Selection resources

Digitisation selection standards

While there are no definitive rules or standards for selecting content for digitisation, it is possible to have consistency and transparency in decision-making. Due to the time and costs involved, this can be important where different types of collections and materials are being considered. The design of a digitisation initiative or digitisation policy will greatly assist that decision-making. Where guidance is still required there are some criteria that can be applied regardless of the materials involved.

Version 2 of DigitalNZ's digitisation selection framework was released in June 2009 as part of Make it Digital. This framework will be most useful for policy writers and planners wanting to design digitisation programmes or selection policies.

Download 'A Framework for Good Digitisation Version 2' (PDF/83 KB) .

The Make it Digital scorecard

The 1st Edition of the Make it Digital scorecard was publicly released in June 2009. The scorecard is a tool for selecting and prioritising content for digitisation, and is useful for anyone considering a digitisation programme of any size. More information about the tool and the download link.

New Zealand digitisation selection resources

We recommend the following New Zealand resources for more in-depth information about digitisation selection:

Digitisation Activities: Best Practice Guidelines - The University of Auckland Library, 2007

Digitisation Selection Work - National Digital Forum, 2008

NZETC Digitisation Selection Policy - New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, 2007

Digital Continuity Action Plan - Archives New Zealand, September 2008

International digitisation selection resources

We recommend the following international resources for more in-depth information about digitisation selection:

A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections 3rd Edition - National Information Standards Organization, December 2007

Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access - Northeast Document Conservation Center, 2000

Selecting Research Collections for Digitization - by D. Hazen et. al., Council on Library and Information Resources, August 1998

Task Force to establish Selection Criteria of Analogue and Digital Audio Contents for Transfer to Data Formats for Preservation Purposes - International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives, August 2003 (PDF version)

Recommended reading

One Word: Digital - by K. Coyle, preprint, published in The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2006

Beyond the Paper Trail: National Archives in the Digital Age - by G. Davison, Dialogue Vol. 26 No. 2, 2007

History, Digitized (and Abridged) - by K. Hefner, New York Times, March 2007

Preservation in the Age of Large-Scale Digitization A White Paper - by O. Rieger, Council on Library and Information Resources, February 2008