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Review of Digitization Procedures
In 2007 EPA engaged a consultant to conduct a review of its library document digitization process, which resulted in the four products below. The consultant then engaged a digitization expert to review and comment on these products, and the overview and report were reviewed independently by third-party experts at the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and in academia.
Overview of Current Digitization Practices, July 2007 (PDF) (21 pp, 142K, About PDF)
U.S. EPA Library Collections Digitization Process Report, September 2007 (PDF) (35 pp, 508K, About PDF)
Target User Accessibility Review, February 2008 (PDF) (8 pp, 78K, About PDF)
Digitization Assessment, March 2008 (PDF) (18 pp, 203K, About PDF)
Steps in the process review:
- "Overview of Current Digitization Practices", a whitepaper analysis based on market research in comparable institutions in the federal, non-federal public, and private sectors. The paper analyzed techniques, costs, and quality of work for digitization of hardcopy library materials.
- "U.S. EPA Library Collections Digitization Process Report", an analysis of EPA's existing digitization process. The analysis considered cost, production, and quality metrics.
- "Target User Accessibility Review" with a group of representative users of EPA’s NSCEP – EPA’s Gateway to Free & Digital Paper Publications. The review included a description of identified search and navigational issues with suggestions to improve the efficiency and user response to this important EPA information dissemination resource.
- The "Digitization Assessment", a comparison of EPA’s digitization process with current practices in comparable institutions. EPA’s consultant provided recommendations for improvement based on the practices identified in the "Overview of Current Digitization Practices” whitepaper. The "Digitization Assessment" report underwent independent external peer review by digitization experts. Comments were incorporated in the March 2008 report.
- The Network Procedure, Digitization Processes for EPA Libraries, was developed and shared for review with stakeholders. The procedure was finalized and signed by EPA's CIO in May 2009.
After completion of these steps, digitization of EPA publications was resumed in October 2009.