designs for the School of Theatre Arts and amassed an impressive archival collection of his work that surpasses the amount of physical space available in the University Archives. The physical reality of that collection necessitates the development of workflows and strategies to digitally preserve a wide array of materials, many non-textual, in a way that prioritizes accessibility and engagement.

Speakers:

Kelsey Wise is an Audiovisual Librarian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM). She took the lead on ALPLM’s Picturing Lincoln project when its progress had been stalled due to staff turnover and an unfortunate hard drive crash. With the assistance of her colleague and fellow Audiovisual Librarian, Matthew Deihl, the digitization for the project was complete. Digitizing materials from the audiovisual collection to fulfill patron photo duplication requests is also a part of her everyday work.

Kelsey earned her Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She lives in Springfield, Illinois with her husband, Tyler, and their pets: a snake named Cecil, a cat named Hekapoo, and a dog named Fennec.

Matthew Deihl has served as an Audiovisual Librarian with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library for 1 ½ years. During this time, he has digitized countless images from ALPLM’s Audiovisual Collection for use by researchers from around the world. He understands that creating digital surrogates reduces the need to handle the physical items, thus preserving them into the future. That is why he was more than happy to work with his colleague and ALPLM’s other Audiovisual Librarian, Kelsey Wise, to see the Picturing Lincoln digitization project come to fruition. With 1,001 records already uploaded to Picturing Lincoln’s digital collection in the Illinois Digital Archives, he continues the behind-the-scenes work to upload the remainder of the collection soon. 

Matthew earned a Master of Arts degree in Library and Information Science from University of South Florida’s School of Information. He loves music, movies, and playing with his daughter.

Abigail Mann is the Digital Scholarship Librarian at Illinois Wesleyan University. Prior to receiving her MSLS, she was a tenured English professor, and has taught a broad variety of courses in diverse formats. As a Digital Scholarship librarian, a significant research focus has been on creating digital scholarship partnerships between teaching faculty and librarians to support innovative research and pedagogy, particularly at less resourced institutions. She has also built a Digital Humanities program at IWU that has offered 10-12 students/ year the opportunity to develop and execute a DH project.  She also provides pedagogical support for digital projects across the curriculum, ranging from International Education to English to History.

Liz Bloodworth is the University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at the Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University. She holds an MA in History from Illinois State University and an MLIS with an emphasis in Archival Studies from the University of Missouri - Columbia. Prior to her position at IWU, she worked in special collections and regional museums. Her research interests include primary source literacy instruction, building more representative collections, and the use of digital tools, including artificial intelligence, in archival description and outreach.

Dagan Turcotte-Cutkomp is entering graduate school at the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign this fall to study Library and Information Science. They recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in History and Music from Illinois Wesleyan University, where they worked in the Tate Archives & Special Collections for four years.