Free-Scanning Grant
Digital Commonwealth and Boston Public Library Announce Application for Free Digitization Services
The Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts is pleased to announce year 2 of free digitization services for members provided by the Boston Public Library. This opportunity is available for a second year thanks to an LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant awarded by the MBLC (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners).
Digital Commonwealth is a statewide collaboration focused on providing access to digital resources of cultural institutions in Massachusetts. Once again, this grant provides another excellent opportunity for current members of Digital Commonwealth or organizations interested in joining. Members may apply for the free digitization services from the Boston Public Library (BPL) by using this online application form: http://bit.ly/dcbplform
Beginning in August, 2012, for the duration of the year-long grant, requests will be reviewed each month and approved requests will be scheduled quarterly. Organizations interested in digitizing entire collections of photographs, or manuscripts, or a series of books or bound volumes are encouraged to apply. The BPL might limit the number of images digitized for one institution to approximately 50 bound volumes (15,000 pages) or 5,000 individual items (e.g., photographs, manuscript pages, posters) depending on the number of applications it receives. Although the BPL cannot currently digitize microforms, roll film, audio, or video, we encourage you to include these formats in your application so that we may evaluate which services to provide past the term of this grant.
The BPL is prepared to accommodate as many valid requests as possible. The BPL reserves the right to prioritize the sequence of scanning based on various factors including when the collection is ready for digitization, how long the organization has been a member of the Digital Commonwealth, and workflow-related issues (e.g., size, format, quantity).
This program is one highlight of a new partnership between the Digital Commonwealth and the BPL. Through this partnership, the Digital Commonwealth and the BPL will work together towards a shared goal of creating, maintaining, and expanding a successful and thriving statewide system to provide access to digital resources in Massachusetts.
Membership at either the smaller cultural institution level or larger cultural institution is a requirement to be considered for free digitization services. The Digital Commonwealth’s website includes a page with information about membership fees as well as the rights and responsibilities of members ( http://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/doc/memberfees). Digital services to the third membership category, Group Sponsoring Organizations, will also occur during the grant, but the BPL will be working directly with one main representative from each group to target digitization services that will supplement and complement their existing digitization efforts. Organizations that currently are group members (within the Group Sponsoring Organizations) can apply for the free digitization services if they become individual members of Digital Commonwealth.
Digital Commonwealth members who receive free digitization services from the Boston Public Library during this grant project will need to complete tasks associated with the creation of metadata for the digital objects created during the grant and also need to commit to making the digitized items available online through the Digital Commonwealth system. The BPL is prepared to conduct customized site visits and consultations in order to assist in this process. Digital Commonwealth will also be conducting a series of general workshops to support member digitization issues.
Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions or for further clarification about this grant project.
For more information, please visit the DC/BPL Statewide Digitization Project Blog -- http://blog.bpl.org/dcbpl
Boston Public Library, Digital Services Department:
Tom Blake, Digital Projects Manager
digital@bpl.org
Digital Commonwealth:
Joseph Fisher, President
digitalcommonwealth@gmail.com