(24 February 2015) A new IFLA standard, the Guidelines for Planning the Digitization of Rare Book and Manuscript Collections, was endorsed by the Professional Committee on advice by the Committee of Standards in August 2014. The standard was developed and written by the Rare Books and Special Collections Section.
Digitization guidelines have proliferated in many forms over the last fifteen years, and all of them reflect a set of best practices that continues to evolve. These guidelines attempt to complement this body of knowledge by addressing the specific needs related to planning digitization projects for rare and special collections. They are written from the point-of-view of special collection managers, rare book librarians, curators, and researchers who study the physical object as an artefact bearing intrinsic historical evidence as much as for the intellectual content that it contains.
Translations of the original English guidelines are already available in Spanish, Italian and Turkish.
The announcement is here.
