Managing Digital Audiovisual Resources: A Practical Guide for Librarians(Practical Guides for Librarians)

The demand from library users for audiovisual materials and remote access combined with the unceasing deterioration and inaccessibility of many audiovisual formats requires libraries to adapt their collections to meet current and future demands. While this changing landscape of digitization and resource management may seem daunting, it represents an opportunity to bolster a library’s relevancy and competitiveness. Managing Digital Audiovisual Resources fills a gap as a single concise guide for real world basics, broad concepts, and practical needs from technologies to collections to promotion. The easy-to-read book is geared towards the ongoing management of digital audiovisual resources, presenting real world scenarios and ways to think through balancing all of the many factors and needs for these collections, dealing with limited resources, materials with different levels of significance, materials facing different levels of preservation risk, factors for decision making, and resources for other options.  The book takes a procedural and example-rich approach to the management of digital audiovisual resources. It covers: ·the selection of resources for digitization; · how to manage digitization of physical audiovisual collections; ·how to select the best platforms for preservation and presentation; and, · how to market collections once they are accessible. Among other useful features, this guide will provide readers with: ·Illustrated digitization workflows; ·Comprehensive lists and illustrated descriptions of equipment and formats; ·Real-world case studies; ·Common U.S. copyright situations; and ·Resources for further study and assistance.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1. The Basics of Managing Digital Audiovisual Resources Chapter 2. What Do You Have? Evaluating Collections Chapter 3. Evaluating Collections: Picking a Direction and Developing Collections Chapter 4. Planning for Digitization Chapter 5. Digitization: Managing Digitization, Selecting Equipment, and Applying Standards Chapter 6. Presentation and Access Chapter 7. Enhancement and Promotion Chapter 8. Essential Takeaways About the Author Index

About the Author :
Matthew C. Mariner is an assistant professor and Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives at Auraria Library, a downtown Denver-based tri-institutional library serving The University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University, and The Community College of Denver.

Review :
Authored by an assistant professor and head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives at Auraia Library, serving three academic institutions in downtown Denver, Colorado, this book offers a step-by-step guide to digitizing collections at any sized library or organization. From collection assessment before digitizing through dealing with the post-digitization collection, this work will guide librarians and other professionals through the process. Individuals with large collections seeking to digitize will also benefit from this book. Organized into eight chapters, the work begins with a discussion of the basics of managing digital audiovisual resources, followed by guidance in evaluating collections for what is there and to develop the collection in the desired direction. Next addressed are planning for digitization and managing digitization, including the selecting of equipment and applying standards. Presentation and access are next focused upon, followed by enhancement and promotion. The work ends with a chapter presenting essential takeaways and an index. Intended for the novice, there are numerous figures; six project starters; and lists of strengths and weaknesses of YouTube, Vimeo, Internet Archive, Katura, and Avalon; and a sample outline of a collection development policy. Matthew Mariner successfully delivers a guide that enables librarians to plan, organize, and implement on their own a digitization project of these tricky materials. This book is well organized and accessible. It is divided into chapters that explore the basics of managing digital audiovisual resources, evaluating and developing collections, planning for digitization, managing digitization, selecting equipment, applying standards, accessing materials, preserving items, and enhancing and presenting collections. . . . Mariner also supplements each chapter with bibliographical references that offer more information on the topics covered, and a useful index is provided for the entire work. Based on the author’s many years of experience with digitizing textual and audiovisual materials, he expertly addresses the variety of materials that fall under the umbrella of audiovisual, such as different kinds of tape formats as well as issues that are common to any digitization project, such as planning in phases, deciding upon standards, and dealing with copyright issues. . . . [A]n excellent manual for both the seasoned and neophyte professional as they engage in all phases of planning and implementing digitization projects for audiovisual formats. Managing Digital Audiovisual Resources offers a holistic view on the management of digital audiovisual resources. An excellent read with a wonderful perspective on meeting current needs and doing so in ways that build capacity and skill for practitioners, teams, and institutions, and the broader community. This book is an ideal resource for all working with digital audiovisual collections (librarians, archivists, curators, IT professionals, scholars, digital technicians, and many others).