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Facilitating digitisation and reformatting via committee work
Journal of Digital Media Management,
13
(1),
73-101
(2024)
Abstract
The Reformatting Committee at Brigham Young University Library actively manages and facilitates the digitisation of library materials, playing a pivotal role in advancing larger digitisation projects. The committee comprises various stakeholders in the digitisation and reformatting workflow, each with unique concerns and requirements, allowing the committee to effectively navigate the complexities of the digitisation process. This paper discusses the motivations for the committee’s formation, explains its documentation and describes the benefits gained. As this paper explains, the Reformatting Committee exemplifies a balanced approach to meeting various stakeholders’ expectations and building bridges between departments, thereby advancing the library’s mission in the context of the digital era. The paper also explains that stakeholder involvement is crucial, that the structure of the committee enables improved communication and workflow, and, although not all challenges may be anticipated in projects, that the committee is set up to work together to resolve them. The paper concludes that institutions with a history of siloing in their digitisation and reformatting work should consider adopting a similar model, in order to break down such barriers and facilitate communication and collaboration, thus improving the efficiency of digitisation and reformatting projects.
Keywords: digitisation; reformatting; projects; workflow; committees; collaboration
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Abby Beazer is the Digital Initiatives Technical Specialist at the Brigham Young University Library. She oversees on-demand digitisation of special collections materials for patrons and staff, an in-house transcription programme, and the maintenance and management of digitisation technology within the department. She holds an MLIS from the University of Arizona.
Nicole A. Lewis is the Metadata Standards Librarian at the Brigham Young University Library. She is responsible for providing leadership and guidance on the development, analysis and application of metadata schemes, as well as assessing and evaluating metadata/cataloguing standards and best practices and implementing appropriate changes to improve existing procedures. She holds an MLIS from the University of Alabama.
Ben Harry is a media historian and audiovisual archivist at Brigham Young University. His research interests include archival maintenance of audiovisual materials, and digitisation and access to archival materials and historical records and research in the field of radio, television and cinema. Ben has previously worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the Library of Congress, and the Church History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He holds a master’s degree in moving image archive studies from UCLA.
Marissa Bischoff is the Digital Imaging Lab Manager at the Brigham Young University Library. She oversees the lab that digitises library materials and uploads them online to the Internet Archive and the digital asset management system (CONTENTdm). She has an MA in comparative studies from Brigham Young University and an MLIS from San Jose State University. She recently completed a term as President of the Utah Library Association and currently serves on the Digital Library Federation Project Managers Working Group.
Rebecca A. Wiederhold is the Archives and Manuscripts Cataloguer at Brigham Young University. She ensures standards compliance for the finding aids that describe unique archival materials as they are prepared for digitisation projects. She participates in the management of archival and digital library systems that serve campus students and faculty. Her research has included the evaluation of library processes, organisational structures and systems in the pursuit of improved library services for campus stakeholders. Other research interests include archival description and cataloguing practices, historical records and 19th and 20th century Utah and Latter-day Saint history. Rebecca holds a MLIS degree and graduate certificates in digital content management and advanced management in libraries and information agencies from the University of North Texas and is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists.
Lindsey Memory is the Digital Content Manager and Head of the Digital Initiatives Department at the Brigham Young University Library, where she is responsible for facilitating access to digital special collections materials. She also chairs a cross-departmental library committee responsible for digital content strategy. She holds an MLIS degree and an advanced graduate certificate in the strategic management of digital assets and services from San Jose State University, and a master’s degree in art history and museum training from the George Washington University.
Michael Gates is the Digital Preservation Technical Specialist at the Brigham Young University Library. He is responsible for validating, ingesting and monitoring all digital objects that are submitted for digital preservation. Michael previously spent two years in micrographics digitisation, and eight years in audiovisual digitisation, AV born-digital validation and normalisation. He holds a master’s degree in sound recording technology from the University of Massachusetts.
