Conversion of Primary Sources

Conversion of Primary Sources

Curation

Deegan and Tanner explain that primary source materials come in all forms, and to digitally capture these materials, one must carefully consider certain aspects. In the article, they explore numerous materials: documents, visual materials (glass, canvas, film, fabric, etc.), three-dimensional objects, and audio/video recordings. They contend there is more than one method for capturing original source materials, and therefore, careful planning is required, as is the assessment of cost, quality, conservation, and usage. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of digital capture and conversion. The main piece of advice is to consider the purpose. What is it is that the digitization is aiming to capture? They list numerous digital capture methods (such as OCR) and discuss the pros and cons of each. The last topic discussed is editing that material that is captured, and they explain the different software tools available for this endeavor. Deegan and Tanner conclude with advice: understanding the capture process of primary sources is important even if one never plans to carry out these activities directly because it is vital to understand the various implications and consequences of the decisions that have to be dealt with in any project.

Deegan, Marilyn

Tanner, Simon

Facet

2006

Polk, Victoria

Blackwell Publishing

E-book

http://digitalhumanities.org:3030/companion/view?docId=blackwell/9781405103213/9781405103213.xml&chunk.id=ss1-5-2&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ss1-5-2&brand=9781405103213_brand

Deegan, Marilyn and Simon Tanner. Conversion of Primary Sources. London: Facet Pub., 2006. Print.