Poster Board Number: 64
Title: From Analog to Digital: Making Archival Materials Electronically Accessible
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to identify, digitally preserve, and make accessible primary source materials that document the history of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport. This poster will describe the steps involved in establishing procedures, making decisions, setting policies, and addressing challenges.
Brief Description: An initial assessment of the archival collection led to the identification of significant materials that would best represent the institutional history. Accessibility in an electronic environment required the digitization of these resources. Newspaper clippings, photographs, slides, correspondence, programs, publications, and other documents were scanned to produce digital surrogates. Audiovisual materials including filmstrips, audiocassettes, and videocassettes were converted from analog to a digital format. Images of three-dimensional artifacts were captured through digital photography. CONTENTdm, a content management system, was used to establish bibliographic control of the digital files through metadata tagging.
Results: After the primary source materials were digitized, and metadata was assigned, the resulting digital files were made accessible through two online resources. The first is a chronological website celebrating the history of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport and the second is the Louisiana Digital Library, an image database maintained by the Louisiana Library Network that documents the history and culture of Louisiana. CONTENTdm software powers the database, making the digital images searchable and accessible.
Conclusions: This project has led to discoveries of unknown resources and unlocked hidden riches of the institution’s history. Furthermore, the online presence makes these digital items accessible to a worldwide audience.
Authors: Dee Jones, AHIP, Head, Cataloging Section; Deidra Woodson, Metadata and Digitization Librarian; Medical Library; Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA
