Digitization: Limitations and Benefits (reading notes)
Reading several of the articles on digitization and the multitude of related issues there was a sense of restrained optimism and cautious anticipation. For me this is par for the course especially for persons working within the information industry. Personally I do not think their concerns are exaggerated but rather stem from the intuition of persons specializing in fields in which the ever-increasing mass ‘informatization’ has a direct impact. Some archivists, librarians, conservators and librarians are generally looking toward the rise of digitization technology with enthusiasm while others look towards it with skepticism.
Digitization has its detractors and rightly so. One issue is its cost-effectiveness. For non-profit organizations such as museums, archives and libraries generating the income needed for mass digitizing efforts takes quite some effort. Archival repositories and libraries have always been lobbying for an increase in funds. Governments have not always been forthcoming and recently this has been compounded by the global economic downturn. Doreen Carvajal speaks about the financially difficulties faced by the European Digital Library and its efforts to fight back against Google’s domination of digital archives. There simply was not enough money to digitize the amount of materials initially projected. However it seems that cost-effectiveness also depends on what issue digitization is intended to address. Stuart D. Lee in his article asserts that digitization’s cost-effectiveness is shown in the long term rather than in the short term. When using digitization as a means of producing copies of restricted material, in order to increase accessibility and preserve the item, digitization is cheaper when compared to analog photocopying.
Accessibility is another perceived benefit of digitization but this too is not without its constraints. Here the issues of copyright and appraisal are to be factored. In planning to digitize certain items permission has to be sought from the owner to make one’s work available to the public at no cost. Archivists and librarians also have to consider issues of appraisal. Lee looked at this issue commenting that librarians have tough decisions to make concerning what information to make available on the internet. Furthermore if certain items are not made available because of their sensitivity how could that compromise the integrity of the parent collection? Lee also raised the issue of ascertaining the authenticity since digital technology afforded forgers easier ways of altering a digitized item.
Another issue with digitization is its dependability as a preservation tool. Using digitization as a means of increasing public accessibility to fragile, restricted items has proved beneficial for the most part. However substituting analog preservation formats for digital formats is not feasible. Digital formats such as magnetic tape, floppy disks, compact discs and computer hard drives are not durable and so continued access to stored information is never guaranteed. At present microfilm remains one of the most stable forms of preservation reformatting available and it is an analog format.
With those considerations in mind it seems like digitization is a rapid development that information and preservation professionals alike, regardless of whether they favor it or not, would have to contend with. It has brought with it many opportunities. As aforementioned the ability to make information available to students, researchers and anyone interested is one of the much touted benefits. Journal databases like JSTOR have allowed the academic community and libraries to do away with the cumbersome method of accessing articles via subject matter indexes and paper journals (Smith, 2008). However the onset of digital technology should not detract from librarians and archivists achieving their goals of making knowledge available to the public. Furthermore digital technology should be used in conjunction and not as a substitute to other methods. This would prove wisest given the complexities of the topic.
References
Caravajal, Doreen “European libraries face problems” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/technology/28iht-LIBRARY29.1.8079170.html?_r=0
Smith, Charles Edward “A Few Thoughts on the Google Books Library Project” http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/few-thoughts-google-books-library-project
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