Volume 29, Issue 2

JJT, Inc. (JJT) has been digitizing images from pictorial collections since shortly after its incorporation in 1995. However, its key imaging personnel's experience with digital images dates back to 1989 when they first used a Sony digital video camera and Targa board to capture images from 35mm film and generated digital intermediates in the process of creating videotape masters for making videodisc. At the time, digital images were a byproduct of the transfer process. These images have since been recovered and placed on the Internet as part of the Library of Congress American Memory project. They have continued to participate in the evolution of the digital image process.

Reformatting of library materials is useful in preserving the content and providing greater accessibility to library and archival materials. Prior to beginning a reformatting project, a number of questions need to be asked and answered in relation to the material being considered and the available resources. Who will select the materials to be reformatted and what criteria will be used to make that decision? What format is best suited for the purpose of the material and for the end user? Should it be Microfilm? Photocopy? Scanned image? Possibly a hybrid approach? Who gets involved in the reformatting operation? The content selectors? The preservation staff? The catalogers? The support staff? Administrators? Outside vendors? And possibly the end user? Who will gather, review and prepare the materials? Where will the actual imaging, be it microfilming, photocopying or digitizing be done? What standards will be followed or are there only best practices for the chosen format? Is the library equipped for the job or is it best to send it out to a vendor? Who will do the quality control and how will it be reviewed? How much time can be committed to the reformatting effort? And, one more question, Who pays?

Scientific knowledge is increasingly being created and recorded in electronic forms, yet today's computer systems are poorly suited for the long-term retention of information. Unless conscious efforts are made, important knowledge will be lost to future scientists and historians.

Shades of Greek mythology: around 1980, the Council on Library Resources (CLR) created the Committee on Preservation and Access, which shortly there-after gained independence as the Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA). For fifteen years the CPA was a principle advocate for and recognized leader of national preservation activities, in addition to promoting preservation research and international preservation activities. In 1997, CLR and CPA merged to form the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), which not only maintained most of the activities of CLR and CPA, but also became the administrative home to the Digital Library Federation.

In recent months, the Library of Congress has continued to add to the growing collection of online resources at its American Memory Web site (http://memory.loc.gov)