Digital Collections Development Policy

Purpose:

University of Miami Digital Collections provides access to primary source materials in support of teaching, learning, and research at the University and for the world. Digital Collections include content from the University of Miami Libraries’ three distinctive collections: the Cuban Heritage Collection, Special Collections, and University Archives, as well as subject specialty libraries, including the Architecture Research Center, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, & Earth Science, Marta & Austin Weeks Music Library, and Louis Calder Memorial Library.

The purpose of this document is to provide clarity on how collections are selected for digitization and/or added to our digital collections online platform. Digitization of our collections is a resource intensive endeavor and careful selection in accordance with clearly defined criteria helps to ensure that digitization of collections is performed in a focused, strategic, and ethical manner.

The digital collections process and selection criteria also applies to born-digital materials, such as oral history interviews.

Scope:

All University of Miami Libraries

Policy Description:

Digitization Activities

Digitization activities typically fall into one of the following categories:

• Standard Digital Collections projects: Digitization of entire collections or portions of collections as part of the regular digitization queue. Work is carried out in the Digital Initiatives Lab by staff and students or may be outsourced.
• Externally Funded and Grant Projects: Projects funded through grants, donors, or through sources outside of the regular library budget. Priorities are often driven by the funding agency or donor, so these projects must be carefully considered.
• Patron requests, donor requests, and exhibition scanning: Limited on-demand digitization that does not go through the digital collections review and approval process. More information can be found on the Photocopies & Digital Reproductions page. Larger requests for digitization from patrons or donors (greater than 200 scanned images) may need to be considered as a standard digital collections project or as an externally funded/grant project.

Externally Funded and Outsourced Digitization Projects

Digitization and digital collections proposals involving grants or external funding must be planned in consultation with the Head of Digital Initiatives, regardless of whether the digitization is completed at UM Libraries or outsourced. Outsourcing is encouraged for externally funded and grant funded projects. Digitization vendors must be reviewed and approved by the Head of Digital Initiatives prior to beginning an outsourced digitization project to ensure they meet quality standards. Materials must also meet the selection criteria listed below.

Digital Collections Process

All digital collections projects, including grant and externally funded projects, must have a steward of the project. They must be an employee of the Libraries who is able to work closely with the materials. This person will consider the project selection criteria below in their proposal and participate throughout the process to ensure the project’s success. Proposed regular digital collections projects will be reviewed and approved by the Digital Collections Committee.

Digital Collections Project Selection Criteria

Copyright Status
Materials will be selected, digitized, and placed online in accordance with the ARL Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic & Research Libraries. It is the responsibility of the person proposing a project to determine the copyright status as best as they are able. They may consult with relevant colleagues or content experts as needed to do so.  Materials considered for digitization must fall into one of the following categories:

• Works in the public domain
• Works for which the University of Miami holds the copyright
• Works for which UM Libraries have obtained permission to digitize
• Works for which the copyright holder is unknown or unreachable (as determined by due diligence)
• Works for which a fair use argument can be made for digitization

Projects with clearly defined rights that allow content to be openly accessible and permit the reuse, printing, and download of content will be given priority over projects where access is more limited in scope, including projects that are only accessible within the Libraries. Material under copyright that falls outside of the categories above may be considered under special circumstances, such as risk of permanent loss of the materials due to deterioration.

Mandatory Criteria
Projects must meet all following criteria to be considered for digital collections projects:

• Material has been processed and contains adequate information for metadata creation
• To the extent which is possible, copyright status has been determined and material can be made broadly accessible
• Lack of donor restrictions
• Material contains no privacy issues
• Material can be digitized without damaging the original or is born-digital
• Material is free of active mold or other harmful contaminants, or remediation of contaminants is part of the plan for digitization
• The Libraries have the capacity to complete the project in a timely and efficient manner, either in-house or via outsourcing

Projects must also support an articulated strategic direction for the library:

• Supports a demonstrated teaching, research, or learning need
• Supports University activities, initiatives, and events
• Has support from global, hemispheric, or local partners
• Potential for computational use of the collection

Additional Criteria
Strong proposals will meet at least one or more of the following criteria:

• Material is of cultural and historical significance
• Material is significant to the history of the University
• Material highlights underrepresented voices in the archival record or subject area
• Promotes high use materials, or high demand is anticipated
• Material supplements or completes existing digital collections
• Material supports subject strengths and/or areas of thematic focus
• For archival collections, significant portions of the collection will be digitized
• Digitization aids in the preservation of highly used fragile items
• Digitization preserves formats at risk of loss due to deterioration
• Materials cannot be easily or safely used without digitization (includes most audiovisual formats, slides, etc.)
• Digitization adds value to the original (e.g., linking to other collections or enhanced searching options)
• Project has external funding and fits within the library’s strategic direction

Limitations

Materials will not be digitized or added to digital collections if they are subject to any of the following limitations:
The item cannot be shared without violating copyright law unless there is a clearly demonstrated need for digitization (such as preservation)

• An exact or similar digital copy exists in a well-supported open access repository (such as HathiTrust, Internet Archive, etc.)
• The item does not comprise a complete work. (e.g., a single page from a book). Exceptions will be made for patron and donor requests and exhibit scans.
• Digitization is likely to cause significant damage to unique materials

Date Approved:

August 2024