Special Collections Training Manual: General Guidelines
This manual is designed for Special Collections staff including graduate assistants, student assistants, interns, and volunteers in the established procedures for collecting, preserving, and making materials available.
Guidelines for Manuscripts, Printed Text, Photographs
| Preservation | Full Size High Resolution | Full Size Low Resolution | |
| File format | TIFF | JPG | JPG |
| Resolution | 300-600 PPI | 300-600 PPI | 150 PPI |
| Bit Depth | 24 bit color or 8-bit grayscale | 24 bit color or 8-bit grayscale | 24 bit color or 8-bit grayscale |
| Dimensions | 3000-6000 pixels across the long dimension | 3000-6000 pixels across the long dimension | 3000-6000 pixels across the long dimension |
Guidelines for Photographic Slides
| Slides (BW) | Slides (Color) | Film Negatives or Transparencies (BW) | Film Negatives or Transparencies (Color) | |
| File format | TIFF/JPG | TIFF/JPG | TIFF/JPG | TIFF/JPG |
| Resolution | 2100 PPI | 2100 PPI | 2100 PPI | 2100 PPI |
| Bit Depth | 16-bit grayscale | 24 bit color | 16-bit grayscale | 24 bit color |
Storage and Access
Place digitized files in the designated folder in the shared drive. Within this folder there are two separate folders labeled TIFF and JPG which correspond with the type of digitizing activities you will perform.
File Naming Conventions
Effective file names are essential for the stability and sustainability of digital storage and access systems and for ensuring interoperability between systems. Be sure to save each file by the following schema:
- collectiontitle_box1_folder1_001
- collectiontitle_box1_folder1_002
- collectiontitle_box1_folder2_001
- collectiontitle_box2_folder1_001
Use the same name for each individual document whether or not it is tiff or jpg. E.g. “Lawless_folder3_012.TIFF” and “Lawless_folder3_012.JPG”
Quality Control Checklist for Images
| ▢ | Master digital image is a faithful representation of the original |
| ▢ | Image is cropped appropriately |
| ▢ | File name is correct |
| ▢ | File format is correct |
| ▢ | Image is not rotated or backwards |
| ▢ | Image is not skewed or off centered Image has clean edges, clear contrast, and legible text |
| ▢ | No more patterns (wavy lines or swirls, usually found in area where there are repeated patterns) |
| ▢ | No presence of digital artifacts (such as very regular, straight lines across the picture) |
| ▢ | No pixelation |
| ▢ | Not too light or too dark, No loss of detail in highlight or shadows |