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Dorcas International Institute Scrapbooks

The Process of Digitizing Items

For the digitization process, the scrapbooks were carefully photographed by taking a singular picture of each page of all of the scrapbook. As there were 14 scrapbooks in total, every page of a scrapbook was photographed with every piece of content included. If there were any important materials such as newspaper clippings, correspondences, photographs, and other miscellaneous items, there were all photographed. A DSLR camera was used to photograph the scrapbooks. The Automator was used to create the file name for each scrapbook page. The Automator program provides users with an efficient way to name items without manually typing each item. The photos were converted into pdf files using the Adobe Acrobat Pro. 

In compiling a correct list of data from each scrapbook, the Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) was used in filling the data about each scrapbook. As each scrapbook is varied from one to another, using the DACS model was appropriate in finding the required information in archiving these scrapbooks. The information would be used to create the metadata for the digitized scrapbooks and individual items. The required contents that were present in the content standard are focused on gathering information based on: 

  • Title
  • Content & Scope
  • Date
  • Copyright of the Scrapbook

Labeling the Materials

The creation of labeling the specific items goes accordingly to the material that is in each scrapbook. This leads to the creation of specific identifiers for each item that would be documented and digitized for the future. The identifiers were created for the following materials:

  • Photographs (P)
  • Newspaper Clippings (N)
  • Correspondences (C)
  • Miscellaneous Items (M)

As each scrapbook contains these materials, creating an identifier with the initials of each material is the process of labeling them. An example of an identifier would be I.I.P.19990330.SB.03.01. This identifier was crafter with using initials of the International Institute, the item be used, the date (year, month, and day), scrapbook number and the order of which the item was found. Before inputting the information into the Rhode Island College database, the identifiers had to be manually created by going through each material and marking the physical object with the identifier. This unambiguously connects the physical object to the digital object.

Understanding VueScan

The VueScan software was used to scan the photographs from the scrapbooks using an Epson large-format scanner. VueScan is a computer program for image scanning and processing metadata from the scanner to produce a digital image. A primary focus of using the program was having the correct shading and coloring to the output levels. This meant the color and quality of the photograph should be sharp while trying to maintain a good grasp of cropping each photograph. The following tabs were used (extensively) to organize the information and coloring of each photograph:

  • Color
  • Output

Each tab served a unique purpose of enhancing and creating data for each photograph. The color tab would be used to make sure the colors of the photograph were accurate. The output tab was used to populate the metadata describing the photograph. The metadata created in VueScan is saved within the image file's EXIF data. A majority of the photos had information on the back that had the photographer's name or other sentences that would need to be included also. The identifier was used to create the file name for each photograph. The EXIF data was used to create the foundation of the metadata that was used in JSTOR Forum.