Digital Library of Appalachia
GUIDELINES FOR AUDIO
DIGITIZATION
1.
Selection of items for inclusion in DLA
Audio files included in the Digital Library
of Appalachia should be particularly and substantively
representative of Appalachian experiences. Preference is given
to scarce or unique items in library and archival special
collections, with no commercially produced materials less than
30 years old. Materials may be appropriate for users at any
level, including schools, higher education, and personal
enrichment. Librarians and archivists at
each participating institution shall determine which materials
in their collections are best suited to the Digital Library of
Appalachia.
Appalachia, as defined by the Appalachian
Regional Commission, is a 200,000-square-mile region that
follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern
New York to northern Mississippi. It includes all of West
Virginia and parts of twelve other states: Alabama, Georgia,
Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Preference is given to materials that reflect the heritage of
Appalachian College Association geographic regions, but
materials that address other Appalachian areas may be
appropriate.
While isolated items are perfectly
acceptable in the Digital Library of Appalachia, we recommend
selecting and digitizing groups of related items when
practicable. For example, a selection of
songs from a performer, a photo of the performer, and perhaps
a text document with biographical information or other
details, grouped together may produce a richer understanding
of the subject under consideration.
- Intellectual Property
Each participating institution shall
exercise due diligence with regard to copyright
compliance. Collectors should have signed
release forms gathered at the time of recording, or written
authorization received upon request of
archivist. Participating
institutions shall make a good faith effort to contact
rights-holders of any materials not in public domain before
including such materials in the Digital Library of
Appalachia. In the absence of permission,
libraries should place only small sample clips of audio files
in the DLA, following fair use guidelines, and refer users to
the original in the Holding Library.
The Digital Library of Appalachia web site
includes a general statement of copyright as follows:
Copyright and Permissions
We encourage Fair Use of these materials
under current U.S. Copyright law and accompanying guidelines.
Collections of the Digital Library of Appalachia (DLA) are
made available for non-profit and educational use, such as
research, teaching and private study. For these purposes, you
may reproduce DLA materials (print, download or make copies)
without prior permission. However, users must obtain written
permission from the owning repository or rights holder before
using a particular item for other purposes, including
publication or other commercial applications.
The owner of each item in the Digital
Library of Appalachia is identified in the "Holding Library"
field of the item record. Requests for permission should be
addressed to specific holding libraries. Their contact
information is available here (link). Libraries participating
in the DLA provide descriptive information from their records
for each item digitized. This information is given to aid
patrons in determining the historical importance and cultural
context of an item. In some instances, the holding library
does not have complete information about authors, publishers,
or other persons associated with the materials in their
collection. The owning institutions
appreciate hearing from anyone who may have additional
information about any of the items in the collection, and from
those who may wish to donate Appalachian resources to an
institution.
Individual institutions may wish to include
additional restrictions or other information in the "Rights"
field of metadata.
- Analog to digital
conversion
The process of digital conversion is very
much dependent on the condition and format of the original
recording, and technology available to the
digitizers. In most cases, however, the
process can be made relatively simple and routine, and results
in a stable digital audio file that can be reproduced without
subsequent degradation.
Users will need a playback device(s) that
is suitable for the original media, a computer with a digital
sound card, and a storage mechanism (cd recorder, hard drive
space, network space, etc.) to hold the digital
files. Recording software such as Sound
Forge will allow for easy
editing and manipulation of audio files.
The Digital Library of Appalachia interface
can support most file formats for audio, including .wav, .mp3,
Real media (.ra). At this time the ACA
Central Library cannot host a streaming audio
server. However, participating institutions
may include real audio files in the DLA, with the file
resident on a local campus server. Use
established DLA file name conventions whenever
possible.
Individual institutions may establish
standards for capture and preservation of audio materials
based upon available resources. As a
general guideline, we recommend 96 kHz, 24-bit for
preservation/archival purposes, although 48 kHz, 16-bit
sampling rate is often acceptable as a CD-quality
equivalent. Delivery files of audio
materials are typically down-sampled to reduce file size and
make for more manageable use over the Internet.
File size of delivery files becomes part of the
metadata for any record in the DLA. The DLA
does not provide specific file size standards, understanding
that size is always a function of the length of the
original. However, participants are asked
to create reasonable file sizes when possible.
For example, an oral history interview may be separated
into several files as topic under discussion
changes. Likewise, a performer's
introductory comments may be separated from a song or song
set.
While flat transfers from original to
digital is recommended practice for preservation
copies, archivists may choose to optimize
files for delivery. This includes reducing
tape noise, enhancing original sound, and compressing
signals. Any optimization of a sound file
should be documented in metadata attached to that file.
- Metadata
Accurate and thorough metadata is essential
for discovery of audio files, as there is no equivalent of
"search full text" for sound. Frequently
metadata can be drawn from previously documented descriptions,
such as catalog records or finding aids.
Description of sound files in the Digital Library of
Appalachia should conform to established DLA Metadata
Guidelines. Those Guidelines have been
expanded to include items of particular importance for audio
digitization, including file size, duration, and
recorder. The Library of Congress
subject headings remain the authority for subject vocabulary
control. However, archivists may choose to
add subject headings to facilitate resource discovery, drawing
upon the MLA Terms List, the American Folklore Society Terms
List, or other sources as needed.
Institutions participating in the Digital
Library of Appalachia may choose to add additional,
non-displaying metadata fields. As
technical metadata is particularly important for future
maintenance of digital collections, we especially recommend
participants record that information locally or centrally on
the DLA. Technical metadata includes
information about the digitization process, including sampling
rate, bit depth, signal chain, and conversion
hardware/software.
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