The following quick reference guides are intended to help our contributors that choose to scan their own materials. If you have any questions, please contact Digital Library Services at the University of Minnesota Libraries. You can also find detailed information at the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative and Library of Congress Digital Preservation websites.
Quick Reference Guides
Images
Adapted from Western States Digital Imaging Best Practices, Version 1.0 (January 2003).
Swipe horizontally to see full set of table data.
Attribute | Master Copy |
|---|---|
Spatial Resolution | 3000-5000 pixels on the longest dimension |
Spatial Dimensions | 100% of original |
Bit Depth | 1 bit bitonal |
File Type | TIFF |
Compression | none or lossless |
Sample Resolutions for Common Photograph Sizes
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Original Size | 3000 pixels on longest dimension | 5000 pixels on longest dimension |
|---|---|---|
2" x 2" | 1500 ppi | 2500 ppi |
3" x 5" | 600 ppi | 1000 ppi |
4" x 7" | 450 ppi | 725 ppi |
8" x 10" | 300 ppi | 500 ppi |
Audio
Swipe horizontally to see full set of table data.
Recommendation Level | Master File | Web Access File |
|---|---|---|
Oral history and other spoken language broadcasts |
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High frequency / high quality source material (such as musical recordings) |
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Further Reading
- Duke Libraries: DPC Audio/Video Digitization Standards and Equipment
- CARLI: Guidelines for the Creation of Digital Collections
- International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives
Video
Standards and best practices for video digitization projects vary widely. We direct you to some of the recent resources developed by both the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines project and the Library of Congress.